STRENGTHS
Carlos has good overall talent to play any one of the defensive line positions in any style of defense. He shows on film the ability to rush the passer from any angle because he has decent foot speed. He looks to be in good football shape and is smart and recognizes screens very quickly. Carlos works well with his teammates on stunts and blitzes and is eager to do the grunt work that allows his teammates to make plays. He seems to understand how the front seven works beyond just his position or the players to each side of him. He has the strength to push the pocket and can play 2 gap defenses to stuff the run. Although Carlos has this type talent he still has a lot to learn to become a finisher.

CONCERNS
Carlos is what I call a “settler” That’s a player who settles for being double teamed. He settles for not getting off the line on every snap and just digs in on the line of scrimmage. Carlos has very poor hand usage and doesn’t free himself up from blocks and just settles once his initial push has been challenged. He doesn’t have a second move when rushing the passer and if he did he could rush the passer from different positions in spite of the fact he is tight in the hips and struggles to change directions going forward. Don’t miss –understand, Carlos is not lazy and gives good effort his problem is mentally settling for not reaching his goals on the field. Or maybe he doesn’t have any goals!

BOTTOM LINE
Carlos has plenty of talent although I do wonder if he believes that because he has always played with teammates who have exceptional athletic talent and this could be the reason he has not adopted that killer instincts to finish plays. I really do think a good coach who takes Carlos under his wing can make him believe that he can be much better than he is right now. He’s not a speed rusher but he could be a power rusher who gives you 5 to 8 sacks a year. He has to learn better hand usage to be considered more than just a rotation defensive lineman that I believe most teams think that he is right now. The biggest problem for me is how long it will take for Carlos to reach “the perceived, potential impact” that I see for him? My guess is it will take at least the length of his first contract. Hopefully I’m wrong about that, because I really think this guy has impact talent as a defensive lineman for the team that selects him. Like I said…he’s not lazy, he’s not taking downs off, he’s just “Settling”.

Drew Boylhart  MAR.2017