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Carter aims to make a big jump in 2021

Georgia Tech receiver Malachi Carter has increased his production in each season on the Flats and he has also become a more valuable piece of the Jackets' offense every year as well. Carter is academically a senior this year though he can still play two more years due to NCAA Covid rules and he has garnered rave reviews this spring after an inconsistent junior year by his own high standards.

Focusing on details has been a rallying cry for Tech's football team this spring and Carter says that focus is paying off for him on the field at his position.

"I feel like in the receiver room, we've kind of put our mindset towards doing the little things when no one's watching. So we caught a lot of balls when nobody has been out there in the indoor with us. Especially before we started spring ball, just working on little things in my routes, release from the line, coming out of breaks at the top of routes, just little things like that, that I feel like I wasn't as punctual in my past years. So I definitely think I've stepped up my game just because I'm focusing a lot more on the little things," Carter said.

Carter has a new number and a locked in focus this spring
Carter has a new number and a locked in focus this spring (Georgia Tech Football)

Another aspect of his game that Carter has been focused on this spring is his speed. He said that he worked hard at trying to improve his quickness and top-end speed as well and he has seen some positive results this spring.

"I feel like speed isn't really too coachable in some aspects with some people, but I'm a track guy, I've got a history running track on when I was younger, I started when I was 11 years old, and I ran until I was a senior in high school with my little brothers," Carter said. "I was a hurdler, but I wasn't as much of a sprinter as my little brothers were. So I always felt like that was something that I could always get better at. Coming out here to college and just seeing some guys that were faster than me or just as fast as me, I knew that in order for me to become the dominant player I want to be I need to take my speed to another level, as well as the little details and my route running. Just having that speed, puts you over the top and also the quickness on off the line of scrimmage. It just puts you on another level. So I realized that when you can excel at that, then it just makes it that much harder to stop you."

Through three years at Tech, Carter has caught 39 balls for 586 yards and six touchdowns with 36 of those catches coming in 2019 and 2020 in the new Jackets' offense. This spring he has changed one other thing, his number. Carter wore a 15 jersey his first three years at Tech, but he asked for and was awarded a single-digit jersey by head coach Geoff Collins this spring. Carter says the number seven jersey was a gift to his mother.

"Seven is my mother's favorite number. She tells me that's the number of completion and this is coming up on my senior year here technically and hopefully, it could be the last one, That was her favorite number. So that's always been in my life. My name is Malachi, my little brother's name is Mossiah and my youngest brother's name is Mathias, we all have seven letters in our names, because of her. So it was kind of like a surprise for her. I didn't let her know what my number was gonna be. I told you usually you'll just have to see pictures. So when they finally took a couple of pictures, over at practice, they got a couple of me and they posted them, she calls me up and you know, it's a little bit emotional because she knows why I did it. So that's the story behind it. Just kind of pay tribute to my family and let them know that I'm dedicating the season."

Carter and the Jackets' receivers will show their skills next week in the annual spring game in Bobby Dodd Stadium.

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