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The inside story: why the Titans moved longtime end Kevin Carter to tackle—and why they expect him to flourish

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Dennis Dillon

Five or six snaps can get obscured when you're watching 60 or 70 plays in a game. But put those five or six snaps from a season's worth of games on one tape, and a clear picture emerges.

"It's sort of like watching a plant grow;' says Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. "If you sit there and watch it every single day, you don't see the growth. But if you watch the time-lapse process, you see the progress it's made"

That's what happened a few weeks after the 2003 season when Schwartz viewed "cutups" of the Titans' "Turbo" package, which they used in passing situations. In that package, left end Kevin Carter slid inside to left tackle. Carter was impressive in those situations. He was so impressive Schwartz had an epiphany: Why not play Carter at tackle full time?

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So after playing mostly end in his first nine seasons, Carter, 31, now is a full-time tackle. Moving him inside was partly a reaction to the recent evolution in the passing game. Quarterbacks now are taking shorter drops and getting passes off more quickly. That strategy often negates the impact of a speed rusher coming off the perimeter.

"You've got to be able to turn the corner and sort of be an outside linebacker type. That's just not me. I'm better suited at this point in my career to play tackle" says Carter, who had two tackles, six assists, five quarterback pressures, one pass defense and half a sack in the Titans' first two games.

Now Carter has a shorter path to the quarterback. At 6-5,290, he's fast and powerful enough to bolt inside and collapse the pocket. He uses as many as eight different pass-rush moves and is particularly adept with his hands. Carter also is a run stopper who rarely gets knocked off his feet; he led the Titans' linemen in tackles last season.

Carter says he is "inspired" by the position switch. "I'm not just trying to refine my techniques and get better," he says. "I'm challenged by learning a new position."

Among the challenges he faces is trying to defeat different blocking schemes. At end, he usually was matched up against a tackle one-on-one, though sometimes that tackle would get help from a tight end or a running back. At tackle, Carter often will face double-teams or combo blocks between a guard and the center. Opponents will try to move Carter out of his gap or cut him off on a backside running play.

"At tackle, everything is right in your face and happening a lot faster" says Carter. "There's a lot more traffic, and you're looking to get hit a lot sooner.

With his combination of quickness and strength, Carter should be a mismatch for most guards, who typically are less athletic than offensive tackles. And if teams spend their energy trying to double Carter, it should free Albert Haynesworth, the Titans' other tackle, to make plays.

Carter's move to tackle isn't the only change in Tennessee's defensive line. Carlos Hall now starts at right end, replacing Jevon Kearse, and rookie Antwan Odom has taken Carter's old spot at left end.

The Titans had planned to move Carter to tackle weeks before Kearse left for Philadelphia as a free agent and months before they selected three ends in the first four rounds of the draft. In addition to Odom, Tennessee drafted Travis LaBoy, who just now is returning to practice after suffering a concussion, and Bo Schobel, who suffered a broken foot in minicamp and won't be back before the seventh game.

And although Schwartz is eager to watch his young ends grow, he also is excited about the transplanted Carter.

"I really think he's going to be a Pro Bowl tackle," says Schwartz. "There's not much doubt in my mind."

The inside story: why the Titans moved longtime end Kevin Carter to tackle—and why they expect him to flourish

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Dennis Dillon

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