Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Barrett Carter will go into next season as one of the top linebacker tandems in college football.

Some believe there’s not one better.

Pro Football Focus, for example, has opined that there’s not a better duo in the sport for the 2023 season. That’s because PFF has ranked Trotter as the nation’s top returning linebacker and Carter as the fifth-best. They’re the only teammates to appear on PFF’s top-10 list at the position.

Asked about that ranking earlier this spring, Trotter said, while flattered, he’s not one to think too much about the fickle nature of outside opinions.

“Definitely think it’s a blessing to be able to be ranked like that and a blessing for me and Barrett to be ranked that high, but I like to keep that in the back of my mind and take it with a grain of salt,” Trotter said. “Just try to keep working and keep grinding.

“We both just try to compete every day to make each other better, and I feel like that’s how you get better and how you keep that consistency with that high level of play. Not being full or being satisfied with where you’re ranked at because the next day you could be ranked low because you’re not doing what you’ve got to do day in and day out.”

Carter said the ranking is indicative of the mindset that he and his teammate play with on Saturdays.

“We don’t really pay attention to what everyone wants to say. We’ll leave that to the people to say, whatever they want, about us,” Carter said. “But that’s just the confidence we step on to the field with, that we’re the best duo to play in college football. I guess we’ll leave that to the people to decide, but as far as our confidence and our mindset, that’s how we step out onto the field every day.”

In his first season as James Skalski’s successor in the middle, Trotter led the team with 92 tackles and 13.5 tackles for loss. He also had 6.5 sacks and six pass breakups. Carter, who’s making the move to the Will position from the Sam/nickel spot, was third on the team in tackles (77) and second in pass breakups (8).

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