Georgia DL Jalen Carter travels for Florida matchup
It looks like Georgia’s defense could get two big-time players back from injury just in time for The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. DawgsHQ has learned that junior defensive tackle Jalen Carter made the trip with the team on Friday.
Trusted sources tell DawgsHQ that if everything goes well during pregame warmup, Jalen Carter should sophomore inside linebacker Smael Mondon in a return to the field. Both have missed Georgia’s past two contests, both home wins over the likes of Auburn and Vanderbilt.
Jalen Carter has been out since the Missouri game with a sprained MCL but he has been dealing with one injury or another since the season opening win over Oregon. Carter sustained a sprained ankle in that Oregon game and played roughly 30 snaps in Georgia’s next three games. He appeared to be close to full strength as the Bulldogs traveled to Missouri but then came the knee injury on an illegal chop block.
Most consider Carter as Georgia’s most talented defender. He has been widely projected as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with quite a few analysts putting him inside the top 10 or even top five.
Kirby Smart seemed less than optimistic regarding Carter’s status earlier this week. He indicated that neither Carter nor sophomore wideout AD Mitchell would play.
“Smael has looked really good. He’s taken all his reps. I would venture to say he’s in a good position,” Smart said on Tuesday. “The other two (Jalen Carter and AD Mitchell) have done things sparingly. They’ve done a little bit but we don’t feel great about them. Jalen has probably looked better than Adonai, but I don’t know at this point if either one of them will be able to play.”
As much as it seems that Jalen Carter has been banged up a lot lately, the Auburn and Vanderbilt games were the first he hasn’t played in as a Bulldog. He had a string of 30 straight games played since the start of his Georgia career in 2020.
Last year’s Georgia defensive line had three first rounders and many considered Jalen Carter to be the most talented out of that bunch. He paced the group in tackles for loss with 8.5 on the season. When looking at that talented front, Jalen Carter was only behind No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker in sacks.
