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Over the past two seasons at the University of Georgia, Jalen Carter has established himself as the best defense and most disruptive player in college football. With his National Championship, Carter had positioned himself as a likely top-five pick in his NFL Draft.
But when Carter was charged with two misdemeanors in connection with a car accident that occurred hours after the team’s victory parade in January and killed two people, including Carter’s Georgia teammate, it was the NFL’s It changed on March 1st at the Scout Combine.
For two weeks, Carter’s future in the NFL appeared in jeopardy as teams waited to find out if he would face a prison sentence. On March 16, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing. He was sentenced to his 12-month probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, 80 hours of community service, and complete a state-approved defensive driving course.
Since then, Carter, 22, hasn’t done much to alleviate the concerns the team currently has about him. He drew criticism when he and his agent, Drew Rosenhouse, decided not to visit teams picking anything other than the top 10 before the draft. Inexplicable outlook.
“There’s always a balance between risk and reward,” said former Jets general manager John Izik Jr. “But if you have high-impact players in high-impact positions, take a good look at those players.” .”
In the 2022 draft, a record five players were drafted in the first round from Georgia’s defense, including top pick defensive end Travon Walker. Some evaluators believed Carter, who was a sophomore on that team and never qualified for the draft, was the most talented.
“I started watching Georgia tapes last year,” former Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said, referring to Carter’s jersey number. He’s not even on the list.”
The Raiders will sack Mayoc in 2022. During his tumultuous three-year tenure, several of his top picks fell out of the league due to off-field failures.
Mayock chose wide receiver Henry Rags III and cornerback Damon Arnett in the first round of 2020 and has lost both by the 2021 season. Arnett that year social media posts was shown holding a gun and making death threats. Arnett hasn’t played in the NFL since. Raggs was charged with DUI and released after an accident that killed a woman and her dog.
“I don’t get into personal matters,” Mayoc said. “Organically speaking, we dug deep with every player we hired and ultimately made a decision.”
According to Mayock, the decision to draft a player with star talent like Carter but with red flags, including legal and medical issues, is typically approached in three ways by NFL teams.
Teams may accept that the risk is worth the payoff and provide extra support to high draft picks. . Or if the team decides the player is not worth drafting due to a violation.
Former Arizona Cardinals General Manager Rod Graves said: “Actually, I think he’s probably out of that box with 99% of the players to some degree.”
Players with off-the-field concerns usually improve or hurt their draft stock through meetings with teams in the offseason and college training in front of scouts. So far, Carter has been criticized for both.
On campus in Georgia in March, Carter exercised in front of scouts and coaches from all 32 teams. According to a person who attended the workout and was not allowed to speak publicly, Carter weighed 323 pounds, nine pounds more than he measured at the combine, and was unable to pass several drills due to fatigue.
A few weeks later, Carter and Rosenhouse decided that Carter would not visit any non-top 10 picks before the draft.
“I think what you really want from kids who have had problems off the field is to see them through to the end and do their best,” Mayoc said. “I don’t think it will knock them down. But I think if you finish and go to every visit and do your best, all it can do is help you.”
Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who retains the No. 5 pick in the draft, said on a podcast earlier this month, Opinion “In any case” On Carter’s choice not to meet with teams outside the Top 10.
Carter seems to have impressed the Detroit Lions, who retain the No. 6 pick. Detroit general manager Brad Holmes said: said at a press conference Last week, after Carter’s visit, he said he “felt better about him.”
Ultimately, Carter’s talent will keep him from slipping significantly in the draft. In an interview with HBO, Carter seems to have made the point when he said his involvement in his crash was “a bit problematic.”
There have been several players in Carter’s shoes before, and Rosenhouse has them all, including Warren Sapp, who was predicted to be the top pick before reports surfaced that he failed a pre-draft drug test. Although Sapp lost millions early in his 13-year career in a 12th-place loss to the Buccaneers, Sapp was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013, becoming the highest-ranking player in history. became one of the defensive tackles of the
“This kind of thing won’t let you sleep through the night,” Mayoc said.
