Joel Klatt explains his concerns over taking Jalen Carter in NFL Draft

Jalen Carter has become a highly controversial prospect in this year’s NFL Draft. There’s a lot of talent that comes with him but, regardless of anyone’s opinion, it’s hard to argue some of the issues connected to him that have come to light during this process. That’s why, in his opinion, Joel Klatt believes it’s going to cost him come draft night.

Klatt shared his thoughts on Carter’s ‘red flags’ during his show on Monday. The FOX Sports analyst does concede that some teams might throw caution to the wind considering the talent he has. Still, when you combine his off-field issues and his poor outing at Georgia’s Pro Day, he says Carter’s stock has taken a significant hit throughout this process.

“There’s a lot of red flags with Jalen Carter. There are,” said Klatt. “Now his talent might supersede those. His talent might outweigh the red flags for some organizations. He might very well be picked with one of those picks. But you look at the way this process has gone for him? It has not gone well.”

“The off-field issues, the, obviously, horrific incident stemming from the drag racing in which two people lost their lives. That’s obviously very tough and he’s right in the middle of that,” Klatt said. “The Pro Day goes horribly wrong. Totally out of shape, overweight. Nine pounds? Has to tap out basically.”

Production is definitely going to be there with Carter considering what he did over three seasons in Athens. He finished his college career with 83 tackles with 18.5 of them going for a loss. He also has six sacks, four pass deflections, and two forced fumbles on his resume.

However, as Klatt pointed out, there’s a lot of baggage that comes with him at the moment. The drag-racing story is the cloud hanging over him the most considering the continual updates on the matter. Then, at the Bulldog’s Pro Day, he didn’t necessarily bring his best to the table.

Klatt says he is obviously going to still have Carter going within the Top-10 of the NFL Draft. He knows there’s too much potential on the table with him for teams to just leave it behind. Even so, he does think it will cost him a spot in the Top-5 in the end and may push him to the back of those 10 picks.

“Is he going to be in my Top-10? Yes, I’m gonna tell you that he’s going to be in my Top-10,” Klatt said. “But those are the reasons why I think Seattle and Detroit might pass on him.”