Michael Carter

RB·

Tennessee Titans·#35·5'8"·200 lb·5th year·North Carolina

Tier 1Round 4, pick 107 in 2021

Updated November 6, 2026

75.3

Model Score

Down from 75.5 last year

Trade value ·a 7th

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Michael Carter has 3 carries for 7 yards, 0 rushing touchdowns and 1 catch for 7 yards in 1 game for the Tennessee Titans this season through Week 8, 2.4 PPR points a game (updated November 6, 2026).

Model Score by season

Down 0.2 from last season.

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

A backup running back with one good week a month.

The case for

Rookie 639 rushing yards plus 36 receptions in 2021 showed real three-down ability before Hall arrived. His career 248+ receptions are a defined passing-down skill.
Wk 15 2025's 13.4 PPR and the Wk 13 11.4 PPR show the spike-week ceiling when Conner is limited; the Arizona offense will lean on him when forced to.

The worry

Three tier 8 finishes in five seasons confirms the floor is the ceiling. There has been no positive year-over-year trajectory since the 2021 rookie sample.
Two zero-PPR games in the 2025 game log (Wk 12, Wk 18) show what happens when Conner is healthy and Trey Benson absorbs the change-of-pace work.

What to watch: Whether Arizona retains him through final cuts in 2026 or moves on for a cheaper younger option behind Conner and Benson.

Full take and bio

Three STTM rankings across five seasons (#40 in 2021, #76 in 2024, #50 in 2025), all tier 8, define the career arc. The 2025 game log shows the standard backup pattern: occasional spike weeks (Wk 15 13.4 PPR) plus consistent sub-7 PPR work behind Conner. He is a roster-spot insurance piece with one decent week per month as the ceiling.

Carter came out of North Carolina as the New York Jets' 4th-round pick (107th overall) in 2021. He posted 639 rushing yards plus 36 receptions as a rookie, earning a tier 8 #40 STTM finish that remains his career high. Breece Hall's 2022 draft selection and rapid emergence compressed Carter's role with the Jets; he was waived in 2023 and signed with Arizona as a depth piece. He has played behind James Conner in Arizona for two seasons in a clear backup role.

Comps

The players whose size, testing and production looked most like his at the same point in their careers. The percent is how close.

Brian Mitchell ’9482%Cadillac Williams ’1080%

Duke Johnson ’1967%

DeAndre Washington ’1965%

Giovani Bernard ’1764%

Plays like: Samaje Perine, Amos Zereoue, Shawn Bryson. Built like: Javon Ringer, Chase Edmonds, Ahmad Bradshaw. Coming out: DeAndre Washington, Kendall Hunter, Leon Washington.

Of his 20 closest coming out: 1 star, 1 starter, 14 backups, 4 didn't stick.