Good Luck Keeping Arion Carter Off the Field
The early national signing day period was fairly stress-free for Tennessee this year. They wrapped up all but two signees before December 14, but they still had to close a few battles. The highest-profile recruitment down the stretch for the Vols was the race for four-star linebacker Arion Carter (Smyrna, Tenn.). Carter chose Tennessee over Alabama. This was a big recruiting win for a coaching staff that didn't want to see Carter in Tuscaloosa.
He was a consensus top-200 high school recruit and an Adidas All-American alongside several other Tennessee commits. The Vols landed several other high-profile prospects, but out of all the incoming freshmen with a chance to see playing time, Carter may have the best odds. He walks around at 6-1 and 220 pounds while running an 11.99-second 100-meter dash. Carter was also a state qualifier for the 300-meter hurdles during high school, filling out an elite athletic profile for a linebacker.
That athleticism is what got the Tennessees and Alabamas of the world interested. He has the tools to get from point A to point B faster than the ball carrier can at the college level. Few front-seven players move like Carter does, especially at the prep level. He often does things athletically that many linebackers already at Tennessee can't do. Carter excels going sideline-to-sideline, keeping his ankle loose and flipping his momentum downhill to charge toward a ball carrier. His traits also allow him to cover more ground in the middle of the field, giving him more leeway to play aggressively, as he knows that he can get back into the play.
Tennessee ILB Arion Carter announced his commitment on December 14, 2022
While his athleticism is why Carter is a Power-5 signee, his mental acuity will make him a Power-5 player early in his career. His high school ran a lot of base concepts, simple installments of Cover-3, Cover-4, and some man principles. While that sounds simple, it's the purest form of football, and getting reps in a system like that before signing up to play 100 snaps per game at the University of Tennessee is crucial. Carter has a high comfort level reading opposing offenses in base looks and making the appropriate adjustment and succeeding play.
He understands zone match principles extremely well. One specific play on tape stood out to me in my studies of Carter. The offense lined up in a simple duos look and ran a front-side bubble concept. Carter's defense came out in Cover-3, meaning his job on the front side of this concept was to take away the bubble screen. The offense sent the screen from the slot but faked the action and had the outside receiver break a post into what would have been Carter's vacated zone. However, Carter recognized that as the bubble developed, the quarterback's feet and eyes shifted to the backside of the concept. Knowing his outside corner was taking away the deep third, Carter flashed back to the middle of the field and intercepted the pass.
Carter has been doing Power-5 things mentally and physically for years, and top programs realized that down the end of the cycle. Tennessee managed to land him, and they may reap immediate returns, as it's hard to imagine a world where he doesn't see some extended run as a true freshman.
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