Blue White Illustrated

W hen it comes to his athleticism, Ka- monte Carter de8es conventional wisdom. A towering 6-foot-4 and bulky 260 pounds, Carter started at quarterback as a senior, and now he competes on two sprint relay teams in track and 8eld. Some see 6-4, 260 and think lumbering lineman. Then they see Carter. Considered a four-star athlete by Rivals.com, Carter was recruited by Penn State as a defensive end, but at Gaithers- burg (Md.) High – in addition to QB – Carter played a variety of positions, in- cluding tight end, H-back, linebacker and end. "We were constantly trying to work on his skill set," said Kamonte's father, Aaron, who is the Trojans' defensive coordinator. "We didn't want to mold him into one spot. We wanted to make him a total hy- brid-type athlete. Then [college coaches] can mold him into whatever because he's handled a little bit of everything: dropping into pass coverage, coming o: the edge, 8lling downhill in the weak-side B gap, or C gap." Whether it was on the football 8eld, during track, on the basketball court or on the baseball diamond (Carter used to pitch, too), Aaron never wanted to pi- geonhole his son into a certain position or peg him somewhere only because he was bigger than most of his teammates. Kamonte could run, jump and had the agility to play multiple spots on the 8eld, so instead of limiting him, Aaron let go of the reins and allowed Carter's athleticism to naturally display itself. And then, if everything worked out, let college coaches decide at which position he could succeed most. "Even talking to [defensive line coach Sean] Spencer, they like the idea of him playing quarterback and so many di:erent positions because he understands zone coverages, he understands where it drops from the curl to the 9at," Aaron said. "[Spencer] will be able to drop him as an end, bring him o: the edge, slide him down to a three-technique, even as a fast pass rusher, what they kind of did with Anthony Zettel when they moved him." Carter said he'll probably shed a few pounds during track season, which began in late March, but he aims to weigh around 260 when he enrolls at Penn State this summer. Head coach James Franklin said that Carter has "tremendous growth po- tential," noting that the prospect has the second-largest head of any member of PSU's incoming freshman class. (Offen- sive tackle Sterling Jenkins has the largest.) Because he's already as big as or bigger than most of the defensive ends on the roster – and also because the Lions have needs at defensive tackle – the con- ventional wisdom suggests that he will eventually develop into an interior de- fensive lineman. With Carter, though, conventional wisdom doesn't always hold. "I'm pretty positive that I won't ever be on the interior of the line," he said, "but if that's what they want me to play, that's what I'll play. I'm going in there with the mindset that I'm going to be rushing the passer, playing D-end. "They have always expressed to me about being a defensive end or maybe even an outside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme." The previous coaching sta: thought likewise. When Bill O'Brien and Larry Johnson 8rst started recruiting him at DE, it was the summer before his junior year and he was en route to Georgia for an un- o;cial visit. He went north to Penn State a few weeks later and earned an o:er. From there, Carter forged a relationship with Johnson and came close to commit- ting when he visited for the four-overtime victory over Michigan in 2013. "Feeling Carter gives Nittany Lions many options THE CARTER FILE STATS Played on both sides of the ball at Gaithersburg High, totaling 453 yards of o(ense, 54 tackles and 10 tackles for loss his junior and senior seasons... Also was on the basketball and track teams HONORS Named a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 11 all- around athlete in the country and the No. 4 prospect in Maryland to the star in Shoop's defense. Fitting, as that's the role for which Shoop ulti- mately recruited him. "The way he runs and maneuvers around some of the bigger linemen and tight ends, I think he's going to be a rare breed at that position," Valdez said. During Kelly's most recent conversation with Dwight Galt, the Penn State strength and conditioning coach told him that "he's going to lock me in the weight room." Kelly weighs 210 pounds, but by the time he graduates, he hopes to be 20 to 30 pounds heavier. Syracuse recruited him as a safety, but Kelly likes better his future as a PSU line- backer. "I see something bright," he said. "I see them making me into something scary, and I'm just waiting on it. That's all I'm doing. I'm just waiting on my moment." ■ CLICK HERE to see video of Kelly in action. |

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