Is it time to worry about top NFL draft pick Jalen Carter? The Georgia defensive tackle struggled through a disappointing pro day and could see his stock continue to tumble.
Georgia Bulldogs defensive tackle Jalen Carter may not have character issues, but he may have weight issues.
The top draft pick reportedly weighed nine pounds heavier at Georgia’s pro day on Wednesday, gaining a significant chunk of weight since he was last weighed at the NFL combine two weeks ago.
Most analysts have Carter as a consensus top-five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, yet this new information about his physical health could deal a blow to his unstable draft stock.
At Georgia’s pro day, Carter weighed 323 pounds and only participated in position drills, which already was a point of concern.
In front of a horde of NFL scouts and coaches including Atlanta Falcons’ Arthur Smith and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, Carter choked — he ended up failing to finish the position drills because he was “cramping up and breathing heavily.”
Jalen Carter gains weight after NFL combine, deals with stamina issues
At the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Carter didn’t do any on-field work in front of scouts at all and instead only took his measurements and conducted interviews with teams.
Prior to the combine, Carter was arrested for his involvement in a car crash in mid-January that killed Georgia offensive linemen Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy.
Months after ESPN’s Todd McShay’s damning report on Carter’s supposed “character issues” was debunked by his Georgia teammates, pundits and analysts now have another reason to criticize the star defensive tackle.
His inability to finish the position drills at pro day and decision to opt out of all other activities is starting to dampen Carter’s outlook, no matter how impressive of a talent he might have been at the start of the year.
The top of the draft board currently comprises of quarterback-needy teams in the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, and Houston Texans, lessening Carter’s chances of being drafted within the first three picks. Once regarded as the No. 1 overall prospect, the chips are falling into all the wrong places for Carter this month.
