WR Devin Carter could be inline to be one of the fattest volume pigs to ever come through Morgan Town
One of the under-the-radar transfers this offseason was former NC State WR Devin Carter’s move to West Virginia (WVU). CFF managers can be forgiven for not knowing the name Devin Carter. His career with the Wolfpack was fairly unremarkable.
A 6’3”, 215 lb. behemoth out of Clayton, NC, Carter began his college football (CFB) career with the Wolfpack during the 2018 season. His best statistical season came in 2021, in which he caught 31 passes (63 targets) for 556 yards and six TDs in twelve games.
This offseason, the fifth-year senior decided it was time for a change and moved up the road to WVU. You’ll want to stick around to hear what the coaches have been saying about him in the section after next, but first a look at the system.
Coaching & System
Head coach Neal Brown has been with the Mountaineers since 2019. Over that span, he has had zero 1,000-yard WRs. However, last season WVU had three separate WRs who each had strong stretches of CFF performance (Sam James, Kaden Prather, and Bryce Ford-Wheaton).
Each of those players is no longer on the roster, and this program is in desperate need of an alpha WR to step up. Brown’s OC — Chad Scott, has been with him at WVU since 2019, joining as the co-OC/RBs coach. In 2022, Scott took a step back and served as the run game coordinator/RBs coach, but was promoted again this offseason to OC. Scott is also still serving as the RBs coach. It stands to reason that the offense will be more run-oriented.
Remarkably, Brown failed to have a 1,000-yard WR during his four-year stint at Troy prior to WVU. He did have two in one season while he served as the OC at Texas Tech during the 2012 season, though.
So what we’ve seen so far is not ideal. Actually, it’s pretty bad. Normally I would stop right here and forget about Carter for CFF. But it sounds like he’s been making waves this spring… and that I can’t ignore.
WR Devin Carter — 6’3”, 215 lbs.
The former three-star turned four-star in the portal is a massive framed receiver. As mentioned in the preamble, his career has been pretty pedestrian so far. This offseason, he made the move to WVU, and the reports from spring are very positive.
Here’s a quote from Brown on Carter from April:
We’ve got to replace a lot of those catches, a lot of those targets (speaking of the three WRs that have left). . . We thought he could be a front-line guy and be a one. And through three practices that’s only been the truth so far . . . He’s delivered, he’s made some big time plays.
He’s gone out and made a bunch of plays. He’s made a lot of plays and a lot of contested catches.
Here is an excerpt from a West Virginia beat report:
Carter has stood out above all of the other pass catchers on the roster through the early stages of spring practice and has made it routine to make plays at all levels of the field. At 6’3″ and 215-pounds, Carter has ideal size at the position and understands how to use his body to create space.
Carter arrived in Morgantown at the mid-term and immediately embraced the idea of being a leader in the wide receiver room by taking the bull by the horns from a work ethic standpoint. He was at the center of things during winter workouts and maintained a humble approach the entire time.
WVU WRs coach Bilal Marshal provided this quote:
It’s crucial to have somebody that has been a four-year starter and he knows what big time football looks like and he’s able to lead by example and pull guys along.
I can’t ignore a player who is generating this much buzz in spring camp. I also have an affinity for transfer players who I believe are undervalued. I’d prefer there to be a stronger track record from the WVU staff with respect to WR production. However, every year in CFF, there are players who emerge in systems that don’t necessarily have patterns of high usage for the position in question. In the case of WVU, the fact that they lost so much from the 2022 team in that WR room means the opening for Carter to make a mark next season is quite large.
Concerns
- I am not very familiar with the QB situation currently at WVU. My inkling is that Garrett Green will be the starter in 2023. Green took over late last season, and in his first two starts, he scored 34.8 and 28.1 FPs (fucking hell, do I need to do a profile on Green now?!). The dream run came to an end in WVU’s season finale, where Green would only score 11.1 points vs. Oklahoma State (he might have been injured in this game — only attempted 14 passes and six runs).
- This one is probably obvious: the system track record here is terrible. But we at least have some hope based on that 2012 Texas Tech season, where Brown had two 1,000-yard receivers.
- WVU could be a very bad team this season. That might be good from a pass-usage standpoint. But it could also mean they struggle to score and pull players early in garbage time.
- They also have a converted TE; I believe his name is… CJ Donaldson(?) who is supposed to be a pretty good player and figures to be a fixture in this offense at the RB position (who knows where you might find a profile on him in the future…). This poor team might only have enough juice to support him in CFF.
Devin Carter is on my watch list. I don’t know if I’ve been convinced (by myself…?) to draft him this summer. He’ll potentially be someone I target in deeper CFF leagues if I’m in those. At the very least, he’s worth a spot on my shortlist, and if he pops week one, I’ll be ready to put in a waiver (unfortunately, the effectiveness of this strategy is essentially nullified by the fact that I’m publishing this article).
