Intel & Eval: The Lewis Carter file

Welcome to Intel & Eval, where Auburn Live provides recruiting juice and offers thoughts about a prospect’s ability. Today’s subject: 4-star linebacker Lewis Carter of Tampa Catholic (Fla.). Auburn Live’s Keith Niebuhr watched Carter play in person on Friday night.

First, we start with the intel …

*At this time, Carter, the No. 14 linebacker in the country for the On3 Consensus, seems to be pretty locked in with his commitment to Oklahoma. He committed to the Sooners on July 16 and doesn’t seem to have wavered any. Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has been highly involved and that is big in this recruitment. So is the fact Venables has always coached linebackers. The Sooners don’t want their commits visiting other schools and that’s another factor/issue here. Nonetheless, Auburn continues to heavily recruit Carter. Tigers linebackers coach Christian Robinson is the point man but recently head coach Bryan Harsin got involved. Additionally, Auburn general manager Drew Fabianich has been in regular contact with Carter’s coach, former Auburn receiver Jeris McIntyre. We’ve learned Auburn is working hard to get Carter back on campus (he officially visited in June) and the Tigers hope he visits next weekend’s game vs. LSU. Flipping Carter certainly will not be easy. Not only is Carter high on Oklahoma, but sources tell us his family is, too. But the Tigers are battling and if he visits again, anything is possible — provided Robinson doesn’t go anywhere.

Now, for the eval …

Here are three things I liked about Carter in Friday night’s Tampa Catholic win over Tampa Berkeley Prep:

1-His movement. I loved his explosion, his acceleration and his overall field speed. Carter is a true sideline-to-sideline backer who covered the field with relative ease. He shot through gaps quickly, covered a great amount of ground in very little time and was solid in pass coverage, showing solid footwork. More than once, I saw him hit that extra gear, including on the play below when he recorded a tackle in space. He even showed some of that burst at running back.

4* Sooners Lb commit @LewisCarter_4 with great pursuit and a physical tackle. No. 4 in green. HUGE Auburn target: pic.twitter.com/DGjcDuyKCj

— Keith Niebuhr (@KeithNiebuhr) September 23, 2022

2-His physicality and toughness. This is a true football player. He hits the ball carrier with force. He slams into blockers and quickly disengages. He’ll lower his shoulder and crush someone. And he has no problem getting in there and mixing it up with offensive linemen. He appears to like contact — and never shies away from it. More than once, he shed blocks and made tackles. 

3-His motor. One word to describe Carter: relentless. One play gave me the perfect example of that. As Carter went to his left to attempt a tackle, the running back cut back to Carter’s right and headed toward the opposite sideline. Carter didn’t quit on the play. He changed direction in an instant (another strength of his), sprinted back toward the action and nearly made the tackle. His pursuit never stopped despite seemingly being out of the play early on.

Now, here’s one concern …

It’s a small one to be honest. I came away from this game thinking Carter is every bit as good if not better than his rating but if there is one concern it’s his size. But it’s not really a major concern at all. Even at 6-foot and 196 pounds, he plays bigger than that. To some evaluators, size may be a little bit of an issue. To me, it’s not a big deal. Overall, this is a really good-looking prospect.