Will Michael Carter's 'toughness' translate to the NFL?
In Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast's Rookie Snapshot, Liz Loza and Eric Edholm break down NFL prospect Michael Carter and examine the most interesting statistic when it comes to the former North Carolina running back. Subscribe to the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Video Transcript
LIZ LOZA: Give me one interesting stat that further helps illustrate Carter's ability.
ERIC EDHOLM: Yeah, we talked about ETN earlier, how his rushing average actually fell off last year. Carter had his best season on a per touch basis last year. He was eight yards per carry running the ball, 10.7 catching the ball. And you know, it just sort of felt like obviously it's nice to have a running mate. Javonte Williams helped him take some of the tough carries inside.
But as you said, that toughness is absolutely there with Carter. He can bury his head and knock a linebacker over, or safety, or whatever, but he also is always falling forward. He has a great sort of sense of where he is on the field. He's got that little burst to get around the edge, and those numbers back it up. You don't average eight yards a carry, and get as many touches as he did, and not be pretty talented at that.
LIZ LOZA: It's the burst again for me, 29 carries of 15 plus yards per PFF. That was RB1 per PFFs in this statistical category. So yeah, like the more we're talking about him because you know-- also like, I feel like, I don't know how you do it because you also have defensive players to dig into. But at a certain point you're like, well what does this guy do?
And I feel like Carter gets a little bit muddied because he doesn't-- you know, you think of Harris you're like, oh, I know what he is. He's the super productive one. And then Williams has got the smash, and Etienne the burst. And then you get to Carter and you're like, ah, I can't think of the one thing, and so he doesn't come top of mind most immediately.
But as we're discussing him, I am liking him more and more, and I'm thinking more and more about a fantasy projection. While I think he will probably be drafted behind Javonte Williams-- I'll let you expound on that a little more. I think he'll be drafted behind. But I think for fantasy purposes, I would probably prefer to lean into the value that Carter is likely to present.
