Wake Forest Athletics
Carson Chosen in Fifth Round by the Cowboys
4/27/2024 4:55:00 PM | Football
This marks the fifth time in the Clawson era that multiple players have been selected in the same draft.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The #ProDeacs family added its newest member when the Dallas Cowboys chose defensive back Caelen Carson with the 174th overall pick in the fifth round.
Carson is just the second Wake Forest player to ever be chosen by the Cowboys and the first since linebacker Kyle Wilber was chosen in 2012 in the fourth round.
This is the 10th defensive player selected in the Dave Clawson era and the fifth defensive back, joining Malik Mustapha (2024 NFL Draft, San Francisco 49ers), Ja'Sir Taylor (2022 NFL Draft, Los Angeles Chargers), Jessie Bates (2018 NFL Draft, Cincinnati Bengals) and Kevin Johnson (2015 NFL Draft, Houston Texans).
Wake Forest has now had at least one pick in every NFL Draft since 2017, the second-longest streak in the common NFL Draft era (since 1967). That streak matches the program's record of now seven-straight bowl berths. Additionally during this streak, the Demon Deacons have had 44 players sign NFL contracts.
Additionally, this marks the fifth time in the Clawson era that multiple players have been selected in the same draft. It joins the 2023 NFL Draft that saw defensive lineman Kobie Turner go to the Los Angeles Rams and AT Perry to the New Orleans Saints, 2022 NFL Draft that saw offensive lineman Zach Tom go to the Green Bay Packers and Ja'Sir Taylor to the Los Angeles Chargers, the 2020 NFL Draft that saw linebacker Justin Strnad go to the Broncos and offensive lineman Justin Herron go to New England Patriots and the 2018 NFL Draft where defensive back Jessie Bates III was chosen by Cincinnati Bengals and defensive lineman Duke Ejiofor was taken by Houston Texans.
From Coach Clawson
"I am very proud of Caelen Carson. He greatly improved every year in our program and developed into an outstanding cover corner and a physical tackler. We appreciate everything Caelen did for our program and I know the Cowboys are getting a talented player with great upside. I look forward to following his career at the next level."
From Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network
"He plays outside and plays with a little side turn. Every now and then he'll get up nose-to-nose in press coverage and you will see some of that physicality. He's a player with some traits that you can work with and some toughness to go along with it."
From Field Yates of ESPN
"He's the self-proclaimed stickiest corner in the draft and I'm not sure I totally disagree with that. He was a full-time starter for two seasons at Wake Forest and has some tenacity to his game and had a really good week out there at the Senior Bowl."
From Louis Riddick of ESPN
"He will come up and stick you in run support and he is a good size for a corner. You are getting great value here at this point in the draft when you are able to get guys like this that have put up the tape that he did."
More on Caelen Carson
Over the course of Caelen Carson's Wake Forest career, he became one of the best cover corners in program history as well as one of the best corners in the ACC by the end of his career. In 36 career games played, Carson totaled 29 pass deflections while also having 120 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
As a senior, Carson started in all 11 games that he played in for the Deacs. He finished the season with a career-best 42 total tackles with 29 of those being solo tackles. Carson led the team with eight pass breakups, recorded 1.0 tackle-for-loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery
The Senior Bowl and NFL Combine Invitee recorded a career-high 10 tackles and two pass breakups during the win against Vanderbilt. Carson had four games with five or more tackles during the 2023 season.
He played a key role in helping the Deacs to 2022 Gasparilla Bowl, 2021 Gator Bowl and 2021 ACC Atlantic Division titles while also helping Wake Forest to their highest AP Poll and College Football Playoff rankings in program history, ranking inside of the top 10 during both seasons.
In 2022, Carson played his best game of the season against Missouri, tying his career-high with seven tackles including six solo tackles and a pair of pass deflections in the bowl win. He also tallied multiple pass breakups in the victory over Liberty in week three.
In 2021, he recorded an interception in two straight games against Norfolk State and Florida State. Additionally, he tallied a then career-high seven tackles two times at Virginia and at Army.
What's Out There?
Check out all the social media buzz around Caelen Carson being selected by the Cowboys.
EMBEDDED TWEETS/SOCIAL POSTS
Carson is just the second Wake Forest player to ever be chosen by the Cowboys and the first since linebacker Kyle Wilber was chosen in 2012 in the fourth round.
