Lions trade up to get Stanford DB Alex Carter

Allen Park — Lions general manager Martin Mayhew has known Tom Carter, a fellow former Washington defensive back, for about 20 years. On Friday night, Mayhew drafted Carter's son Alex to give the team depth at cornerback and long-term versatility on the back end.

After trading up in the third round, the Lions selected the 6-foot, 196-pound Alex Carter with the 80th overall pick.

Carter is an aggressive, physical cornerback who can play press coverage in the scheme of Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. With his measurables, Carter fits the profile of an outside cornerback, but Mayhew thinks he can give the Lions options during his NFL career.

"I think he has some ability to possibly play safety," Mayhew said, "but he's definitely going to be a corner for us when he gets here."

Holding the No. 88 pick, the Lions gave the NFC North rival Vikings the No. 143 pick in Round 5 to move up to take Carter.

"He's a physical guy," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's certainly got size to match up with some of the big receivers we'll see in our division, and not only that, he's smart. He is a student of the game, works extremely hard at it and you can see he's got all the makings to be a true pro."

With the Bears drafting West Virginia's Kevin White in Round 1, the NFC North remains a division loaded with top-tier receivers, and the Lions learned the importance of having depth at cornerback last year.

Now, the Lions have a long, physical cornerback to back up Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay on the outside, and at just 20 years old, Carter has excellent upside.

The 143rd pick was one the Lions acquired when they traded down with the Denver Broncos Thursday. The 80th pick was originally Kansas City's. On Day 3, the Lions still have one pick each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

Among the remaining needs for the Lions are defensive tackle and wide receiver, but Mayhew mentioned after both picks Friday — Carter and former Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah — that the Lions went with the best player available.

Carter ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at his pro day, which is slightly slower than the Lions prefer at cornerback, but Mayhew said Carter plays fast.

In 2014, Carter had 41 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and nine passes defensed. Caldwell said he thinks Carter has fine ball skills despite having just two interceptions during his college career, but the coaches will try to teach him to turn those pass break-ups into picks.

"We did like how physical that he is, and he has good size as well," Mayhew said. "But I think his ability to play the run, get off blocks and that kind of thing, we like that about him."

Carter is also engaged to be married, which has been a plus in the Lions' character evaluations of the past two years. Carter's father, Tom, was a first-round pick out of Notre Dame in 1993 and played nine seasons in the NFL.

"The Lions were actually the first visit that I took and I had a great time up there, met the coaching staff, met Coach Caldwell and all the guys," Carter said. "I just really felt great being in their presence. I felt great being able to come in and compete. They told me that they like that I'm a physical corner, I'm going to tackle, get to the ball and make plays, so that's what they told me."

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

twitter.com/jkatzenstein