THOMBS: Time for Jalen Carter to create chaos, feast at the quarterback

ATHENS, Ga. — The Jalen Carter effect is tangible if you’re a member of the Georgia defense. The Bulldogs said so after Georgia’s 42-20 win over Florida last Saturday, a game in which Carter returned in a limited capacity from an MCL injury he suffered against Missouri. Just because he was limited though doesn’t mean he wasn’t impactful. And in reality, Carter’s been limited all season long. He suffered an ankle injury on the very first play of the season-opener versus Oregon, battling through the pain, played limited snaps after that game until he felt fully healthy before suffering the knee setback that was the knee injury that sidelined him entirely. He’s back now though, and even if he is limited, his play is impactful. Just look at the stats in those limited snaps.

On the season, Carter has 11 quarterback hurries according to the GeorgiaDogs.com cumulative stats. Georgia’s team-leader Nolan Smith, who suffered a season-ending injury Saturday against Florida, has 16, followed by Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Mykel Williams with 13 a piece. However, those guys have seen action in all eight games. Carter has only seen action in five, and in those five, he’s played more than 20 snaps just once. Against Oregon and Florida, the only two games in which Carter felt fully unleashed, he combined for 49 snaps. In the other three – Samford, South Carolina and Missouri before he got injured – Carter accounted for 35.

All this is to say, look at the impact that Jalen Carter has had, even on an incredibly limited snap count. On a total of 84 snaps, Carter has 11 pressures. That comes out to about one in every seven snaps. So, if he had played the same number of snaps that Smith, Dumas-Johnson or Williams had, his total would be even higher.

“He played probably better than I expected,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Carter in his return against Florida. “You know, when y’all asked me after the game, I didn’t really know how much effect he really had. He was in on run, he was in on pass. He executed well. He held the point. He didn’t feel like it bothered him. So, you know, it’s really about stamina and him being able to hold up in conditioning. And one thing he’s been doing a lot of lately is conditioning. He hadn’t been practicing. So we hope to have him in great shape and hopefully he’s able to go and be full speed.”

“We try to play a lot of guys. Jalen has played all of last week, multiple downs. Hopefully he will play this week multiple downs,” he added on Tuesday when asked if there was any concern about Carter being caught out there multiple snaps at a time against Tennessee’s temp. “There are other teams that can go tempo. Nobody can go tempo like they go tempo. There is nobody that can really compete with them. Ole Miss is probably the closest thing to that. Jalen has practiced hard and done good work.” 

So, with a player like Nolan Smith that had been so impactful at affecting the quarterback, Georgia is going to need players to step up in his absence. The conversation this entire week has been about the outside linebackers that were going to step into his place and have to create some of that chaos in the backfield, but maybe it’s Jalen Carter that steps up and fills the pressure void with Smith sidelined. After all, he’s done it at an insane rate already with limitations being put on how much he can play. It’s time to take the training wheels off and let Carter feast.

Carter and Georgia take on Tennessee this Saturday in a clash between the two teams with a claim to the No. 1 spot in the country. The Bulldogs are atop the rankings according to the AP and Coaches polls while the College Football Playoff Rankings released on Tuesday have the Volunteers in the top spot. Not only will the showdown likely decide who is atop all the rankings next week, but it will also give the winner an inside track to the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoffs with the loser on the outside looking in in need of some help. Kickoff time is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.