At one point, Georgia Bulldogs star defensive tackle Jalen Carter was widely believed to be the best and most talented overall player in the 2023 NFL Draft class. But with Carter now facing two misdemeanor charges that led to an arrest warrant forcing him to leave the NFL Combine and rumors swirling about character issues, there’s a chance he falls pretty far down teams’ draft boards.
This week, NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN predicted that the Chicago Bears, who traded the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the No. 9 overall pick, could have a chance to draft Carter with the No. 9 pick.
“I think there’s a real chance he’s going to be there for them,” Schefter told Dionne Miller and Peggy Kusinski on ESPN 1000, according to On3. “They’re going to have to do the work on him and spend some time. I know that they’ll be at his pro day watching him closely, meeting with him. Once they do that, they can make the decision about what they want to do. But yeah, he’ll be a guy that’s in consideration for that No. 9 spot and it wouldn’t surprise me if he were there.”
This would be significant as many draft analysts predicted the Bears to pick Carter with the No. 1 overall pick before it became clear they intended to trade it. Now, they could have a chance to get him at No. 9.
[On3]
