Jalen Carter sets goals for rookie season, off to strong start
Jalen Carter has big goals set for himself in year one with the Philadelphia Eagles. The No. 9 overall pick in this past year’s NFL Draft, Carter is aiming to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“I want to be defensive rookie of the year,” Carter told reporters after practice on Friday. “You know, I had a lot of goals and it changes every day. But my main goal is defensive rookie of the year.”
Todd Gurley was the last former Georgia player to win Rookie of the Year on either side of the ball. In 2015 with the St. Louis Rams, the Bulldog ran for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns in 13 games played. He made his debut that season in Week 3 and was eased into action coming off of an ACL injury that ended his final season at Georgia.
As described by Martin Frank of the Deleware News Journal, Carter has been impressive already in Eagles training camp. Albeit against the third team offensive line, Carter broke throw a double team by pushing the 300-plus pound offensive linemen into each other and knocking them both over before proceeding to stop the running back for no gain.
Other reports indicate that Carter had a sack “within two seconds” on Jalen Hurts and the starting unit.
Carter is just one piece of an Eagles defense that features five former Georgia players on it. Second-year players Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean are expected to take on bigger roles for the defending NFC champions while fellow rookies Nolan Smith, who’s also off to a strong start reportedly, and Kelee Ringo look to find their places – just like Carter.
“You can see the growth, the jump, from the first year to the second year,” Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox said about Davis. “It’s really good to see. You know, he’s healthy. Last year he was starting to ramp up and he got hurt. As a rookie, I think that kind of affected him. He was out for an amount of time and got back into the groove of things. Now, he’s healthy and he’s flying around. You can feel his presence.”
“He came back. He knew what to expect,” Cox added. “I watched him run the conditioning test. He did a great job. I don’t think he was gassed one bit. Flew around in individual drills. Flew around in practice. I’m looking forward toward seeing him continue to grow in his conditioning. He took care of himself. It was great.”
Carter and Davis created havoc on Georgia’s defensive line in 2021, helping the Bulldogs to their first National Championship in over 40 years. The hope of Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, general manager Howie Roseman and everyone in the Philadelphia building is that they can do the same at the next level.
Carter and the rest of the Georgia crew up in Philadelphia – also including running back D’Andre Swift after a trade during the NFL Draft – take on former UGA offensive coordinator Todd Monken, now with the Baltimore Ravens, in the preseason opener August 12th.
