The Jets used their first four draft picks on offensive players this year as they try to build a unit capable of winning the team more games than they’ve managed in recent years.
Running back Michael Carter was the fourth of those picks and the size of his role to kick off his NFL career is uncertain heading into camp. Carter will compete with Lamical Perine, Tevin Coleman, Ty Johnson, and Josh Adams for playing time alongside second overall pick Zach Wilson in the backfield.
In an interview with DJ Bien-Amie II of the New York Daily News, Carter said he thinks that group has more talent than those outside the organization might think and that the group will only get better as they compete with one another.
“My plan is to contribute in a big way going into the year,” Carter said. “We have a really good running back room. I feel like people write these guys off because they don’t have the most popular name. We got some real talent in our room and I just think that we all have one goal in mind and that’s just a win. Of course you want to be the starting running back. I’ll be a fool to sit up on this call and be like ‘Naw I don’t want to be the starting running back.’ I just think that it is a great competition. I think competition is going to turn us all into better players.”
Carter posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons at North Carolina while sharing the backfield with Broncos second-round pick Javonte Williams, so he’s done well in timeshares in the past and seems set for every opportunity to earn a leading role in the one the Jets put together this season.