Clemson Football: 4-star LB Barrett Carter chooses Tigers over Georgia

4-star LB Barrett Carter announced his commitment to the Clemson football program Tuesday evening, choosing the Tigers over in-state Georgia.

The 2021 Clemson football recruiting class picked up another elite commitment Tuesday evening when 4-star LB Barrett Carter announced his decision.

Carter, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker from North Gwinnett, GA, is ranked as the No. 4 outside linebacker in the nation and the No. 6 overall player from the state of Georgia.

Carter makes the fourth commitment from the state of Georgia for Clemson football in this 2021 recruiting cycle. He is the highest-rated commitment for the Tigers in the state and he joins his high school teammate Jordan Hancock- a 4-star DB- in choosing Clemson.

With his commitment, the Tigers moved up to No. 3 in the nation, according to the 247 Sports’ Composite Team Rankings. 

Analysis:

This is a big-time pick-up for Clemson.

Clemson had offered just eight outside linebackers in this cycle and Carter was atop the list. The Tigers are expected to take somewhere in the realm of 2-3 linebackers and with Carter’s commitment, they now have two linebackers in this cycle as he joined 4-star LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

Carter was a priority target for both Clemson and Georgia and it really shows the magnitude and pull that Dabo Swinney and his staff have to go into a state that is considered to be heavily controlled by the Bulldogs and to consistency pick up commitments from some of the top priorities in the state from Georgia’s perspective.

When looking at the film, you can see great end-to-end speed and blitzing ability from Carter. He is guy who will have the opportunity to compete for reps at both the SAM and WILL positions and will be able to use that athleticism to develop into a solid coverage option, as well as pass-rusher.

In addition to Georgia, Carter was also considering Auburn and Ohio State.