2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Duke DL DeWayne Carter

From now until the 2024 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Duke defensive lineman DeWayne Carter.

#90 DeWAYNE CARTER, DL, DUKE (rSR) — 6023, 302 lbs.

Senior Bowl

Combine

Measurements

The Good

— Experience from the nose tackle out to the edge
— Very good play strength
— Go-to rush is an effective bull rush
— Solid on twists and stunts as penetrator and looper
— Good acceleration to QB once he has a lane
— Good awareness on screens and gets his hands up in passing lanes
— Experience playing one and two-gap schemes
— Play strength to hold his ground versus double teams or set the edge
— Good tackler overall

The Bad

— Snap timing is a tick slow
— Marginal hand usage when rushing the passer
— No counter moves when the first moves didn’t work
— Marginal ankle flexion and bend when cornering
— Inconsistent eyes; will lose the ball when shooting gaps
— Lateral agility and COD is marginal once in the backfield
— Timing to disengage from blocks needs to be faster
— Motor doesn’t run hot all the time

Bio

— Career: 125 tackles, 48 solo, 24.5 TFL, 12 sacks, 11 PBU, 4 FR, 2 TD, 7 FF
— 2023: 41 tackles, 10 solo, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack, 4 PBU, 1 FR, 1 TD
— 52 games/38 starts
— First Team All-ACC – 2023
— Team Captain (2021, 2022, 2023)
— Third Team All-American 2022 (College Football Network)
— Academic All-ACC and National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society honoree (2022)
— Academic All-ACC and CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree (2021)
— Two-time team Defensive Lineman of the Year Award and Steve Brooks Captain Award
— Also played baseball in high school
— Majoring in psychology while minoring in education and theater studies
— Member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee Student-Athlete Connection Group for the 2021-22 season
— Father DeWayne, Sr. was a three-year letterman at Ohio State
— Grandfather Raymond was four-year letterman in football and track at Youngstown State
— Birthday December 10, 2000 (23)

Tape Breakdown

DeWayne Carter is a three-year starter from the ACC. He played primarily as an interior defensive tackle but was also used as a defensive end. Along the defensive line, he had playing time from the nose tackle out to the five-technique shaded to the outside of the tackle.

As a pass rusher, he has good pad level and initial leg drive. Primarily, he rushed from a four-point stance but occasionally would stand up on the edge. He has very good play strength and will try a variety of pass-rush moves, including spin, cross-chop, and chop/rip. His go-to move is the bull rush. He has good hand placement and leverage to drive back the offensive lineman into the backfield. On twists and stunts, he was solid as the penetrator to open up lanes and displayed solid quickness as the looper. When he has a lane to the quarterback, he has good acceleration and pursues well. He has a good awareness on screens to identify and chase. When the pass rush doesn’t work, he consistently gets his hands up to try and knock down the throw.

At his best with the bull rush, here are some samples of his strength.

Carter’s spin move got better as the season progressed. This was the best one of the games I watched.

Here is an example of Carter’s screen awareness.

Against the run, he was asked to penetrate gaps in a 1-gap scheme and stack and shed in a two-gap scheme. At the snap, he has solid pad level and a solid swim move he will use to try to get in the backfield. On plays to the outside, he works hard to string it out and make a play. As a two-gap defender, he has very good play strength and hand strength to engage linemen. He displays a good anchor versus double team blocks and a solid awareness of blocks coming from his sides. He can set the edge and take on pulling blockers to clog lanes. Overall, he is a good tackler, minimizing yards after contact.

A couple of examples of Carter making plays on the outside.

Strength is one of his best traits, and here he withstands the double team block and splits them to make the tackle.

Against the run and pass, his snap quickness is just adequate, consistently a tick slow getting off the line. When rushing the passer, he has marginal hand usage to counter the blocker’s hands. The rest of his pass rush plan needs to show improvement to develop secondary moves. He doesn’t string moves together when his first move doesn’t work and will stop his feet, curtailing his rush. When trying to corner, he has a marginal ankle bend to flatten to the quarterback.

He is inconsistent with his eyes and will lose the ball, especially when trying to shoot gaps. His lateral agility once in the backfield is marginal, and he doesn’t change direction well. He needs to be better with his hands to keep defenders off of him. Improvement in his ability and timing to disengage from blocks, as well as getting over down block, is essential. When chasing the run, his motor improved this season, but he doesn’t always give chase.

On this play, Carter is in great shape, but you’d like to see him shed this block faster and get into the gap with the ball.

Carter makes a nice move to get into the backfield and has the runner in his sights but can’t make the stop.

Conclusion

Overall, Carter plays with good pad level and leg drive. His best pass rush is a bull rush, but other rushes have potential for fine-tuning. He is solid on twists and stunts and displays good acceleration to the quarterback. His mental processing is good on screens, and he gets his hands in passing lanes. He has experience in one and two-gap schemes and up and down the defensive line. Against the run, he has a solid swim over blocks and has the strength to manage double-team blocks.

Areas to improve include getting quicker at the snap and quicker to disengage from blocks. His hand usage overall will help him in all phases. Stacking pass-rush moves together to counter when the first one doesn’t work will help him get to the quarterback more often. Eye discipline versus the run and keeping the motor running will get him around the ball more consistently.

Carter’s scheme experience and versatility along the line will make him a valuable asset. Teams are always looking for interior pass rushers. His main position would be as a 3-tech defensive tackle. The best fit would be in a two-gap scheme to use his play strength to control blockers and keep linebackers clean.

While the Steelers are likely looking for a Cam Heyward-type player, Carter is more along the line of Larry Ogunjobi. Still valuable but possibly not what they are looking for in this draft. He could be a rotational player initially who becomes a starter in a year or two.

For a player comp I will go with Justin Jones. Strong at the point of attack and versatile with similar measurables.

Projection: Early Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 7.6 Potential Starter/Good Backup (4th Round)
Games Watched: 2022 – At Boston College, vs Wake Forest; 2023 vs Clemson, at Florida State, at North Carolina