The Jalen Carter sago will continue until April 27th. Once thought to be in the conversation for the top spot in the draft, some now believe he could fall out of the first round altogether because of the off the field concerns and his poor showing at Georgia’s Pro Day.
I’m skeptical that the fall will be too drastic. Carter is still one of the best prospects in the entire draft if not the best, and NFL teams have had no problems in the past ignoring character issues if it makes sense from a talent perspective. Look no further than what happened with Deshaun Watson this past offseason.
Jalen Carter will likely still go in the top half of the first round, and his agent is so confident he’s not even taking calls from teams that are picking outside of the top 10.
“I called the outside of the top ten teams that wanted to bring in Jalen Carter for a visit & asked if they were gonna trade up,” says Carters agent. @DrewJRosenhaus on the @PatMcAfeeShow:
“Once they said no I cancelled the visits because top ten teams have told me that they're… pic.twitter.com/bMEOv8qWz9
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) April 5, 2023
Who knows which teams confirmed to Carter’s agent that they would 100% take him if he’s available, but Rosenhaus has been in this business for a long time. If he’s saying things like this, it’s reasonable to take his word as gospel.
Hopefully, the Falcons are one of those teams. The defensive line is looking much better after free agency, but Carter would give them one of the best rotations in the league. It would also add some much-needed youth to the group, putting Atlanta in a position to have an elite defensive line for years to come. Something they haven’t had in nearly two decades.
Ever since Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith were hired, they’ve stressed a best player available approach in the draft. If Carter is still on the board when the Falcons are on the clock, there will not be a better player available.
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Photographer: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire
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