Zach Carter selected 95th overall by Cincinnati Bengals
Zach Carter became the second Florida Gators player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Cincinnati Bengals took Carter 95th overall in the third round.
Carter is the second Gator picked. Cornerback Kaiir Elam went 23rd overall to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.
Carter’s selection marks the 11th-straight NFL Draft a Gators’ defensive lineman was selected in the NFL Draft. That is tied for the second-longest active streak among all schools.
Carter was a huge asset to the Florida Gators the last four seasons. The Tampa native played all over the line of scrimmage. He moved inside and outside when Florida needed depth but found a home at defensive tackle in 2021.
Carter started at defensive tackle in all twelve games this season. He has the ability to play both defensive end and defensive tackle at the next level.
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Carter considered sitting out the 2020 season due to concerns about COVID-19 after friends of his family passed away from complications. After sitting out some practices, he decided to play. Carter led the Gators with five sacks and tied for the team lead with 9.5 tackles for loss among his 36 total stops in 12 games (11 starts).
That success extended into the 2021 season, starting 12 games (32 tackles, 11 tackles for loss with eight sacks, two pass breakups) before opting out of the team’s bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft.
Carter was one of the leaders on the Gators’ roster in 2021. He’ll instantly provide the Bengals with versatility on the defensive line. Carter joins former Florida Gators kicker Evan McPherson and offensive lineman Fred Johnson in Cincinnati.
Zach Carter scouting report
Strengths
- Consistent improvement and production for three years.
- Broad chest and back with burly hips and thighs.
- Physical traits and toughness to play inside or outside.
- Well-crafted rush plan with workable counters ready to go.
- Uses dip-and-rip, bull-and-pull and stab-and-run moves from the edge.
- Rush hands are strong, violent and efficient.
- Interior rush keyed by lateral agility, quick hands and hip flip.
- Leveraged, upward strikes get under blocker’s pads.
- Strains to neutralize drive blocks and secure positioning.
- Upper-body strength and hip torque to displace a base block.
- Pushes forward with secondary effort when his tank is gassed up.
Weaknesses
- Chin out way past his feet during engagement.
- Excessive leaning limits his ability to stack and shed the block.
- Spends too much time on the ground.
- Variance of rush energy and effectiveness during a game.
- Long, early punchers stall out the rush plan.
- Lacks explosiveness to find direct route to quarterback off the edge.
