NEWSLETTER
In answering questions in a recent mailbag, The MMQB’s Albert Breer shares a noteworthy bit of news that some teams are dropping Georgia DT Jalen Carter off their draft board completely.
I’ll admit, the idea of Carter (who was a recent visitor at Halas Hall) dropping off boards entirely is an attention grabber. And it is certainly something worth putting in a headline. But it also has me wondering what it means in the grand scheme of things. Particularly for a Bears team that has done extensive background work on Carter. Keep in mind that the Bears were in attendance at his pro day and had him in for a top 30 visit.
Before we dive into that, here is what Breer is hearing via SI.com:
From Brett (@brett98072): How many teams have taken Jalen Carter off their draft board?
Breer’s response: At this point, Brett, I know at least a couple. This is a complicated one. Really, the questions on Carter going into the draft process—questions surrounding his football character, his on-the-field motor, who he is as a teammate, etc.—all came with the caveat that it was “nothing criminal.” That caveat was removed during combine week, when warrants for his arrest were issued in connection to an incident that left one of his teammates and a Georgia recruiting staffer dead.
There is more meat in Breer’s answer, but I want to tackle the heart of the situation.
Are teams dropping Carter from their board because of his off-the-field issues?
Carter was a notable non-participant at the NFL Scouting Combine. And that was amplified after reports surfaced that Carter misled police regarding a teammate’s fatal crash. After being booked later that night, Carter returned to Indianapolis to meet teams (where I imagine that was a topic of conversation). When it comes to prospects with off-the-field red flags, there is no one way for teams to go about handling these things. Some teams are more willing than others to take the risk. Others aren’t as inclined. In recent years, the Bears haven’t been known for rolling the dice on such players. But this is a new regime. And Carter’s off-the-field incidents are different than other situations. In other words, there is no cookie-cutter way to sort through this. Hence, it could be a reason why some are taking him off the board.
Could teams be taking Carter off their board because of his rough pro day?
It was really sounding like Carter had a tough time at his pro day. He reportedly came in overweight and was looking sluggish while doing drills. Moreover, Carter didn’t even finish the event. Not a great look for Carter, particularly two weeks after having to address the off-the-field stuff. The Combine and Pro Days are the football equivalent of landing a bunch of important interviews at a major job fair. That is to say that if you don’t have a good showing here, it isn’t going to reflect well when it comes to potential future bosses.
Maybe teams are taking Carter off their board because they know he won’t be there when the time comes to go on the clock. Carter’s agent Drew Rosenhaus told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Carter wouldn’t be taking visits with teams who don’t own top 10 picks. That eliminates 22 teams from the jump. It is possible teams are taking him out of consideration because they don’t have top 10 picks. Or perhaps GMs see this as a diss or a yellow flag. Hence, the removal of Carter’s name from their respective boards.
In the end…
I’m not completely sure what to make of this development. But I realize this could have a major impact on the Bears. It wasn’t all that long ago when Carter was seen as the top non-QB prospect in this draft class. Some were making a case for him to be the consensus top prospect in the upcoming draft. If a player with that type of talent were to slip to where Chicago is currently picking, then the Bears should consider taking him. But only after doing a thorough background check as part of their due diligence during the pre-draft process.
In any case, we’ll continue monitoring Carter news with a great bit of interest.
