Army to the NFL: Andre Carter II poised to make history as sought-after draft prospect

INDIANAPOLIS – "I mean, I feel like it's pretty cool to blow stuff up."

Without further context, that might be the kind of quote any NFL defensive coordinator would love to hear from a linebacker on his team's draft board – especially one who can detonate quarterbacks and opposing game plans.

But Andre Carter II said it in reference to his post-football career ... which will be as a U.S. Army field artillery officer. But before he starts sending shells, rockets and/or missiles downrange, Carter is positioned to be the second U.S. Military Academy player selected in the common-draft era (since 1967) and almost certainly will be West Point's earliest entry since former Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis was taken second overall by the Detroit Lions in 1947.

"Playing in the NFL was always my dream," Carter said Wednesday at the league's annual scouting combine. "It's always been a dream of mine to be in this situation."

Yet it's one players from service academies, West Point in particular, rarely find themselves in. Linebacker Caleb Campbell was taken in the seventh round, also by Detroit, in 2008 and remains the only Army player drafted in the Super Bowl era, which dates to the 1966 season.

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The five-year military commitment service academy players incur after graduating has long been a deterrent to not only drafting them but a hindrance in terms of recruiting top-tier talent to those programs in the first place. Former Navy running back Napoleon McCallum, a fourth-rounder in 1986, is currently the only player plucked from Army, Navy or Air Force before Round 5 in the common-draft era.

But the Department of Defense has relaxed its requirement in recent years, insomuch as football players can defer their military service until their NFL careers are complete.

In Carter's case, that could take a while.

The 6-6, 252-pounder tallied 15½ sacks in 2021, second in the nation behind Alabama star Will Anderson Jr., who's expected to be a top-five pick in this year's draft. The effort earned Carter a spot on that season's third-team All-American squad.

"He's a talented athlete. He has crazy-athletic attributes, and so that's gonna help him," NFL Network draft analyst Bucky Brooks told USA TODAY Sports.

"Super versatile. He's a rare guy that can play either from a stand-up position or in a three-point (stance). I think he is one of those guys, that when you think about a 3-4 defense – kinda being a hybrid player – he's a perfect fit."

Thursday's combine workout will likely be Carter's first exposure to a lot of teams and scouts, and he plans to use the platform as a showcase for himself and his school.

"I want to represent the Military Academy, the Army with the utmost respect while I'm playing," said Carter, "just because it's given me so much, and I'm really grateful for the opportunity."

Carter's background will present NFL teams with an interesting decision matrix.

Certainly, he was rarely faced with top-tier competition. He also tailed off to 3½ sacks in his senior season.

Asked if his declining production was due to more blockers and offenses geared to stop him, Carter – like any good military officer – took full accountability.

"No, I mean I feel like those are all excuses," he said. "We obviously didn't have a great year.

"There's areas that I need to improve on to get better."

(However, like any Army man worth his salt, Carter did note the 2022 Black Knights ended their season by beating Navy.)

Yet his upside is also tantalizing.

The demands of military training and fitness requirements expected of all officers, particularly young ones, make it difficult for service academy players to carry extra weight or certainly maintain it out of season.

"That's something that I'm really looking forward to, getting with an NFL team and really getting in the weight room and not having to lose weight every summer for summer trainings and stuff like that," said Carter. "So I'm really looking forward to seeing my potential in the weight room and seeing how much muscle I can put on."

And you can bet he'll be organized, prepared, punctual and ready to synthesize his next playbook.

Carter's typical day at West Point included a 6:30 a.m. wakeup, followed by classes until noon and lunch. Next was football mode – practice, workouts, treatment, meetings and dinner until 8 or 9 p.m. Then it was time for homework and military responsibilities.

More recently, he's also been shoehorning a 50-minute drive (each way) to New Jersey's Parisi Speed School to prepare for the combine, an event many of his peers work on exclusively after their college football careers end.

Carter continues to take classes and is on track to graduate from a school he selected because of its rigorous academic requirements and the opportunity it afforded him to play at the Division I level.

Simply defending Patrick Mahomes should be a piece of cake, right?

"Being at the Academy prepared me for a lot of things," said Carter. "The biggest thing for me is the ability to manage a lot of things at once. Being at the Academy, you've gotta manage academics, football and then also your military responsibilities. So that's something I'll take with me to the NFL, when I'm a field artillery officer in the Army and then for the rest of my life."

Carter likens his frame and skill set to Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Leonard Floyd, who was selected with the ninth overall pick of the 2016 draft by the Chicago Bears.

Brooks doesn't think Carter will go that early, but expects he'll be off the board early in Day 2.

"Where I think he goes, somewhere in the mid-second round," said Brooks, noting Carter's ability as a disruptor. "I think he has an opportunity to be a guy that goes maybe sooner than expected."

A sense of humor also never hurts in an NFL locker room.

Asked about his academic ranking among his classmates, Carter replied: "I would say I was towards the latter half of the class. You know, we've got the best and the brightest up at West Point. Yeah, I wasn't a Rhodes Scholar or anything like that, to say the least."

And after he serves his next football team, he's relishing the opportunity to serve his country.

Once football is done, Carter will head to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for his artillery basic training before joining a unit based there. He also plans to attempt completing some of the Army's more elite specialty schools, including airborne, air assault and Ranger training.

"I feel like there's a lot of stuff that, from the military and the Army, that applies to football," said Carter. "Obviously the stakes are a lot greater in the Army – lives are on the line. I try to take stuff I learned from the Army – not only in football, but in my life – and try to really live those Army values."

An approach that should serve him well in each of his next two careers ... especially if he has to blow some stuff up.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Andre Carter II set to make NFL draft history as rare Army product