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Although Fresno State does not have a top tier prospect in this year’s NFL draft like last year when running back Ryan Mathews was taken in the first round by the San Diego Chargers, Bulldogs head coach Pat Hill said that Chris Carter and Andrew Jackson are the players most likely to be selected.
“Andrew Jackson and Chris Carter are the two right now that are getting the most attention,” Hill said.
Carter, the 2010 Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, enjoyed a sensational senior year as a defensive end after harassing opposing quarterbacks for a team-high 11 sacks, and has impressed NFL scouts enough during the offseason where Hill expects that a team will be willing to use a draft pick on Carter.
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Carter who measured in at 6-foot-1, 248 pounds at the NFL Combine in February lacks prototypical size to play defensive end at the next level, which is one attribute why some teams might stray away from selecting the pass rush specialist.
“His biggest knock was he probably never played linebacker,” Hill said. “He played defensive line and he’s an undersized defensive lineman. So he’s a projection at a new position, which would be the only hold back on him.”
However, Carter did suit up as a linebacker as a sophomore while racking up a career-high 88 tackles. With Carter’s overall body of work at Fresno State, and his tenacity on the field, Hill believes that the ceiling on Carter is high.
“He’s got four great years of production here,” Hill said. “So, Chris has got a really good chance of being drafted.”
While Carter was able to improve his draft stock as a senior, Jackson on the other hand might have seen his stock plummet after missing most of his final season to an injury.
“Andrew missed almost his entire senior year,” Hill said. “Not only did that hurt us as a football team, but it might hold him back a little bit. But he’ll definitely be drafted, and I think he’ll draft at a very good position because he had three years prior to that as great football.”
Matt Weir/Collegian File Photo
From Jackson’s redshirt freshman season to his junior year, the 6-foot-5, 299 pound offensive guard from Grass Valley, Calif., had started 32 straight games as a Bulldog until being injured late into the 2009 season. Despite missing two games, Jackson was still named by conference coaches as a first-team All-WAC performer.
After three productive years as a starter, the future looked bright for Jackson as a senior and many draft experts pegged him as the top interior offensive linemen in the WAC, but he was hit by the injury bug in just the second game of the year against Utah State.
“He just got caught in a pile, and it was an injury that really wasn’t caused by any weaknesses,” Hill said. “It just was a freak accident, so he’s completely rehabbed.”
Carter and Jackson’s path to the NFL might be a tad different, but both have a quality that most NFL teams desire.
“Both young men have their degrees,” Hill said. “They’re both highly intelligent. They’re both fine young men, and I think because of their, not only their playing ability, but of their characteristics, their character qualities are so high that, that’s gonna really add to them being drafted.”