One of college football’s best players is ready to take the next step.
After the Georgia Bulldogs’ 65-7 beatdown of the TCU Horned Frogs in Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game, Jalen Carter said “peace out” to his Georgia teammates and threw his hat in the ring for the 2023 NFL Draft:
Carter wraps up his college career as a two-time member of the All-SEC team (first-team in 2022, second-team in 2021), unanimous All-American honors in his final season, and two-time national champion. This is what going out on top looks like for a defensive player.
As for Carter’s future, it appears as if the sky is the limit. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive lineman looks the part of an NFL 3-technique, which happens to be a position vital to the success of the Chicago Bears defense. Lo and behold, the Bears have the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. How convenient!? During the broadcast, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said that Carter would be a top-5 pick and even gave him consideration to go first off the board. Perhaps Herbstreit was projecting. It is also possible that he was reading some tea leaves. Or maybe he knows something we don’t. Whatever it is, I doubt this is the last time we’ll hear Carter’s name in the mix to go first.
Especially after a season like the one he just had:
We’ve been discussing Carter as a potential Bears fit for a little while now. And I fully expect to keep that train going for the next 107 days until GM Ryan Poles officially goes on the clock on draft day.