Jalen Carter has come a long way since being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. He has overcome tragedy, public perception, and questions regarding his conditioning.
Carter spent the offseason training his body and himself. His progress has shown on the field via his production and snap counts. Between two games this season, he played 114 snaps, before finally resting in the 4th quarter versus the Rams.
The Eagles coaching staff and Jalen’s peers are showing the league how cultivating a safe place is turning a great talent into the best defensive tackle in the game. He was just named an All-Pro by the AP, which should be the first of many, but he has a bigger trophy in his sights!
Jalen Carter’s road from college to the NFL:
Jalen Carter showed the same speed, agility, bend, and dominance at Georgia as he does now in Philadelphia. For a man his size, his body moves in a way that surprises and defies the laws of gravity. His ability has never been in question. He needed to improve his conditioning, ability to read plays, and leadership skills. He also tended to become emotional and allow the opposition to agitate, which resulted in penalties. The Eagles saw some of his fiery personality earlier this season against the Saints and the Steelers. His passion is sometimes difficult to harness, but the evolution of his game is not.
His transition to the NFL has been hallmarked by steady improvement with every concern outsiders had. At the combine, many questioned his conditioning. He has assuaged all concerns with his dedication to his body since being drafted and has demonstrated his brute strength time and time again on the field.
Jalen Carter’s film study has been evident in his development of more pass-rushing moves and being in the correct position for whatever plays the offense is running. Learning how to react instead of attack took a lot of film study and a change in his mentality.
“I’m opening up with my little pass rush moves”
This change required Jalen to relearn the position from how he was taught to play defense for the Bulldogs. At Georgia, the defense attacked and dictated an offense. In Philadelphia, he is diagnosing plays and disguising coverage. His growth is a big reason the Eagles are fighting for their second Super Bowl appearance in three years.
Jalen Carter is leading the Eagles:
Carter’s improvement has been fascinating to witness. He was willing to learn and accept that there was work to improve.
“I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “It’s only my second year. I know there (are) veterans that still know way more than me. I’m still learning from B.G. every day.” (Via NBCSP)
Despite this being only his second year in the NFL, his maturity and growth from his rookie season have led to him becoming one of the defense’s leaders.
During the spring and summer, Carter spoke about the importance of prioritizing his conditioning and accepting the role of leader.
His actions backed up the rhetoric from the summer, and he has been praising his teammates in between series and keeping the morale up, as he did with Baun and Dean in a game earlier this season.
“When I watch ya’ll play, that inspires me bro!”
Jalen Carter is doing everything right. Even when he gets sick, he does it properly by throwing up on the Dallas star at Cowboys stadium. (just jokes)
https://twitter.com/LowkeyCozy/status/1856167533994295613
the young DT is also a lot more than what the stats on the back of a football card state, even though they are good, too. All of his growth on the field is only surpassed by his passion and love for the game.
“I love football, ever since I was little, I’ve been a winner. I played for winning teams when I was little, high school, a winning team, and college obviously a winning team. So, I love to win. That was one of the examples of why I love football. I love to come back Monday being one of the reasons we won the game”
https://twitter.com/PHLEagleNews/status/1654190894445219859
Jalen Carter is ascending at the position faster than any other Eagles DT before him.
Fletcher Cox is a borderline Hall of Famer, and he only had one career season with 4 ½ sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Carter has done that in year two and only missed it by 2 TFLs in his rookie season.
Cox and Carter are two of the three (Jerome Brown) best Eagles DTs in recent history. Their first 2 seasons comparison:
Jalen Carter 10.5 sacks, 20 TFLs, 25 QB hits, 4 FF
Fletcher Cox 8.5 sacks, 12 TFLs, 19 QB hits, 1 FF
This is not a knock on Fletch; it is to show how dominating Carter has been.
If Jalen Carter can keep this type of production while continuing to lead and inspire his teammates throughout the post-season, the Eagles could win their second Lombardi over the last 7 seasons.
As always, Thank you for reading!
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Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
