Wells played defensive end, middle linebacker and outside linebacker during his prep career under coach Ty Lawrence at South Sumter High School… The Orlando Sentinel named him the Defensive Player of the Year in Central Florida and he also garnered first-team All-State honors as both a junior and a senior … He finished his senior season with 96 tackles, including 18 for losses, seven sacks and two interceptions splitting time between defensive end and linebacker … That year he helped lead his team to a 10-2 record and into the third round of the playoffs.

Wells had an incredible run with South Sumter and that afforded him the opprtunity to play for the Colorodo Buffaloes in the Pac 12. While at Colorodo Wells was a standout defensive player.  Finished his career with 40 games played including 34 starts, including his final 27 games … His 187 career tackles ranked 89th on CU’s all-time list, with his 38 tackles for losses (for 132 yards) tying for eighth in the Buff record book; 15½ of those were quarterback sacks (ranking 15th all-time), and his 41 third down stops tied for seventh (five of those were fourth down stops)

Since then Wells went undrafted and played with the Cincinnati Banglals in 2022. He also played in the XFL in 2023 for the St. Louis Battlehawks. The Battlehawks had one of the best attendances of all XFL teams and Wells was afforded a lot of playing time. This resulted in some intrest from NFL teams. One such team includes The New England Patriots who have invited the former South Sumter Raider to Training Camp this year!

The Patriots are known for finding talent as evident by Tom Brady, Julian Edleman and former Florida High School standout Mac Jones who played up the road at Bolles. The Patriots need plenty of help on defense and Wells should get plenty of reps in preseason. The Linebacker position has a ton of competition including players like Matthew Judon, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, Ronnie Perkins just to name a few.

Oct 2, 2021; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes linebacker Carson Wells (26) tackles USC Trojans wide receiver Drake London (15) in the second quarter at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

But Wells could shock a lot of people. Remember Malcolm Rodriguez for the Detrioit Lions last year? No one gave Rodriguez a chance to make the team. But his hard work, grit and determination landed a spot on the roster last year and he became a fan favorite as an underdog that proved his worth.

Wells will have to do the same to impress Bill Belichick and the Patriots staff. The Patriots linebacker coach is none other than Jerod May along with Steve Belichick. These coaches have one of the best defenses in all the NFL as was proven last year when the Defense was the standout for the Patriots due to a struggling offense.

We hope Wells can have a good Training Camp. If he can’t make the 54 man roster perhaps a practice squad positon may be in the wings for Wells. Only time will tell but we can be proud that one of our own is attempting to make the roster of such a storied franchise. Best of luck to Carson Wells!

Photos Provided By:

Colorado Athletics

South Sumter High School

XFL.com