Jets select Pitt offensive tackle Carter Warren in 4th round
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Carter Warren’s loyalty, sadly, was not rewarded after he decided — with his teammates on Pitt’s offensive line — to return for a sixth season in 2022. After eschewing an invitation to the 2023 Senior Bowl, Warren played and started in only the first four games before suffering a season-ending injury.
But that bit of misfortune didn’t erase the reality of Warren’s previous reliability — he started 36 games from 2019 to 2021 — and that as much as anything led the New York Jets to select him in the fourth round of the NFL Draft (120th overall) on Saturday. The sharp instincts that coach Pat Narduzzi repeatedly mentioned during Warren’s time at Pitt, plus his size (6-foot-5 3/8, 316 pounds) and long arms, make him a natural fit for the tackle position in the NFL.
He is the first Pitt offensive lineman to be drafted since tackle Brian O’Neill, who went in the second round to the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.
After sitting out the 2017 and ‘18 seasons, Warren, now 24, started all 13 games at left tackle in 2019. He added eight starts in covid-shortened 2020 season and 14 while helping Pitt win an ACC championship in 2021.
He was named second-team All-ACC in ‘21 when Pitt averaged a school-record 41.4 points and 486.6 yards per game. His finest effort came in the victory against Clemson when he did not surrender a sack and was the team’s highest-graded offensive lineman.
“There’s a lot of upside to develop here,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said during Saturday’s telecast. “Warren may not be a Day 1 starter, but he’s someone you develop for Year 2.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick added, “He’s a smooth, easy-gliding type of mover. Real good movement in pass (protection) sets, real good lateral recovery and quickness.
“He just has to keep his pads down lower, and he has to be a little bit firmer on his edges. Against Tennessee, when people got to his edges and started pushing him, he doesn’t have that lockout. You need to get him in the weight room, let his body continue to mature, get him healthy. But you have a future starter, potentially.”