The defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles find themselves in a great spot heading into the 2023 NFL Draft.
Philadelphia boasts two first-round picks (10th and 30th overall). Front office head Howie Roseman and Co. don’t have a ton of needs. This means that Philadelphia could opt to move up from the 10th selection for a player of its choosing or simply go best-player available with both Round 1 picks.
We now have more information on who Philadelphia might be targeting early in the 2023 NFL Draft. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Matt Miller, the Eagles have their eyes on Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter with the 10th pick.
This report also points to the Seattle Seahawks (fifth overall) and Chicago Bears (ninth overall) as potential landing spots for the suddenly divisive prospect.
It was back in early March that Carter had to leave the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to turn himself in on charges of reckless driving relating to his involvement in a January crash that killed teammate Devin Willock and Georgia staff member Chandler LeCroy.
While Carter did return to the Combine after making bond, he showed up to the Georgia Pro Day later in March out of shape and overweight. This led to further questions about Carter’s stock heading into the 2023 NFL Draft.
What we do know is that Carter is only taking visits with teams selecting in the top-10. This seems to be a clear indication that the talented youngster doesn’t seem to think he’s falling out of that range.
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Jalen Carter as an NFL Draft fit for the Philadelphia Eagles
On the field, Carter would be an ideal fit for Philadelphia. It lost Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to the conference rival San Francisco 49ers in free agency.
While the Eagles did retain fellow interior lineman Fletcher Cox, it’s not known how much he has left in the tank at the age of 32 and after 11 seasons of battle in the NFL trenches.
The idea behind potentially targeting Carter is to team him up with 2022 first-round pick Jordan Davis at defensive tackle. Under the aforementioned Roseman, Philadelphia has valued talent at this position. Drafting Carter would be no different.
- Jalen Carter college stats: 83 tackles, 18.5 for loss, 57 QB hurries, six sacks
The question here is whether the Philadelphia Eagles would take a chance on Carter given his showing at the Georgia Pro Day and off-field concerns.
That’s an open question given how teams came away after meeting with Carter during the pre-draft process.
“I had two teams that spoke to me at the combine and they did not relay a positive experience. They felt like when they talked to him and the combine, they felt that’s why there’s this slide talk out there, that he’s not necessarily going to be a top-five pick.
Specifically, though, both teams said the same thing. They got into the nitty-gritty of what happened at Georgia and they felt like he was not just being completely straightforward with them.”
Yahoo! Sports Charles Robinson on Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter
Despite these concerns, Philadelphia is in a unique position of being a Super Bowl contender selecting within the top 10. It can afford to take a chance on this elite-level talent.
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