If you haven’t heard by now, the 2022 football recruiting class from the Memphis area could be a special one.

Led by the top-five overall player in the country, St. Benedict’s Walter Nolen, and the likes of Christian Brothers running back Dallan Hayden, schools from all over will be recruiting the city hard this fall.

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That, of course, includes the Tigers. One way to ensure Memphis follows up a historic 2021 class with another significant haul is to land as many of the top local prospects as possible.

Thanks to head coach Ryan Silverfield and running backs coach Anthony Jones, the Tigers are in good shape for a few, including P.U.R.E. Youth Athletics Alliance quarterback Tevin Carter.

Carter is regarded as the No. 18 pro-style quarterback nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings, and is also a top-20 prospect in Tennessee. 

He also happens to be extremely high on the hometown school.

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“Texas A&M, Maryland and Memphis are the top three sticking out right now. It could possibly change around,” Carter said.

The 6-foot-3 player also holds offers from schools across the country, including LSU, Michigan, Florida State and Florida A&M.

While his finalists could change, the Tigers figure to be in the mix to the very end, thanks to their quarterback-friendly scheme.

“They’re really pushing their offense and how I could put up a lot of numbers,” Carter said. 

Memphis is on quite the run of stellar quarterback play, going from Paxton Lynch to Riley Ferguson to Brady White. White broke a number of school passing records while leading Memphis to an AAC championship in 2019 and the Montgomery Bowl victory last season.

Carter envisions himself having the same success, and the opportunity for early playing time is also a draw.

“They think I can come right in and compete for the job, not a lot of schools offer that, I’ll probably have to sit a year. At Memphis, I can come in and compete for the job immediately,” he said.

The Tigers have a solid quarterback room with Peter Parrish, Grant Gunnell, Keilon Brown and Seth Henigan. Attrition is always a possibility, but only one guy can play at a time.

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Carter has paid attention to how active the Tigers have been in the transfer portal and is excited about the talent Silverfield is bringing in.

“Memphis has always been up there for me and for them to bring in this caliber of talent, it’s just going to make practice even more competitive than it already was,” he said.

The recruiting process is starting to come down to the final stretch. Carter says the plan is to make a decision before his senior season, possibly in July.

The final few months will be about deciding which schools match what he’s looking for.

“One is going to be finding who can help me get most prepared for the league, an offense where I can put up numbers and kind of control it like the coach,” he said. “I’ll also be looking at the depth chart.”

According to 247Sports, Memphis has offered six other quarterbacks in the 2022 class, including Carter.

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Josh Hoover (Rockwall-Heath High Sch0ol, Texas) and West Tennessee’s Ty Simpson (Westview High School) are expected to land at Power Five schools, which only increases how important Carter could be to Memphis’ 2022 class.

TigerSportsReport publisher Bryan Moss-Namowicz also believes the Tigers have a great shot with Carter.

“He’s giving Memphis a serious look and I think that’s where the next step has to be for Memphis. Keeping the top kids home,” he said.

Memphis will have to beat out Power Five competition to land his commitment, but Silverfield has shown time and time again that might not be an issue.