NFL Draft Profile: Carson Wells, EDGE, Colorado Buffaloes
#26
Pos: EDGE
Ht: 6025
Wt: 250
Hand: 0928
Arm: 3218
Wing: 7868
DOB:
Eligibility: 2022
Bushnell, FL
South Sumter High School
Carson Wells
Colorado Buffaloes
One Liner:
Carson Wells is a versatile edge/LB prospect that shows very good football intelligence and is an excellent edge setter.
Pros:
Carson Wells shows good versatility to line up as a true edge defender and an off ball linebacker. Best fit as a weak side edge defender in a 3-4 scheme. He is very good vs inside and outside runs. He sets the edge with excellent base, hand usage and leverage. He is nuanced with extending his arms to keep his chest clean while maintaining half man relationship while locating the ball carrier. Good gap discipline and overall processing of run concepts. Shows the instincts to knife inside when he knows and LB can scrape over the top. Overall, good length and UOH at the poa in the run game. Good hand strength and has some pop in his punches. Instinctive to get his hands up and knock down passes at the LOS and shows some plus ball skills at his position. Takes good aiming points with good leverage at the POA. Good flat cover player in zone. Proactive zone awareness and shows plus hands to disrupt route timings and pass off to other zones while still processing route concepts. He was asked to man up TE’s and carry them vertically as an edge defender. Keys and diagnoses screens well and shows good effort. Best pass rush move is speed to power. He also has a swipe rip move with a long arm as his counter. He can definitely be a special teams player at the next level.
Cons:
Lacks high end athleticism and explosiveness. The limited athleticism shows up as a pass rusher not having the most flexibility and burst. Too many pass rushes where he gets neutralized. He only has three moves and they aren’t always effective. Lacks long speed and hip fluidity to play man to man coverage. Some teams will see him as a tweener and think he is too small to play edge and not athletic enough to play off ball linebacker.
Summary:
Carson Wells projects to be a solid backup at the next level that will be valuable as an early down player vs the run. He wins with his length, technical ability, and instincts. He could develop into an average three down starter. The limited athleticism will never allow him to be a great pass rusher. Scheme versatile teams will love what he will bring to the table and he will make a special teams impact.
Background:
Carson Wells was born February 20th, 1999 in Inverness Florida. He volunteered at the Southlake County Youth Center. He was valedictorian in his high school class with a weighted 4.6 GPA. He graduated from Colorado University with a degree in both accounting and finance. In high school, he played MLB, OLB and defensive end. The Orlando Sentinel named him defensive player of the year in Central Florida. Redshirted in 2017 because he had an infection in his leg. In 2018 he played in all 12 games starting 6 of them. Finished the season with 4.5 sacks and 6 tackles for loss and led the team with 13 stops on third down. He started 10 of 12 games in 2019 missing two with an injury. In 2020 he started all six games and was named first team all pac 12. Finished this season with 34 tackles and 14 of them were for losses. In 2021 he earned 2nd team all pac 12 honors. He is playing in the east-west shrine game.
Grades:
Current Player Value/Potential Player Value
7.0/7.9
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