How does he keep getting away with it!?
That was the general tone of the fan reponse to Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman selecting UGA defensive tackle Jalen Carter with the No. 9 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Projected for months as a potential No. 1 pick, Carter saw his stock plummet due to off-field issues. The Eagles, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance, swooped in to bolster an already-elite defensive front.
The early results have been nothing short of remarkable. Carter has been one of the most explosive and disruptive defensive linemen in the NFL, constantly pressuring quarterbacks and stoppering the ground attack. He has the benefit of veteran teammates and a rock-solid defensive ecosystem in Philadelphia, but there's no mistaking the obvious talent on display.
As Carter mounts his Rookie of the Year campaign and solidifies the best defensive line east of the Mississippi, some teams are probably regretful of their NFL Draft night decisions. Eight teams passed on Carter — heck, more than eight when you consider the Bears' decision to trade back to No. 10, thus paving the way for Carter's arrival in Eagles midnight green.
These three franchises in particular have to been awfully bad about it.
No. 3 team who should have drafted Jalen Carter: Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders selected Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson with the No. 7 overall pick. He has taken 55 snaps with a Pass Rush Win Rate of zero percent, according to PFF analyst Louie Benjamin. He is the only EDGE with as least 25 rush snaps to not win a single advantage gained.
It is too premature to write the obituary on Wilson's career. It's Week 3, and the Raiders are trending toward a long and patient rebuild which could afford him ample opportunity to work through his early-career struggles.
That said, it's hard not to wonder what the Raiders' middle-of-the-road defense would look like with Carter anchoring the front line. He plays a different position than Wilson, but Carter would have far less competition for snaps than he does in Philadelphia.
Las Vegas passed up on the most NFL-ready and highest-upside defensive lineman in the draft. While perhaps the Raiders would stick to their convictions based on non-football research, it doesn't seem like the Eagles have dealt with any locker room flare-ups or festering tension due to Carter's presence on the team. In fact, there has been nothing but praise for Carter from his Eagles teammates.
No. 2 NFL team who should have drafted Jalen Carter: Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears held the No. 1 pick, and once upon a time, the expectation would have been for Chicago to select Carter with that very pick. Instead, the Bears traded back to acquire D.J. Moore from the Panthers. Carolina went with Bryce Young at No. 1 and, in theory, the Bears didn't need a QB with Justin Fields on the roster (we can, uh, circle back to that later).
With the No. 9 pick in hand, the Bears had a prime opportunity to, again, select Carter. Instead, the front office moved back one spot to No. 10, allowing the Eagles to bolster their D-line while the Bears opted for help on the offensive side instead, selecting Tennessee OT Darnell Wright.
It's important to recognize the essential nature of offensive linemen in football. It's damn near impossible to build a winner around a shoddy O-line. You need to protect the QB and establish the run game to have any real hope of competing in the postseason. The best passing offenses can be traced back to their offensive lines. The best quarterbacks and running backs are largely dependent on their linemen to clear the pocket or open up runways.
That said... the Bears have maybe the single worst O-line in football, which Wright is very much a part of. He's only a rookie and he cannot single-handedly tie the unit together, but Justin Fields has been on the receiving end of 13 sacks in three games. Yikes!
Meanwhile, the vaunted Bears defense is daydreaming of the 1980s these days. Chicago cannot get stops on a consistent basis and adding the best defensive lineman in the draft might have helped on that front. The Bears are 20th in run defense and 30th in pass defense after three weeks. The D-line needs work, whereas the work already done on the O-line has yielded minimal progress.
Carter has the potential to make every team that passed on him regretful. The Bears passed on him twice.
No. 1 NFL team who should have drafted Jalen Carter: Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons' offense would be in a world of pain without Bijan Robinson right now. He has been their best runner and best pass-catcher through three weeks, lining up all over the field and making defenders miss with his unreal shiftiness in space. The Falcons bet on Robinson with the No. 8 pick due to his potential to be more than a standard RB. He was pitched as the Christian McCaffrey-type Swiss Army knife Atlanta lacked.
So far, there's every reason to believe Robinson can live up to that billing. The question is, for how long? Backs have never been less valued in the NFL. Teams are straight-up refusing to sign the best RBs in the country to long-term deals with guaranteed money. Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley were unequivocally the two best pure runners in the league last season; both re-signed for roughly the franchise tag amount.
The RB shelf life is a real concern, even for freak athletes of Robinson's caliber. The Falcons also have the problem of surrounding a severely underwhelming quarterback with a ton of quality options. Desmond Ridder just does not have it. Maybe that changes — it's his second season, his first as the established signal-caller — but Ridder is bad, and until the Falcons figure out the QB issue, every offensive player will be hamstrung. Robinson included.
By nature of the modern NFL, it's much easier to project sustained, elite-level value from Jalen Carter over the next decade than it is to project the same from Robinson. The Falcons could be banking on paying Robinson less money on future contracts than Carter is likely to earn, but that's a stretch at best. The Falcons have invested in offense consistently without thinking to invest in a true high-level QB prospect. Until that happens, it doesn't really matter how great Bijan is, because the offensive machine around him won't function at the level it needs to.
Meanwhile, the Falcons are starting to gain some headway on the defensive side of the ball. That has been a problem for years, and it would be even less of a problem today with Carter — who played college ball right up the street in Athens — donning the Dirty Bird on his helmet.
