2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: DT Carlo Kemp, Michigan
DT CARLO KEMP
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 286 lbs.
Class: Senior (red shirt)
School: Michigan
Kemp is a former four-star recruit out of Boulder, Colorado, who attended Fairview High School. He was the first ranked Colorado football recruit in the 2016 class and was the 310th national recruit.
He was a two-time team captain for the Wolverines and was an All Big-10 Honoree in 2019. He played in 35 career games and recorded 83 tackles, 10.5 for a loss, and 5 sacks.
Notables
He missed the 2019 Citrus Bowl against Alabama due to a lower leg injury.
Traits
A tall, long, interior defensive lineman who may need to add weight to his frame - there’s room to grow. He possesses good overall athletic ability with good lateral agility and solid burst, quickness, and speed off the snap. Mostly played as the nose tackle or 1-technique for Don Brown’s aggressive defense.
He has long arms and does a good job using his length to keep his chest clean. He stacks and sheds blocks adequately, gets his hands inside with quickness while dropping his high center of gravity to see around blocks. He does a good job restricting the A-Gap on lateral stretch zone plays and uses his wide tackle radius to impede running backs. He has shown a solid ability to stay low and split double teams.
He gets to the half-man relationship because of his quick first step and active hands. He brings a violent rip and chop to interior offensive lineman, and he has generated interior pressure because of this ability.
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When a half-man relationship is established, he uses very good core strength to either dip/rip through or push-pull adequate linemen to the deck.
He struggles against the run when interior offensive linemen use good technique and win the pad level battle.
Kemp’s hand usage assists him in an attempt to shed, but his play strength is only adequate in these situations - that’s why focusing on lower hips and pads is vital for a player like Kemp. He lacks the desired strength to hold up against double teams.
He uses his hands well as a pass rusher and packs a heavy punch. He has a solid bull-rush move and can get underneath some centers and generate good push at the point of attack while also using lateral quickness to slide off blocks and position himself in a gap or give himself a path into the pocket.
He plays with solid overall play strength when he stays low but marginal strength when he’s too high. There have been reps where he allows his tall frame to get high, and those reps typically do not end well for Kemp. Uses strength and violence to pass rush and does a solid job doing so from the nose.
Kemp won’t be able to play as an interior defensive lineman unless it’s passing downs--he’ll have to get stronger at the point of attack and play lower.
Overall, Kemp is a draftable player who may have the lateral quickness and athletic ability to play other positions outside of nose, 1-technique, or 3-technique. He has a chance of being a Day 3 pick in the 2021 draft.
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