Memphis Sophomore cornerback TJ Carter had a very impressive freshman season. He earned multiple Freshman All-American honors and locked up his side of the field last year.
Coming into this season expectations were high for Carter.
So far, the season hasn't met the expectations everyone had for him. Has he regressed or just in the typical sophomore slump?
Let's take a look at some of the grades from Pro Football Focus and see.
Overall, last season Carter was graded out at 80.7. So far this year he's grading at 59.4.
Last season he was targeted 78 times and his receive caught the ball 39 times. That's a 50% completion rate. The completion rate has been the same this year. He's been targeted 42 times and his receiver has caught the ball 21 times.
Last season (13 games) he gave up a total of 91 yards after the catch. That's an average of 7 yards per game. This year he's given up 55 yards in 8 games. That's an average of 6.875 yards per game.
Those stats indicate that he's not in a sophomore slump.
Let's dig a little deeper.
Last season he had 5 interceptions and 11 pass break ups. So far this year he has 1 interception and 1 pass break up.
The biggest eye opener has been penalties. Last year he had 3 all year. Carter had 3 penalties yesterday against Mizzou and has 6 so far on the year.
Pro Football Focus had his coverage rating at a 84.2 last year. So far this year he's grading at 55.1
There's 4 games left this season plus a possible bowl game. Is Carter in a slump or has teams figured out a way to play against him? Either way, he's talented enough to work through it and be the defender we all know he's capable of being.
