2018 NFL Draft: Lorenzo Carter a first round draft pick?

2018 NFL Draft: Lorenzo Carter was a big time prospect coming out of high school, but didn’t meet expectations at Georgia. Is he a first round player?

One of the toughest players to evaluate in the 2018 NFL Draft class is Georgia linebacker/edge defender Lorenzo Carter.

Carter was a unanimous five-star prospect coming out of high school and when you watch what he can do athletically, it’s easy to see why.

Carter is another in a long line of players to come out of college with much more athletic ability and potential than actual production, but NFL teams will continue to fall in love with guys like that and believe they and their coaching staff can extract the best out of them.

For NFL Draft analyst Tony Pauline, Carter is a first round player despite his lack of overall production at Georgia:

Teams are allowed to do whatever they want, but for me, I’d much rather invest my first round draft pick in a ‘sure thing’ versus someone like Carter who has 14 career sacks in 48 career games.

Now, you have to look deeper into the reason Carter posted the numbers he did when evaluating him for the next level. I don’t know that he was always properly utilized at Georgia, but he also doesn’t seem to have a completely defined position at this point.

At 6-foot-6, 242 pounds (listed on Georgia athletics site), Carter is fully expected to be one of the best performers at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. You can see in his game tape the way he flies off the football, and that Notre Dame cut up specifically has some plays that leave your jaw on the ground.

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Athletically, Carter looks like he moves more like a guy who is the size of his Georgia teammate, Roquan Smith, who is about 6-foot-1, 225-230 pounds.

For him to be that fluid athletically at 6-foot-6 is incredible. He can play sideline to sideline, he can play on the edge, and he can put his hand in the dirt. I don’t think at the next level he needs to lose that versatility by any means, but he will need to add some strength and weight to his frame if he’s going to play edge in a 3-4 defense at the next level.

Right now, he looks more like an off-ball linebacker who will line up on the defensive line in obvious passing situations.

I think if Carter can get into the right situation at the next level, he could be an absolute stud for someone’s defense. His size, length, and athletic ability will allow him to make some ridiculous plays, but if a coach can help him be consistent?

He may just be worth that first round pick.

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