Philadelphia Eagles aim to maximize Jalen Carter as player and person

Back in January there was talk of now-former Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter going No. 1 overall. He was coming off an All-American campaign in 2022 and most viewed him as the most talented player in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The talent didn’t change but the circumstances did. Carter became linked with the accident that took the lives of Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy when an investigation by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department determined that Carter was racing the vehicle operated by LeCroy.

Carter was charged with reckless driving and street racing, both misdemeanors, and pleaded no contest. Those charges came down while he was at the NFL Scouting Combine where he was not scheduled to work out. He did, however, work out at Georgia’s Pro Day and it did nothing to help his stock.

After weighing in nine pounds heavier than the combine, Carter got winded quickly. He struggled. It wasn’t his best day. Then talks of character concerns and poor practice habits started to pop up but most still viewed him as a top five pick. All viewed him as a top-five talent.

The No. 1 pick was out of the question but that was the case when Carolina traded into that spot. The Panthers were taking a quarterback there. He ended up sliding to No. 9 on Thursday with Philadelphia trading up to take him with their first of two picks.

As the Eagles made that pick, comments about how Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean, both drafted by the organization in 2022, would help provide a support system. According to Philly general manager Howie Roseman, that’s not necessarily the case. Those two second-year players won’t be asked to shoulder that load. Carter will get the support of the entire Eagles organization.

“For us, it was a full process on Jalen,” Roseman said on Sunday. “We feel very comfortable that he can have success in Philly. We don’t put that on our Georgia players, he’s our responsibility.  We’re going to rally around him. We think he’s a tremendous talent, a good person. And again, a young guy. We talk all the time. These guys, we bring them in here, we have to develop them. We can’t just ask them to come on the field and play. We have to develop them on and off the field. That’s our responsibility. We have a great staff here that takes that part of the job seriously. We’ll rally around him and give him the support he needs to be a great player on the field and the best person he can be off the field.”

Still, the Georgia support system is strong…

While Roseman says that Davis, Dean and the other Bulldogs drafted by Philadelphia in 2023, Nolan Smith and Kelee Ringo, won’t be specifically asked to help bring Carter alone, it’ll probably play out that way to a certain extent. Davis, Smith, and Dean gained reputations as look-to leaders during their time at Georgia.

Kirby Smart pointed to those three as guys who weren’t afraid to speak up. In addition, they also led by example and they were highly productive at the college level due to a combination of raw talent and relentless effort.

Carter showed that kind of effort on the playing field at Georgia. His love of football was questioned during the pre-draft process. He was asked about it after being drafted and he seemed adamant about putting those concerns to rest.

“My love for football, ever since I was little I’ve been a winner,” Carter said. “I played for a winning team when I was little. In high school a winning team and in college obviously a winning team, so I love to win. That was one of the examples for why I love football. I love to come back on Mondays and be one of the reasons we won the game on either Saturday or Sunday.”