In any football game, spectators are drawn to the flash plays. Big throws for touchdowns, interceptions, long runs, and sacks highlight the action. And while skill players draw a lot of the eyeballs, all 11 players on the field will factor into a team’s success or failure.
That’s true of nose tackles like UVa’s Jahmeer Carter, a player who may not be able to put up big-time pass-rush stats because of how he plays but can certainly make a big impact on the game.
Carter, an imposing interior lineman at 6-foot-2, 313 pounds, is heading into his fourth season as a Cavalier having factored in on the defensive line in the previous three campaigns.
In 2022, he started all 10 games and recorded 29 tackles, with nine solo stops.
Despite the fact that Carter doesn’t always get to make flash plays, he’s someone who is willing to do what it takes to make the defense successful.
“It’s a tough job. Obviously sometimes it can be overlooked,” Carter said of playing nose tackle. “But having a sense of pride in what I’m able to do, and knowing that guys behind me or beside me are able to make plays off of what I did, is something I take pride in.”
While players on both sides of the ball can be driven by stats, Carter plays a position where his primary job is to eat up blockers and free up his teammates to make plays against both the run and the pass. Because of that, Carter has to take an unselfish, team-first mindset into every snap.
“I feel like playing interior you kind of have to,” the Maryland native explained. “Because if I’m taking on a double team someone else behind me is making a play. So overall the defense is successful on that rep or play.”
Linebacker Trey McDonald played behind Carter in the spring, and following the Spring Game last month he talked about the benefits of playing behind a space-eating defensive tackle.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “You see that big butt in front of you and you’re like ‘I am not getting touched this play,’ and I love that. Jahmeer is always harping on me, trying to take off the double teams from him. He likes to get that single block so that he can get that tackle. But I always like when he keeps those double teams on so that I don’t get blocked.”
While UVa’s pass defense has to replace several key players heading into the fall, the run defense could be the key to having another successful season on that side of the ball. That’s where Carter’s ability to control the line of scrimmage comes into play for the Hoos.
“It means everything over the course of a game,” he said of being able to stop the run. “Being able to dominate the line of scrimmage, and understanding that in this era of college (football), everyone runs the ball now. So being able to stop that early and force them to pass the ball, is something that helps.”
After the Spring Game defensive coordinator John Rudzinski joked that the strength staff would need to find more weights for Carter to use this summer. Interior defensive linemen need that strength to be successful on game days and for Carter, his improvement on the field started in the weight room.
“For me, it’s all about focusing on the little details,” he explained. “In the weight room, I’m still trying to find ways to get past the hump where I’m at right now. Being a guy that someone can look up to, being a role model or an inspiration, is something that I look forward to this offseason.”
For many players, true strength training begins at the college level. That wasn’t the case for Carter, who had years of exposure to weight training through his father, Ferron. The elder Carter is a professional strength coach in Maryland that has worked with a number of college teams and professional athletes. Carter got to see his dad work with former NFL players like Shawn Merriman, Vernon Davis and Ed Reed, and he learned a lot about work ethic from watching those players work out with his father.
“Being around a bunch of NFL guys, because that’s what he was a part of for a little bit, I got to see how hard they work and how seriously they took the offseason,” the UVa D-lineman explained. “So that was a great foundation up until college when I was able to make my own decisions a little bit.”
While Carter has been focused on his own improvement, he felt confident in the defense as a whole coming out of spring practice. There are plenty of returnees and new faces that are learning to play together heading into the 2023 season.
“Collectively we made a lot of strides,” he said last month. “A lot of young guys stepped up. The older guys including myself, we’ve continued to find ways to push everyone else along. But looking forward, I look forward to seeing what everybody else is capable of doing this offseason as we continue to get better.”
He also saw some improvement from his counterparts on the offensive line as well during the spring.
“I think they’ve made a lot of growth, from the start,” Carter said of the offensive line. “Obviously it’s a new group so they’re still getting used to working together. But I’m proud to see where they’ve come from, with adversity over the offseason, and fitting new pieces everywhere.”
With spring ball over and the season fast approaching Carter and the Cavaliers will soon be back at Scott Stadium in front of fans. Typically a spring game is more of an open practice than anything else, a dress rehearsal for the real thing. But given everything Carter and his teammates went through during the end of the season, last month’s game meant a lot more.
“It was a lot of emotion,” he recalled. “But being grateful day by day, and remembering where we started and where we are now, it’s a thing that we’re all really proud of, and I’m proud personally, too.
“Scott Stadium has a little bit different meaning than practicing on a practice field,” Carter added. “It was exciting to see the fans back in the stands. And other than that, it was a great time to be back.”
