Jalen Carter NFL Draft Profile

Jalen Carter Scouting Report: Georgia, DT

2023 NFL Draft Measurements

40-Yard Dash: 4.8 (estimated)

6’3″ / 300 lbs.

Jalen Carter Draft Profile

Jalen Carter was a highly sought after 5-star recruit coming out of Apopka High School in Apopka, Florida. This is the same high school as NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp, to whom Carter is often compared. Jalen would finish his senior season with 64 tackles, including 12 sacks, leading the Blue Darts to a 12-1 record and an appearance the FHSAA Class 8A Championship game. An interesting fact, Jalen not only played defensive tackle, but tight end and punter as well. He gained the attention of all the major powers across the southeast but eventually chose to take his talents to Athens, Georgia.

He would see playing time right away as a freshman. During the covid-shortened 2020 season, Carter would see playing time in all 10 of the Bulldogs’ games, including two starts. He would finish the season with 14 total tackles (11 solo and 3 assists). The following season, he would once again play in all of Georgia’s games, making starts in two of those as well. Still, he was able to finish second on the team in quarterback pressures (33) and third on the team in tackles for loss (8.5). For his efforts, he was named to the Coaches’ All-SEC second team.

Heading into his junior campaign, Jalen would find himself on numerous preseason list. Preseason All-American (Associated Press, Walter Camp, and Athlon Sports), All-SEC first team (Athlon and media), Lott Trophy watchlist, Outland Trophy watchlist, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist. Carter was once again a force on the interior of the Bulldog’s defensive line, racking up 25 quarterback pressures to go with his 29 tackles and three sacks. He would be named a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman), and named to the All-SEC first team but coaches and media.

Strengths

Strength

No, that wasn’t a typo. One of Jalen’s biggest strengths is his, well, strength. In my film study I have yet to see anyone push Carter around one-on-one. Even when he gets double-teamed, the opposing blockers still don’t have an easy time with him. If you go back and watch him play, you’ll see plenty of example of him holding blockers off with just one arm. When he really decides to go after the quarterback, his bull rush is brutal. We’ll get into it later, but there are parts of his game that I think he can stand to improve on. He just hasn’t had to worry about it too much, because he was simply able to overpower opposing lineman.

Agility

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Jalen Carter is able to move like Myles Garrett. Still, for a guy of his size, I’m impressed with just how well Jalen moves around the football field. He’s got more than enough athleticism to pull off pass rushing stunts across the line. He shows good bend when coming around the edge. At the same time he’s flexible enough “get skinny” and shoot the gaps between offensive lineman. This is why Georgia felt comfortable enough to move him all over the defensive front. I saw him play defensive tackle, edge, and nose throughout the season.

Great Teammate

This is something that at this level of scouting (limited access to players, team personnel) that you typically don’t get access too. But recently, when talking about Jalen Carter, ESPN’s Todd McShay mentioned that while Jalen was clearly a talented player, that he had some character issues. Hinting that he might be an issue within the locker room. While this could have potentially hurt Jalen’s draft stock, a teammate came to his defense.

Weston Wallace, a walk-on, told a story about how Jalen took care of him. As a walk-on, he wasn’t entitled to the free team lunches that scholarship player were. Carter stepped in and used his own scholarship money to pay for Wallace’s lunch. Every. Single. Day. You can read the full story here.

Areas of Improvement

So normally this is an area that we’d list off a prospect’s weaknesses. But when I watched Carter, I didn’t really see “weaknesses”. More just and area where I thought that he could improve on.

Hand Usage

We’ve already touched on Jalen’s strength. There I mentioned that he was able to overcome some short comings because of that strength. Well, hand usage is one of them. Again, this isn’t a weakness because I saw him show that he could fight off opposing blocks hands and get free. I just want him to use his hands more. But, like I’ve already said, he was just able to bully his way past defenders at the college level. I don’t think he’ll be doing that as much in the NFL.

Jalen Carter Draft Stock

Unless something absolutely crazy happens, like teams trading up and taking quarterbacks with the top 4 picks, Carter is going to be a top 5 pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Depending on where you get your information, it’s generally a debate between himself, Bryce Young, and Will Anderson Jr. as to who the best prospect in the draft is.

Felt like an update was needed here with today’s news of Jalen Carter being possibly involved in a fatal car crash. If you would like my opinion, it won’t. He’s too good. Professional sports will ignore a lot for talent, and Carter has tons of talent. I think he gets a slap on the wrist from the police and more than likely is a top five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. -Jonah

Final Thoughts on Jalen Carter

Jalen Carter is a big-framed, power player. He’s strong enough to hold up in the run game, even against double teams. And don’t let the six sacks over his career fool you. He’s a force to be reckoned with his pass rushing skills as well. Everyone says that the most important positions to fill in today’s NFL are quarterback, edge rusher, and cornerback. That’s true, but I think one of the hardest positions to fill with a quality player is defensive tackle. Because of that, and with Jalen’s skill set, I have him ranked as my #1 prospect for the 2023 NFL Draft.