Martels Carter wanted to be a two-way player at UK after being recruited to play in the secondary. Now he’s a full time running back. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Former Paducah Tilghman standout Martels Carter was one of the nation’s top defensive backs in his recruiting class but was also an elite offensive threat who hoped he might be able to play both ways in college.
Former Kentucky coach Mark Stoops and his staff thought Carter could be that shutdown defensive back with his size, speed and strength. New UK coach Will Stein and his staff liked him on defense but love him on offense.
That’s why Stein said at Monday’s Media Day that Carter would be a full-time running back after the way he played in spring practice when he was moved to offense.
Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan likes what Carter, a second-year player, can add.
“He’s an extremely athletic guy, but he can do a lot of things on a football field. I think you can see he’s got great eye-hand coordination, great balance, good twitch, and then he’s physical, right? And I think that obviously comes with starting out as a defensive player right in college, so I think you see that,” Sloan said.
“He just got thrust in there. I mean, for half the practice, he was wearing like a red penny while we were handing the ball. At some point, I was like, ‘Hey, you think we can get him like a blue jersey, maybe?’ But he did a nice job, and now it’s about daily focus. Now you’re no longer a defensive guy who got tossed over there.
“Right now it’s about the daily focus of all the little things he needs to do, and that’s what I want to see from this August. You’ve got to show up every day, and now it’s got to be all the details. All the little things, right? Those have got to add up so that you can go make plays because he obviously has a skill set that’s really nice for that position.”
Carter was MVP of the 2024 Class 4A state title game when he had nine catches for 189 yards, five solo tackles, two assists and one tackle for loss.
Paducah Tilghman coach Sean Thompson said Carter was “most explosive with the ball in his hand and I do believe he could play both ways” when he picked UK over Auburn, Clemson, Oregon, Tennessee and about 50 others. He noted then that Carter had run 23 miles per hour in high school practices and thought UK might use Carter as both defensive back and receiver
But for now, Carter is a full-time running back.
“Obviously, you’ve got to have running backs. Running back, it’s a violent position, right?” Sloan said. “That’s going to be a position where you’re going to play multiple players. There are some positions where you can go most of the year, and you know somebody’s going to get 90 percent of the snaps.
“That’s just not the case at running back. i think it’s a really great opportunity for him, too, and I think he saw that.”
