2007 | NFL Draft | Adam Carriker - DE
by oiler on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 09:18am
Following a strong week of practice at the 2007 Senior Bowl, former Nebraska defensive end Adam Carriker had one final chance to prove himself to be a first round value this past weekend at the Combine.
His results from Indianapolis were solid: 33 bench reps (T-3rd among DLs), 33.5 vertical jump (8th), 4.18 short shuttle (2nd), 7.06 three cone (T-2nd), and a 4.84 forty time (did not end up in the top 10 among DLs, but still a solid time for his size and equal to the time of Quentin Moses, a equally regarded DE/OLB prospect who weighs almost 50 pounds lighter than Carriker).
Along with his size (6′6, 296), Carriker’s uses excellent quickness off the line to dominate offensive lineman. And even though he model’s
himself after fellow Nebraska alumni Grant Wistrom and Kyle Vanderbosch, Carriker’s extra 2 inches in height and 20 pounds of leverage remind others more of Richard Seymour. Like Seymour, Carriker’s future in the NFL is as a base 3-4 DE who can be moved all around the front seven to create mismatches. Carriker is quick enough to play DE in a 4-3, but unless a team is utilizing his versatility, their wasting the best of Carriker’s talents as a football player.
A former high school team captain, quarterback, and standout defensive end, Carriker is known to have a strong work ethic and prior to his senior season at Nebraska, he cleaned up his diet and added a solid 10 pounds of muscle to improve his speed and strength.
Scouts who try to find a weakness in his game end up only reaching for technique related faults that will surely be tightened up once he gets to the next level.