The Clemson football program welcomed its summer enrollees to campus on Thursday and one of the headliners in that group was 5-star S/LB Barrett Carter.
Carter, who stands at about 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, was ranked as the No. 3 linebacker in the nation by the 247 Sports’ composite player rankings but Dabo Swinney revealed that the Tigers view him as a potential safety because of his physicality and athleticism.
When looking at his film, you can see what Clemson– and hundreds of other programs around the country- loved about him. Carter shows that physicality lining up at the traditional linebacker spot, but he has the foot speed to play in coverage just as a safety would. He’s drawn comparisons to Isaiah Simmons- and those are valid- but we’d actually peg him as potentially faster than Simmons, at least in how he adjusts and plays the game.
That’s neither here nor there, but one thing is certain: Carter is a college-ready of a freshman as we’ve seen and there’s no doubt that he’s going to find a way on the field in some capacity.
What’s most intriguing for Clemson football is the dangerous combination of Trenton Simpson and Barrett Carter
We see Carter playing that hybrid-type role that has him line up at both the Nickel spot and the SAM spot from time to time.
What will be fun, though, is when we see him on the field at the same time as Trenton Simpson.
You’re talking about two athletic and physical playmakers- who are both going to be first-round picks- lining up across from one another on the same defense. Brent Venables is sleeping well at night, no doubt.
Having Simpson and Carter on the field at the same time will give Clemson football that edge of physicality needed to stop the run while also having insane athleticism across the field. It’s going to be fun to watch and something that Tiger fans will get used to rather quickly over the next couple of seasons.