New Jalen Carter Update Could Impact Bears’ Draft Plans
There is no greater roll of the dice in this upcoming 2023 draft than Jalen Carter. Based on talent alone, he is the unquestioned best in the class. His mixture of size, quickness, explosion, and power can absolutely wreck offensive blocking schemes. He proved that over the past two years while helping Georgia win two national championships. Sadly, it’s not that simple for him. First, there is production. For somebody supposedly so gifted, it’s hard to understand how Carter only had six career sacks in college.
Then there is the highly-publicized arrest for street racing two months ago that led to the deaths of a teammate and assistant coach. While he plead no contest, it’s not a great look knowing a player put himself in such a compromising position. Last but not least are the work ethic concerns. While nobody disputes Carter plays hard, there have been rumblings about his hatred for practice and working out. That came full circle when he showed up at Georgia’s pro day 9 lbs overweight and failed to finish drills due to conditioning. This led to a belief Carter might tumble in the draft. Insider Peter King of NBC Sports confirmed as much.
It doesn’t look good.
I think I won’t be surprised, unless Seattle takes him at five, if Jalen Carter drops out of the top 10. I view Seattle as a team that isn’t as scared off by players with character concerns as some other teams are. I asked the coach of a team outside the top 10 who is very interested in Carter and has researched him. The issue with Carter’s alleged involvement in speeding in connection with the accident that killed two people from the Georgia program is worrying, he said, and his team is still looking into that. “There are concerns there,” this coach said, “and I don’t know where we’ll end up on that. But as far as football goes, I don’t view the concerns there that would prevent us from drafting him. I’ve heard about him not practicing hard. I understand, and that could be an issue. But he’s such a freak of nature.” The point: talent shrinks big issues.
A Jalen Carter fall may tempt the Bears.
No, that doesn’t mean taking him at 9th overall. Most experts agree the chances are good the defensive tackle will be there unless Seattle or even Detroit decides to take the risk. The tempting part for GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus would be trading down from that spot with the belief they might still be able to land Carter a few picks down the board. This way, they could secure more draft capital and still land the best pure talent in the entire draft. A talent that perfectly fits what the Bears do defensively.
Jalen Carter is an ideal three-technique defensive tackle. He has the explosion and quickness tailor-made for a Tampa-2 defense. We’re talking about the next Warren Sapp or Tommie Harris. The obvious problem is the work ethic concerns. Eberflus has said countless times that the Bears will prioritize players willing to put in the time and effort to be great. Working hard must be second nature. That doesn’t describe Carter. Do the Bears think he can embrace that way of thinking?
He’s only 21 years old. Still quite young. Taking him would be a gamble, but it could change the landscape of their entire defense if it pays off.