National Signing Day 2015: Welcome to Penn State, Kamonte Carter

The Maryland athlete committed to Penn State shortly after signing day 2014, and truly exemplifies James Franklin's goal of dominating not just the state--but the region surrounding Pennsylvania.

By Cari Greene@NotCarlotta Feb 4, 2015, 8:43am EST

Welcome to Black Shoe Diaries' coverage of National Signing Day 2015. We're here to make sure that you know exactly who the newest Nittany Lions are, where they come from, and what we can expect of them. Each of these reports will include their vital information, their high school statistics, highlight tape analysis, outlook for their freshmen seasons and more. We sincerely hope you enjoy getting to know the stars of tomorrow. If you've been reading along with our recruiting coverage all year, we appreciate the support and are glad you hung around with us for the ride that was the 2015 recruiting class. If you are a new reader, welcome! We're glad you're here, and we hope you stick around for 2016!

To navigate your way to other members of the 2015 recruiting class, simply head back to our draft board and click on the player of your choice.

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Kamonte Carter was one of the first commitments to the 2015 class, committing during junior day last year. He was one of the holdover recruits from the previous staff; he'd been heavily recruited by Larry Johnson, Sr, in the talent-rich DMV area before James Franklin and Co took the reigns in Happy Valley.

Special Delivery from Mike the Mailman! @KAM_7SIETE is the newest Nittany Lion! #PSUSigningDay pic.twitter.com/gGcviCcShB
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 4, 2015

Stats

Hometown: Gaithersburg, MD

High School: Gaithersburg

Position: Athlete/DE

Height/Weight: 6'4"/243

247Composite Rank: ★★★★ (0.9065)

Positional Rank: #14 Athlete, #5 Player in Maryland

Commitment Date: February 15, 2014

247 Crystal Ball:

High School Stats

We're going to list Kamonte's defensive statistics here, but it should be noted that he was a true jack-of-all-trades for his high school. He played defensive end, linebacker, quarterback, and running back for Gaithersburg.

Grade	GP	Tackles	Tackles Per Game	Tackles For Loss	Sacks	Fumble Recoveries
Senior	7	20	2.9	3.0	2.0	0
Junior	9	34	3.8	7.0	5.0	2

Highlight Tape

Scouting Report

Versatility. That's the name of the game with Carter--that, and dominance. He played multiple positions for the typically-consistently-good Trojans, and was dominant from wherever on the field he lined up. He was thrust into the starting quarterback position his senior year for Gaithersburg due to lack of depth at that position, and performed admirably--but defense is his bread and butter, and that's where his size, speed and nose for the ball will come into play:

Carter (#7 in the gif) provides speed off the edge, and could end up in the sort of hybrid, "star" role that Bob Shoop has used in the past--he's played a SUDE or linebacker position as well. He's fast and athletic, with an ability to cut back to find the ball even when the carrier is behind him. The athleticism he brings to the front four would allow for even more creative blitzes with the ability to drop back into coverage and be able to cover tight ends or, heck, even the occasional wide receiver a la Sean Stanley in 2011, but on a more consistent basis. If he packs on the pounds, though, in addition to anywhere on the outside, he could find himself behind Anthony Zettel on the interior of the line.

Kamonte also self-assessed his game for us, and signaled out "speed and quickness" as the major strengths in his play. He knows that he needs to continue hitting the weight room to grow bigger and stronger, in order to become a better defender against the run as well as further develop his pass rush moves. He feels that his explosiveness has really taken a step forward over the past year or so.

Immediate Outlook

As a coach's son, Carter will be open, hard working, flexible and coachable--and ready to step in wherever and to do whatever the Nittany Lions need:

There's talent on the outside in front of him, but with the departures of Deion Barnes, CJ Olaniyan, and Brad Bars, there's a real opportunity for members of the class of 2015 to crack the two-deep at defensive end. One or two of Ryan Buchholz, Shareef Miller, Jonathan Holland and Carter will likely see the field this fall, and Carter's background probably means he's first in line to see some time out of the DL recruits of this class. Word is that he's already bulked up more than expected, with a potential switch to the interior of the defensive line in the works in his Penn State career.

National Signing Day 2015: Welcome to Penn State, Kamonte Carter