NICKEL SUBLIME
Carter among finest at role with less fanfare than Jets’ ‘D’ stars
The Jets defense features more stars than a planetarium.
From Sauce Gardner to Quinnen Williams to C.J. Mosley, the unit has players considered to be some of the best at their position all over the field.
That’s may be why it is easy to overlook nickel cornerback Michael Carter II. He is not as splashy as Gardner or dynamic as Williams, but he is steady and has made himself into one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the NFL. Soon, he may be paid like one. “Yeah, I feel like that,” Carter told The Post this week when asked if he feels like the best nickel in the league. “I feel like I still have another level to tap into.”
Carter is a key cog in the Jets defense who does not get the credit some of his teammates do. Carter consistently locks down slot receivers and has even matched up with No. 1 options when teams move them inside. Carter makes very few mistakes and provides the coverage inside while Gardner and D.J. Reed do their thing on the outside.
“He’s kind of a quiet assassin,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “He’s so reliable, he’s out there, he doesn’t get as much fan fare, but he’s as reliable as any nickel there is in football. Teammates love him, works his tail off, and he’s another guy that we can do a lot with, and because of that, it adds a little bit of a dimension to our defense that many others can’t have.”
Carter admits he sometimes feels underrated, but that is not new for him. Growing up in Douglasville, Ga., he dreamed of playing for the Georgia Bulldogs. He attended a camp in Athens and was hoping for an offer that never came.
“I was too small,” Carter, who is 5-foot-10, said.
He wound up at Duke and moved between safety and cornerback before the Jets selected him in the fifth round in the 2021 NFL Draft. He was not even the first Michael Carter taken by the Jets that weekend. The franchise selected running back Michael Carter in the fourth round.
Soon, though, Carter II showed his worth and he immediately became the starting nickel corner.
“It was a good situation where I got the opportunity to play,” Carter said. “It’s always been my mindset not to be average. When you get it, only I can lose it so I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I leave no doubt.”
You could argue that Carter was the best pick by general manager Joe Douglas. His other big hits have come in the first two rounds, but Carter has become a key piece in the defense found on Day 3 of the draft.
Though more heralded members of his draft class such as Zach Wilson or Elijah Moore are now on other teams, Carter remains.
He is entering the final year of his rookie contract and could be set up for a payday in free agency. The nickel market got a bump this offseason when the Colts gave Kenny Moore a three-year, $30 million contract and that was then topped by the Bills and Taron Johnson’s three-year, $31, million deal.
“I’ve thought about [the contract] and then I kind of unthought about it,” Carter said. “At the end of the day, I can control what I can’t control and then what I can’t control, the story’s already been written. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’m just here to ball out.”
Carter said he hopes to remain with the Jets and get the chance to see through the turnaround of the organization.
“I would love to be here,” Carter said. “I said it when I got drafted in my head and I say it every year, I would love to just still be a part of this thing and this organization when it finally turns around and we start winning and we win a championship. Then, I can say I’m still here and we started winning and we came from the bottom when we won four games and now we’re Super Bowl champions. That would be my hope, for sure.”