the recruit: Darrious Carter

Name: Darrious Carter
Position: DE
Hometown: Indiana, PA
School: Indiana Area
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 200

24/7: 85, three stars; #89 ATH, PA #33
ESPN: 73, three stars; #136 ATH, PA #44, East #192
Rivals: 5.4, two stars
Scout: two stars

Other offers: Temple

As the offseason went on, Mike London continued to address the class's gaping hole at DE by pilfering decent-looking athletes from other schools; that process continued shortly before Christmas Day with Darrious Carter's switch from Temple.  Carter was the second of three DEs to flip-flop to UVA.

The first thing you ought to've noticed here is the number 200, as in, pounds Carter weighs.  This is hilariously light for a defensive end; Eli Harold came in around 210, and this was more than duly noted by most observers, the difference being that Harold was a freak of nature.  Carter, though athletic enough to not only play wide receiver but rack up over 1,000 yards doing so, is not Haroldesque in his freakitude.  ESPN observes that his athleticism is enough to "excite non BCS schools and even possibly some lower level BCS ones."  Hey, that's us.

Carter was recruited to be a pass-rushing DE, though - and like Michael Biesemier, in no small reason because of his frame.  Whereas Biesemier is seen as a prototypical strong-side guy with the ability to bulk up into a run-stopper, Carter is on the other side as a weak-side pass rusher.  He's one of those guys with a long-limbed basketball build, something the coaches like about his potential.  Scout and ESPN agree that he's ok-quick off the line, not high-level in that regard, but note that lack of elite athleticism hasn't stopped him from being a playmaker.

Whatever plays he makes in a UVA uniform will probably have to wait quite a while.  Because he's so extremely lean, Carter is the least likely of the three signed DEs to see the field soonest.  As he's probably not going to be able to explode past ACC tackles the way Harold can, Carter needs to put on probably 30-35 pounds as the barest of minimums.  Probably more like 40-45 before he's hitting his full potential.

The likely long development curve, and the obvious lame-duckitude of the coaching staff, put Carter at risk of being recruited over in a couple years.  Probably more so than most of the rest of the class, which as a group carries various degrees of risk in that regard.  It'll be in his best interest to bulk up as fast as possible.  Carter ought to have three full years of separation between himself and the current sophomores at DE (Harold, Michael Moore, etc.) after what damn well better be a redshirt year, and after that the only DE between them and this class is Jack English, who's more a SDE type if someone doesn't decide he's more a TE type.  So the good news is the path is wide open, and when Carter's a (redshirt) sophomore in 2016, he'll be among the most experienced DEs we have.  Now, that's a really lousy situation for the defensive outlook in general, but if Carter doesn't seize that opportunity, then he was never going to see much time in the first place.