Terrance Carter
Terrance Carter forced more missed tackles than any tight end in the country. He bypassed the portal and the draft to anchor a Texas Tech team with real Playoff ambitions -- the safety valve who turns a short catch into a long gain.
Buzz vs Tape
Every angle we can check here reads about where you'd expect this season.
The story
Carter's 2025 was built on what happens after the catch: roughly 46 receptions for 552 yards, and a nation-leading 23 forced missed tackles among FBS tight ends -- a 6-2, 245-pound move tight end who "excels in space." He chose to return rather than test the portal or the draft, staying to build chemistry with the Texas Tech quarterback room. The forward stakes ride the program's: the Red Raiders enter 2026 with playoff ambitions, and Carter is the reliable, run-after-catch security blanket those offenses need. He's not the highlight-reel vertical threat; he's the third-down conversion and the chunk gain that keeps drives alive.
Career Arc
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Sun Belt
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Joey McGuire.
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Joey McGuire
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 3 · RecognizedR09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
All-Conference HM / 2nd team. Conference recognition has started.
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Sun Belt
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Texas Tech | 55 | 624 | 11.3 | 5 | -- |
| 2024 | Louisiana | 48 | 689 | 14.4 | 4 | -- |
| 2023 | Louisiana | 28 | 255 | 9.1 | 3 | -- |
| Career | 131 | 1,568 | 12.0 | 12 | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 4 · 2025
W 34–10
at Utah
7 rec · 49 yds · 1 TD
Dominant 24-point win on the road against Utah.
How he plays
Play style
Carter is a yards-after-catch tight end -- the defining number is the one he led all FBS tight ends in: 23 forced missed tackles. At 6-2, 245, he's described as a player who "excels in space," the move-tight-end profile that wins on the catch-and-run rather than the contested deep ball. He's a chains-mover and a matchup piece in the middle of the field, the reliable target a quarterback finds when the play breaks down. The growth edge is volume and the vertical element; the floor is a dependable, tackle-breaking safety valve on a team that wants to contend.
Our classifier reads him the same way: shows up in the passing game from any alignment.
2026 Outlook
Texas Tech
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Tight end · Texas Tech
Returning around him
- 59% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 9 Texas Tech players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +1 net (22 in / 21 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Texas Tech · Last season: 12-2 (AP #4) · Talent rank #29 · 2026 recruiting class #18
Perception vs tape
Carter's 2025 was built on what happens after the catch: roughly 46 receptions for 552 yards, and a nation-leading 23 forced missed tackles among FBS tight ends -- a 6-2, 245-pound move tight end who "excels in space." He chose to return rather than test the portal or the draft, staying to build chemistry with the Texas Tech quarterback room. The forward stakes ride the program's: the Red Raiders enter 2026 with playoff ambitions, and Carter is the reliable, run-after-catch security blanket those offenses need.
Read the story →DNA match
Player DNA
Complete TE
No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Terrance Carter’s 2024 season.
Matches Terrance on
Differs from Terrance on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Justin Ford's junior season at Louisville (2022).
Matches Justin on
Differs from Justin on
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2025
Peak #139
Peaked at #139 this season.
Development
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2023–2025+145%
Up 145% from first season to most-recent.