Jalen Carter and the question of how the hell he fell to us in the 2023 NFL draft has been the talk of the off-season. He was arguably the best player talent-wise in the whole draft, and if it wasn’t for the whole car racing incident, I didn’t see him escaping the top 3. After this season, I can see many GMs looking at this past draft, and their eyeballs immediately start bleeding from the sight of Carter joining our Birds. Before that, though, allow me to give you Jalen Carter’s history prior to joining us…
Hey, Mr. Carter
First of all, a shoutout to Lil Wayne for the header inspiration, you’re the man Weezy.
Jalen Carter was a 5-star recruit out of Apopka High School in Florida.
Although he is a defensive tackle…
He also played Tight End and Punter in his high school career.
In his senior year of high school, Jalen Carter helped lead his team to a 12-1 record, as well as a state championship performance. He ended up finishing the season with 64 total tackles, as well as 12 -sacks. This rightfully earned him a spot in the Under-Armour All-American game. He was also the 2019 All-Central Florida Defensive Player of the Year.
Photo Credit- Mel Bolden
College is Here
Jalen Carter, with his stats and high-school accolades, proved to be a top prospect for the Class of 2020.
Jalen had many offers, though his official and unofficial visits came down to the following colleges…
- The University of Miami
- The University of Florida
- Auburn University
- Ole Miss
- Florida State University
- The University of Georgia
Ultimately, he decided to go to The University of Georgia, and he only got better upon arrival.
During his college career, Carter only missed two games. He won the Peach Bowl in his freshman year and then won the National Championship in his next two (those Georgia teams were scary man). He was 37-3 in his career with Georgia and earned very prestigious honors.
For example…
- Second-Team All-SEC (2021)
- Rotary Lombardi Award Finalist (2022)
- First-Team All-SEC (2022)
- Unanimous First-Team All-American (2022)
Photo Credit- Brett Davis
Time for the Big Leagues
As I previously stated, Carter was probably the best player talent-wise (embrace debate for Young and Will Anderson if you want) in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was the second highest-graded DT prospect since 2014 (according to PFF), and had pro comparisons to our very own Fletcher Cox.
Jalen was going to be a top-5 pick until a Car Crash incident that he was a part of made teams second-guess on taking him. He was number one on our draft board, as the Eagles ended up selecting him at number 9 after a move-up with the Chicago Bears.
Needless to say, Carter has been lighting up the off-season and training camp so far…
We see you rook 👀@breadmanjalen | #PHIvsBAL | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/EkecdQWXPA
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 12, 2023
We are currently one week away from the NFL season, and I couldn’t be more excited. Jalen Carter is going to be stealing lunch money from every team’s offense. Hell, the Linemen might just move out of Carter’s way every snap and allow him a free path to the QB. It is more convenient and if they don’t do that, Carter is just going to manhandle them out of the way anyway…
GO BIRDS BABY
Very Respectfully,
Anthony Trioli
Cover Image- Jeff Roberson
