Peter King: Seahawks expected to draft Jalen Carter with No. 5 pick
Peter King: Seahawks expected to draft Jalen Carter with No. 5 pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
It’s been a roller-coaster 2023 for Jalen Carter, and many expect his next stop to be an NFL team with a top-five pick.
The Georgia defensive lineman is considered one of the most talented players in this year’s draft class. Soon after Carter and the Bulldogs won their second straight national title, he was charged with reckless driving and racing in connection with the car crash that led to the death of another Georgia football player and a team staff member. Carter pleaded no contest to the charges in March and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine, 80 hours of community service and a state-approved defensive driving course.
While the charges interrupted his preparation for the 2023 NFL Draft, NBC’s Peter King reported that Carter’s draft stock ultimately has not dropped and that one team has become the prevailing favorite to select him.
“An increasing number of people around the league think Jalen Carter has done enough in his visits to not sink like a stone on draft night,” King wrote in his latest “Football Morning in America” column. “It’s become almost a cliché, how many team officials think the Seahawks will take Carter with the fifth overall pick.”
Carter will be among the 17 prospects in attendance in Kansas City when the draft begins on Thursday, April 27. If Carter and his inner circle thought he was going to slip down the draft board, he would not be attending, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.
“We definitely would have skipped it if I thought there was the potential of him falling out of the top 10,” Rosenhaus told King. “I’m not concerned in the slightest about that.”
Carter has already visited four teams with a top-10 pick: the Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles. Rosenhaus said Carter has two more visits planned before Wednesday’s pre-draft deadline for players to meet with teams.
“Lots of teams look at the fifth slot – Seattle, with Mr. Positive, Pete Carroll, as coach – and automatically think it’s a good shot,” King wrote. “It may well be. Detroit, at six, and Chicago and Philly, at nine and 10, also seem to be in play. Who takes the risk on Carter, and who gambles on the potential reward, is going to be one of the big stories of round one.”
The Carolina Panthers (No. 1), Houston Texans (No. 2) and Indianapolis Colts (No. 4) are all expected to draft quarterbacks before the Seahawks are on the clock. The Arizona Cardinals (No. 3) desperately need to address their defense, but they could opt for Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. or even trade down if a QB-needy team comes calling.
While King believes Carter will fall somewhere from Nos. 5-10, he thinks the best fit for the Georgia defensive lineman resides in Pittsburgh.
“I’ll tell you the team that is the most perfect fit for Carter in the NFL: the Pittsburgh Steelers, who’d have to trade up from 17 to get him,” King said.
