Auburn Recruiting: DeAndre Carter Prospect Profile

DeAndre Carter is one of college football’s most unique 2024 recruits

The Auburn Tigers need an influx of offensive line talent, and DeAndre Carter is a great start to Auburn's offensive line recruiting. While Hugh Freeze and the Tigers need a grand total of four or five top-notch offensive linemen to join the 2024 recruiting class from the high school, junior college, and the Transfer Portal, he’s one heck of a start.

Here’s a breakdown of Carter’s game and how he will help Auburn’s offensive line make major improvement.

DeAndre Carter

Position

: Offensive Guard

Size

: 6-foot-4, 340 pounds

High School

: Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei

Recruitment: Offers from across the country. SEC, Pac 12, Big 12, Big 10, and ACC offers. It’s a coup for Auburn to land the greater Los Angeles prospect. For the class of 2024, he’s the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and #42 overall player, per ESPN.

Frame: College-ready. Robust and powerful, Carter exemplifies a dominant presence along the trenches. Of note, his legs are huge but also muscle; he’s not a sloppy-looking recruit that’s just big. Shoulders are wide and Carter is quite capable of carrying over 300 pounds without an issue.

With Auburn’s strength and conditioning program, he will be able to take another step forward and be even more muscular. His upside is tremendous.

Athleticism: From the get-go, Carter’s first-step quickness stands out. Taking a horizontal or vertical step, Carter moves much more like a tight end. At 340 pounds, that’s remarkable. It’s also a big reason he’s an elite recruit. He moves up to the linebacker level with ease.

Further, Carter keeps a good low blocking base when tracking down second-level defenders. Watching him move so effortlessly – at his size – makes one rewind the tape and rewatch Carter’s film.

Unique Qualities: Back to the first-step quickness, it allows Carter to utilize angle blocks easier than other offensive line prospects; he’s commonly engulfing a defensive tackle before he expects contact. Thus, it allows Carter to position his hands and body in a way to dominate the defender, and the play.

Seeing Carter out in space, that’s a blast! He’s like the proverbial dancing bear. Even attempting to block players who weigh 100 or more pounds less than himself, Carter is able to be step-for-step with those players. They go for a ride once Carter lays his paws on their jerseys and shoulder pads.

Playing Style: A cerebral brute. The best comparison would be Indianapolis Colts All-Pro offensive guard Quenton Nelson. Massive like Carter, Nelson’s 6-foot-5 and 330-pound frame does damage in tight quarters, and he’s also adept at getting out ahead of a running back on a toss sweep or screen pass.

Now, Carter is no place near as technically sound as Nelson. He should not be as technically sound as a mere high school senior. That being the case, even being in the same conversation with one of the NFL’s best overall players is a great sign. One last point regarding Carter’s style of play.

There are times where he attempts to maul his opponent, and then other times, when Carter clearly has the angle, he does not go for the kill shot.

Instead, he takes his time and walls off the opponent and does not allow that defender any chance of moving past him with quickness. Carter is a smart and effective football player.

Position Fit: While athletic enough to play right tackle, Carter will most likely do his best work at offensive guard. He’s not the long-armed offensive tackle prospect that some offensive linemen are, and his natural power, athleticism and frame are better for interior offensive line play.

Another way to define Carter’s position, yes, he can play tackle for the Tigers. He’s a potential All-SEC First Team member as a guard, however.

Long-Term Potential: Carter can be as good as any 2024 offensive line recruit. The God-given size and athleticism are there. Plus, he’s playing for Mater Dei, a program that continually teaches excellent fundamentals. He’s going to walk into the Auburn program far more skilled than most.

Projecting Carter, he will be a multi-year starter for the Tigers and one day walk across the stage of the NFL Draft as a Day 1 or Day 2 selection. There will be a lot of great moments for Carter in an Auburn uniform prior to him becoming a millionaire.

---

Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!

Join the Locked on Auburn Discord

Follow Auburn Daily on Twitter

Like Auburn Daily on Facebook

Subscribe to Locked On Auburn on YouTube

More Auburn Recruiting

5-Star Caleb Cunningham Visiting Auburn

Auburn Commitment Jourdin Crawford Prospect Profile

Jayden Lewis Decommits From Auburn Tigers