NFL Draft
2/17/25
5 min read
Carson Vinson 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Alabama A&M Bulldogs OT
Height: 6067 (verified)
Weight: 314lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Brandon Parker
Scouting Overview
Alabama A&M Bulldogs offensive tackle Carson Vinson projects as a developmental talent at the NFL level. He’s blessed with incredible natural gifts, from his length to his foot speed to his natural power. Vinson has significant growth ahead of him and appears to boast room to add additional mass onto his frame to help him play with more power.
His need for refinement is understandable given his small-school background — if he reaches the upper tiers of his ceiling, you’re looking at a potential impact starter. Vinson will need stability and good coaching along the way, however, which may make him unequally attractive from team to team.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Possesses an attractive blend of elite length and athleticism to play on the edge
- Tackled challenges of the Senior Bowl’s leap in competition well; showcasing good growth throughout the week with NFL coaching
- Natural gravitational pull will force rushers to take longer tracks to the quarterback
Negatives
- Can be guilty of stopping his feet at contact, losing his framing of the block
- Does not consistently frame explosive talent on the edge, can overset or hinge early, and allow clean run-throughs
- Can be prone to folding forward through the trunk when attempting to latch and secure hands
Background
Vinson is from Morrisville, NC, and played high school football for Panther Creek HS. There, he was a 2-star recruit (247 Sports) who was also a basketball player. Vinson committed to the offensive line in the later chapters of his high school career and garnered modest interest on the recruiting trail before ultimately committing to Alabama A&M. Vinson, a member of the program’s recruiting class of 2020, joined the school and played in 48 games across his five seasons with the program.
Vinson was named First Team All-SWAC for his play in 2024 and additionally was named a First-Team FCS All American. He accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl and was the lone invite from an HBCU program to the 2025 NFL Combine.
Tale Of The Tape
Vinson is a raw ball of clay who boasts NFL starter tools. Coming from the SWAC, Vinson has incomplete phases of his game and some technical blind spots that will require a leap of faith from an NFL franchise before calling his name as an NFL Draft prospect. These issues are all under-the-hood challenges, however. He boasts the build and raw athleticism that you simply can’t find lying around.
He offers good foot speed and lateral mobility out of the blocks. Vinson is sudden with his change of direction ability and illustrates good bounce out of his stance when coiled and ready to drive into a pass set or step down and provide cutoff support for an inside shade. Vinson’s natural mobility shines in space as a pass protector or when he’s allowed to fire out of his stance and attack forward.
Vinson boasts desirable balance and center of gravity when playing unattached to defenders and will inspire confidence in his ability to mirror once he gets some of his footwork lapses cleaned up.
With nearly an 84-inch wingspan, Vinson’s strike zone and area of influence as a blocker are massive. He showcases flashes of independent hand usage and desirable grip strength to latch with his hands and bow his back to engage with power. When playing firmly on his platform as a blocker, he can patiently ride out longer developing rushes before flipping his hips and using his athleticism to accelerate his assignment past the quarterback.
However, Vinson struggled with some of the power he saw against Auburn in 2024, which took place early in the season. On these reps, violent hands were successful in chopping or ripping Vinson’s fit off their frame. As the game wore on, Vinson tried to offset this by leaning into his strikes and punches more, which rushers would then play off of his aggression and force his center of gravity to drift forward and get him off balance. These reps showcased some challenges with recovering after first contact.
When Vinson is forced to frame wide, he can be guilty of running through the set point and leaving himself vacant inside or, alternatively, stopping short vs. speed and spiking vertically prematurely. These instances leave him vulnerable to either inside counters or tighter corners to play through.
Further complicating the matter is Vinson's habit of stopping his feet on contact. These reps freeze his base and put added pressure on his grip strength to maintain and lock out defenders. When he can overpower opponents with his hands and grip strength, he’s fine. But players who can deconstruct hands will break contact and force him to start back up again — while playing through the edges of his frame.
Vinson appears to have ample room to add another 10-15 pounds of muscle onto his frame. An NFL strength and conditioning program could potentially do wonders to turn his twitchy pop into truly explosive power that can offset some of these deficiencies and help craft a consistent winning edge in the run game that isn’t based on his length, grip strength, and initial swiftness out of his stance.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Vinson projects as a universal talent, thanks in large part to his physical gifts. He is raw enough and athletic enough to project into any kind of scheme, but based on his performance against FBS competition this season, he should be considered a “redshirt” option in 2025 as he acclimates to the pro level.
Grade: 73.50/100.00, Fourth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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