The days and weeks leading up to the NFL Draft are like playing poker -- most of what you see and hear about draft prospects and who's expected to take them is a bluff. However, the prospects themselves tend to be much more honest than the 32 NFL teams. Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter falls into the seemingly more honest category. Once regarded as the draft's top overall prospect prior to legal issues, he made it clear early on that he was only taking visits with the teams picking in the top 10.
On Wednesday, Carter revealed the team with the 10th overall pick -- the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles (acquired in a trade from the New Orleans Saints) -- told him they will select him should he fall down the board.
"I believe so, it might have been something like that," Carter said to NBC Sports Philadelphia when asked if the Eagles said they were drafting him at the 10 spot. After a follow-up question, Carter provided a more direct reply, "Yes sir."
"It would be crazy," Carter said when asked about joining a Super Bowl participant after being selected in the top 10. "They have [linebacker] Nakobe Dean too, one of the leaders of the 2021 [Georgia national championship] group. I look up to that guy a lot. So just having him and [former Georgia defensive tackle and current Eagles] Jordan Davis, that would be crazy."
Carter would be an ideal fit for the Eagles after one of their top defenders, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, departed the team in free agency to join the NFC runner-up San Francisco 49ers on a four-year, $84 million contract this offseason.
