This time last offseason, the Atlanta Falcons thought they stumbled upon a diamond in the rough in undrafted running back Nathan Carter. Carter was a talented player but was overshadowed by spending the end of his college career with the perpetual loser that was the Michigan State Spartans.
During his redshirt sophomore campaign in the green and white, Carter rushed for 798 yards and four scores and had slightly over 900 yards from scrimmage. He chose to return, and his numbers were cut in half in 2024, as Michigan State was home to one of the worst offenses in all of college football.
For that reason, Carter went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft where he landed with the Falcons as a UDFA. And after a strong showing in the preseason, he beat out Carlos Washington Jr. and Jashaun Corbin to make the final roster and serve as Atlanta's RB3 behind Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier.
Nathan Carter is not in a good spot to make the Falcons' 53-man roster
It was a fantastic story. Everyone was rooting for the Falcons to give the UConn transfer a shot. But with a new regime coming in, all of the goodwill he built up with Raheem Morris and Zac Robinson was reset. He's right back to square one, and there's a chance that Nate the Great doesn't stick around in 2026.
The main reason for this? The Dirty Birds brought in some competition this offseason. Atlanta signed Tyler Goodson to a one-year deal in free agency in hopes of duking it out with the 24-year-old for the RB3 gig behind Bijan and Brian Robinson Jr. And early returns show that Goodson has an early lead.
Goodson stood out during Falcons' minicamp, and has more proven production. In three seasons as a depth back with the Indianapolis Colts, the 25-year-old had 54 carries, 32 of which came in 2024 while Jonathan Taylor was hurt. And beyond his almost five yards a carry in his career, he's capable of playing a role on special teams.
Right now, it appears as though Tyler Goodson is the early favorite to win the RB3 job, but Carter will have a chance to save himself during training camp and the preseason, If he takes advantage of the extra reps like he did last summer, he can bridge his early gap in competition, but if not, he'll get cut.
The Falcons aren't going to use their third back behind the B. Robinsons all that much, but a roster spot is a roster spot. It's not easy to earn a roster spot in the NFL, and it's even harder to keep one, so the feel-good story of Nathan Carter is facing some pressure. We'll see how he handles it.
Add us as a preferred source on Google