The curious case of Jalen Carter … No question that other than maybe Florida QB Anthony Richardson is the most polarizing prospect in the 2023 draft class than Georgia DT Jalen Carter. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago that Carter was considered to be the top non-QB prospect for this month’s draft, if not the best prospect period. But then he was involved in a car accident in which a couple of people were killed. Carter ultimately, pled no contest to misdemeanor counts of reckless driving and racing in connection with a January 15th accident in which he was driving behind the car that crashed, but his draft status is still very much up in the air. There were reports last week, for example, that Las Vegas, which has the 7th pick overall, would not consider him. That report, though, was quickly contradicted by the Raiders as the original report appears to have been based on a faulty reading of a local newspaper article. What the Raiders had actually said originally was that they would not draft Carter ‘without doing a thorough evaluation’ of his character and in fact that’s what they were in the process of doing. Of course, the whole thing is very awkward for the Raiders who were rocked a couple of years back when WR Henry Ruggs, the Raiders first round pick in 2020, who is still awaiting trial after being involved in a fiery crash that left one person dead. Meanwhile, Detroit, which picks one selection ahead of the Raiders are also reportedly doing their due diligence on Carter and will have him at their facility for on of their 30 on-site visits, all of which suggests that at least for now that Carter is at least still in the mix for a top ten selection and it may ultimately come down to which ownership is comfortable with the optics. Just 26 days o go!!.
