Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
The 2017 recruiting class just got a little bit bigger again, tonight, with the commitment of 2017 Place Kicker Anders Carlson.
This one is really keeping it in the family, as his brother is Auburn starting place kicker – and holder of a few Auburn records – Daniel Carlson. Anders’s height is listed at 6’3 on 247Sports, but he’s listed at 6’5 on Kohl’s Kicking Academy’s site, and their profile of him says he’s 6’4. Sooo… who knows how tall he is? Either way, it sounds like he’s a lot like his older brother.
Carlson, like his brother, attends The Classical Academy. He’s the #2 place kicker in the country according to Kohl’s Kicking Academy. This is what they have to say about him:
Carlson is superior athlete that will be a D1 specialist just like his older brother Daniel. Daniel is an NFL prospect and Anders is just as athletic at this point his development. Anders has attended multiple Kohl’s events over the years. In May of 2016 he proved he is going to be special by hitting two 85 yard KO’s and making 9 of 10 FG in the charting phase of camp. His consistency has improved and he was a weapon for his HS team last season. Carlson can also punt and with his 6’4 frame he has huge upside as a k or p!
So, we obviously don’t want him to have to perform dual-duty as his brother did last season. There’s always a chance that his brother goes pro after his junior year and Anders steps right in. If not, I would suspect Anders will compete for the starting punting job in year one.
HIGHLIGHTS
Here he is kicking some long-distance shots. He’s got a Damon Duval right-to-left draw on his kicks (or maybe that’s wind), but he can definitely boom it. I like it.
THE CLASS
Carlson, as a kicker, is currently unranked by the major recruiting services. So it’s hard to say what his commitment would do to the class in the rankings system. I don’t really care about that, though. The people who know kickers have him ranked 2nd in the nation, and if he’s anything like his brother, then Auburn is well set at the kicking position for at least the next 3-4 years, if not the next 4-5.