The Debrief, 8/4/22: Army’s Andre Carter makes PFF preseason All-American team

On Monday, Pro Football Focus announced its preseason All-American team and placed Carter on its second team. He is the only Service Academy player to make the list.

Welcome to the Debrief, a semi-regular-ish download of news related to sports at the Service Academies, and the intersection of sports and the military.

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Talent evaluators in college football are noticing Andre Carter — the Army edge rusher entering his senior campaign at West Point.

On Monday, Pro Football Focus announced its preseason All-American team and placed Carter on its second team. He is the only Service Academy player to make the list.

A former two-star recruit from Missouri City, Texas, the 6-foot-7 Carter burst onto the scene last season by registering 15.5 sacks – a single season record for the Black Knights. In all, he had 17 tackles-for-loss, two pass breakups, four forced fumbles and a recovery for Army in 2021.

In addition to PFF, he has also been named a preseason All-American by the Sporting News, Athlon and Phil Steele. Many are projecting Carter to be a high pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he could be the highest Service Academy player selected in some time. Since 1986, no player has been selected higher than Navy’s Napoleon McCallum, picked at No. 108 overall by the Raiders.

Sports Illustrated’s draft evaluators have summed up Carter as: “An uber-athletic, undersized linebacker whose heart and intensity compensate for some of his physical limitations—a natural born leader.”

Army has had one player drafted this century, and hasn’t had a first-round pick since 1947.

Notes and links

• Former Air Force baseball player Paul Skenes has landed at LSU, according to ESPN Lafayette. Skenes pitched and caught for the Falcons last season, going 10-3 with a 2.73 ERA on the mound and batting .314 with 13 home runs.
• The Southern Maryland Chronicle has more on the death of Carl Tamulevich, who lettered in football and lacrosse for Navy in the late 1960s.
• Orlando was passed over in the recent bids handed out for future Army-Navy games, but as the Orlando Sentinel reports, the city (namely, Florida Citrus Sports) is still interested in hosting the greatest rivalry in college football.
• Here’s what Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said of playing against Navy, via the Commercial Appeal: “I’m glad we get to play them year in and year out, but sometimes that takes a lot of your offseason schedule to make sure you’re reviewing it because you don’t want to show up the week before Navy like, ‘All right, here we go.’”
• Navy will no longer play Marshall in 2023, according to FBSchedules. The Mids were supposed to play in Huntington, WV next season – a return visit from last season’s opener against the Herd in Annapolis – but Navy will now host FCS side Wagner instead. Navy and Wagner have never played each other in football. The Mids’ non-conference schedules are full through 2025.
• Navy has hired Tim Reilly as its new pitching coach for the baseball team. He was previously the head coach at Lafayette.
• You can probably guess who Bill Belichick will be rooting for when Gillette Stadium hosts the Army-Navy game in 2023. (Patriots.com)
• Here’s Troy Calhoun on Air Force’s first football practice of the fall.
• Jamey Chadwell, the head coach of Coastal Carolina, is confident that his quarterback will be ready for the season-opener vs. Army, he tells the Post & Courier.