The Chicago Bears are likely to select a running back at some point during the upcoming NFL Draft.
Whether there happens to be a wildfire causing all of the smoke linking prized Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to the Bears remains to be seen. Likewise, general manager Ryan Poles and the coaching staff could find value later on.
Regardless, dropping a young player into the backfield alongside quarterback Caleb Williams is one item on the franchise’s to-do list yet to be accomplished this offseason.
Michigan State running back models his game after Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton
There’s a diamond in the rough waiting to be mined during the NFL Draft, who despite not being invited to the NFL Combine, turned major heads during his program’s pro day.
Michigan State running back, and offensive captain Nathan Carter was one of the stars of the show at the Spartan’s pro day, with the eyes of some of the league’s top evaluators in East Lansing.
Carter, 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds, ran what would have been the second-fasted 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, at 4.37 seconds, had he been invited to Indianapolis. That’s not all, Carter’s 23 reps on the bench press would have tied Michigan standout Donovan Edwards for the most among running backs at the Combine.
Almost needless to say, Carter, who rushed for 2,280 yards across four collegiate seasons with 12 touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry, says he felt he had something to prove during his impressive pro day performance.
“I think a lot of people were surprised,” Carter told me of the reaction from the NFL scouts and coaches in attendance at Michigan State. “A lot of people didn’t really expect for me to perform that well, from what I was hearing.
“Not many people expected me to run that fast a 40, or for me it’s to really look as explosive and as fast and as twitchy as I was. That’s just a testament to the Lord doing his work in my life, and the amazing preparation that I had while training at XPE. So, it was amazing to be able to get that encouraging feedback to get my notoriety, for lack of a better word, for scouts and people to see my ability firsthand, to see what I can do on the field. So, it was amazing to hear that feedback.”
While Carter revealed during a long-ranging conversation that he has borrowed aspects of Christian McCaffrey and Josh Jacobs’ skill-sets into his approach each time he steps onto the football field, there’s one running back in particular whom he patterns his game the most after.
Despite being just 22, Carter tells me that his football idol is Hall of Famer and Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton.
“Growing up I always loved watching Walter Payton,” Carter says. “Walter Payton was a guy who I want to embody my game after. Someone who wasn’t recruited high, wasn’t the biggest running back, and might not have been the fastest running back, but it was how aggressive he was, how passionate he was about the game of football, and how just elusive and sweet he was.
“He was called sweetness because of how he ran the ball, and I try to resemble my game after that.”
Whether Carter winds up dashing across the same Soldier Field gridiron as Payton or lands elsewhere during the upcoming NFL Draft, is anyone’s guess. But, if Carter can live up to even a fraction of Payton’s production, some team is going to add incredible value to their offense in the years ahead.
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