ESPN High on Tiger Defensive Star Entering ‘24 Season
By: Staff Report January 23, 2024

ESPN is high on this returning Clemson star heading into next season.

Barrett Carter is projected by ESPN to be among the best of the best college football players in 2024.

This week, the big-time linebacker was named to ESPN’s Way-Too-Early All-America team for the 2024 campaign after he decided not to declare for April’s NFL Draft, and instead return for his senior year with the Tigers.

Carter was selected to the Way-Too-Early All-America team as a first-teamer.

“Although he was overshadowed by Jeremiah Trotter Jr. last season, Carter decided to return as the leader of Clemson’s defense and one of college football’s most versatile linebackers instead of entering the NFL draft,” ESPN’s Chris Low wrote. “He has nine sacks and 12 pass breakups over the past two seasons and is equally effective on both running and passing downs.”

A second-team All-ACC selection in 2023, Carter ranked second on the team in tackles (67) and was credited with 9.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, six pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery over 12 games (all starts).

The 6-foot-1, 230-pounder put an exclamation point on his junior campaign with an impressive performance in Clemson’s Gator Bowl victory over Kentucky on Dec. 29, when he posted four tackles (0.5 for loss), a half-sack, three pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery.

A 2022 All-American, Carter entered the Gator Bowl credited by the coaching staff with 166 tackles (20.5 for loss), 8.5 sacks, 12 pass breakups, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and fumble recovery across 36 games (25 starts). He stood alongside Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and North Carolina’s Cedric Gray as the only three FBS players to post 19 or more tackles for loss, 10-plus passes defensed, multiple forced fumbles and multiple interceptions across the 2022-23 seasons.

Carter earned an AP All-Bowl Team selection for his dominant performance in the Gator Bowl. He was recently ranked as the top linebacker prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class by ESPN’s Matt Miller.