This is the 10th defensive player selected in the Dave Clawson era and the fifth defensive back, joining Malik Mustapha (2024 NFL Draft, San Francisco 49ers), Ja'Sir Taylor (2022 NFL Draft, Los Angeles Chargers), Jessie Bates (2018 NFL Draft, Cincinnati Bengals) and Kevin Johnson (2015 NFL Draft, Houston Texans).
Wake Forest has now had at least one pick in every NFL Draft since 2017, the second-longest streak in the common NFL Draft era (since 1967). That streak matches the program's record of now seven-straight bowl berths. Additionally during this streak, the Demon Deacons have had 44 players sign NFL contracts.
Additionally, this marks the fifth time in the Clawson era that multiple players have been selected in the same draft. It joins the 2023 NFL Draft that saw defensive lineman Kobie Turner go to the Los Angeles Rams and AT Perry to the New Orleans Saints, 2022 NFL Draft that saw offensive lineman Zach Tom go to the Green Bay Packers and Ja'Sir Taylor to the Los Angeles Chargers, the 2020 NFL Draft that saw linebacker Justin Strnad go to the Broncos and offensive lineman Justin Herron go to New England Patriots and the 2018 NFL Draft where defensive back Jessie Bates III was chosen by Cincinnati Bengals and defensive lineman Duke Ejiofor was taken by Houston Texans.
From Coach Clawson
"I am very proud of Caelen Carson. He greatly improved every year in our program and developed into an outstanding cover corner and a physical tackler. We appreciate everything Caelen did for our program and I know the Cowboys are getting a talented player with great upside. I look forward to following his career at the next level."
From Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network
"He plays outside and plays with a little side turn. Every now and then he'll get up nose-to-nose in press coverage and you will see some of that physicality. He's a player with some traits that you can work with and some toughness to go along with it."
From Field Yates of ESPN
"He's the self-proclaimed stickiest corner in the draft and I'm not sure I totally disagree with that. He was a full-time starter for two seasons at Wake Forest and has some tenacity to his game and had a really good week out there at the Senior Bowl."
From Louis Riddick of ESPN
"He will come up and stick you in run support and he is a good size for a corner. You are getting great value here at this point in the draft when you are able to get guys like this that have put up the tape that he did."
More on Caelen Carson
Over the course of Caelen Carson's Wake Forest career, he became one of the best cover corners in program history as well as one of the best corners in the ACC by the end of his career. In 36 career games played, Carson totaled 29 pass deflections while also having 120 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
As a senior, Carson started in all 11 games that he played in for the Deacs. He finished the season with a career-best 42 total tackles with 29 of those being solo tackles. Carson led the team with eight pass breakups, recorded 1.0 tackle-for-loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery
The Senior Bowl and NFL Combine Invitee recorded a career-high 10 tackles and two pass breakups during the win against Vanderbilt. Carson had four games with five or more tackles during the 2023 season.
He played a key role in helping the Deacs to 2022 Gasparilla Bowl, 2021 Gator Bowl and 2021 ACC Atlantic Division titles while also helping Wake Forest to their highest AP Poll and College Football Playoff rankings in program history, ranking inside of the top 10 during both seasons.
In 2022, Carson played his best game of the season against Missouri, tying his career-high with seven tackles including six solo tackles and a pair of pass deflections in the bowl win. He also tallied multiple pass breakups in the victory over Liberty in week three.
In 2021, he recorded an interception in two straight games against Norfolk State and Florida State. Additionally, he tallied a then career-high seven tackles two times at Virginia and at Army.
What's Out There?
Check out all the social media buzz around Caelen Carson being selected by the Cowboys.
EMBEDDED TWEETS/SOCIAL POSTS
Locked in Dallas, @walkinseatbelt 🔒#NFLDraft | #ProDeacs 🎩 pic.twitter.com/JQ6UcxPeuy
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) April 27, 2024
CC at CB ⭐️#CowboysDraft | @Fanatics pic.twitter.com/Ala9NDjqq9
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) April 27, 2024
Securing the secondary 😤#CowboysDraft | @walkinseatbelt pic.twitter.com/38eXGNx0Rh
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) April 27, 2024
Another #ProDeac secured 🔒
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) April 27, 2024
📺: 2024 #NFLDraft📷 – April 25-27 on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/kD0AgwWtSJ
Cowboys got a gem
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) April 27, 2024
Caelen Carson locking up Keon Coleman 🏝️pic.twitter.com/NHzhdqhCnz
Players Mentioned
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