Week 1 is full of knee jerk reactions across the NFL. This team is doomed. That team is going to the Super Bowl. For the Bears it was lots of despair, and in some corners of the web second-guessing that Ryan Poles selected the wrong guy in this year’s draft.
When the Bears were on the clock with the No. 9 pick in the draft, they had an opportunity to bring in Jalen Carter, an explosive defensive tackle from Georgia who appears to be a perfect fit for Matt Eberflus’ defense when you look at nothing but the highlights. However there’s much more to making the decision to draft a player than just looking at the highlights. In Carter’s case, there were plenty of red flags. Issues like inconsistent effort on tape looked small compared to others like when Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing in connection with an accident that killed one of his Georgia teammates and a Bulldogs staffer.
It was clear that Carter needed the right situation to thrive in the NFL, and Poles was frank when admitting the Bears might not be the best spot. So it was unsurprising when Poles moved back one spot in the draft to allow the Eagles to pick up Carter, then took right tackle Darnell Wright at No. 10.
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On an episode of the Under Center podcast that will air on Wednesday, Richard Sherman, former Seahawks cornerback and current NFL analyst for Thursday Night Football, joined the show and reiterated that the Eagles– not the Bears– were the best team for Carter.
“He had his issues, he had his off the field issues,” Sherman said on the Under Center Podcast. “It seems like Georgia, the university in general, has those off the field issues in terms of alcohol and driving right now that need to be addressed. But I think Philly was the best spot for him.”
The big reason Sherman believes Carter is in the right place now is because the Eagles have both respected veterans on the defensive line, like Fletcher Cox and Josh Sweat, and plenty of guys who played with Carter at Georgia.
“Jordan Davis especially was in the room with him at Georgia,” Sherman said. “You bring in Nolan Smith who was in the room with him, Kelee Ringo, Nakobe Dean. They have a lot of guys that have probably been holding him accountable in college that he’s grown up with that can really, really get through to him. I think that was important in terms of his growth and giving himself a chance in the National Football League, to have success and to not have any more issues.”
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So far things look good for Carter in Philadelphia. In Week 1 he had three tackles, a sack and a TFL. That would’ve looked awfully good on a Bears defensive line that struggled to generate pressure on Jordan Love, but it’s far from a guarantee that Carter would have that same success in Chicago. He wouldn’t have had a support structure near to what he has in the Eagles locker room.
The Under Center Podcast airs three times a week wherever you listen to podcasts. In addition, one episode a week airs on NBC Sports Chicago at 5:30 p.m. For the whole Sherman interview, be sure to check out this week’s episode.