Tag: jalen carter

2023 NFL mock draft: Seahawks double up on defensive line in Round 1

At No. 2 Farrar has them taking Jalen Carter, who he calls the best interior defensive line prospect since Aaron Donald.

If there’s two things the Seahawks need to do this offseason, it’ll be improving their run defense personnel and boosting their pass rush. In a new 2023 NFL mock draft from Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire, Seattle hits both needs in the first round.

Thanks to the Russell Wilson trade, the Seahawks would be picking at No. 2 overall if the season ended today. With that pick Farrar has them taking Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter, who he calls the best interior defensive line prospect since Aaron Donald:

“The Seahawks should not select Carter second overall because their run defense stinks, though that is a consideration. They should select him with the second overall pick because, with his ridiculous combination of power, technique, and the ability to shoot around blockers with running back-level gap precision, Carter is the best interior defensive line prospect since Aaron Donald came out of Pitt in 2014. He is the type of player who can become the fulcrum of your entire defense, and Pete Carroll certainly needs that.”

Carter has six sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss over the last two years.

With their own pick (currently No. 17 overall) the Seahawks take Florida State EDGE Jared Verse to give Uchenna Nwosu the help he needs.

“Now that Pete Carroll has the best player in this draft class thanks to the Broncos, let’s give Seattle’s defense something else it needs — consistent edge pressure. Uchenna Nwosu was a free-agency steal… but outside of that, more needs to be done. Verse has the strength to bull through blockers, but the thing that really stands out on his tape is an insane closing speed that will have NFL quarterbacks with their heads on swivels.”

This season Verse posted 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for a loss.

You can check out the full mock here.

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Three Georgia Bulldogs make USA TODAY Sports’ All-America team

Jalen Carter is among the three Georgia players to make the USA TODAY Sports All-America college football team

The Georgia Bulldogs had three players make the USA TODAY Sports All-America college football team. Georgia and its opponent in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Ohio State, are two of the six programs that had three picks on the All-America team.

Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, defensive tackle Jalen Carter, and safety Christopher Smith all made the first-team. The Bulldogs did not have any players on the second-team.

Georgia defensive back Christopher Smith has had an excellent season. Joshua L. Jones/Online Athens

Surprisingly, more players in the Big Ten (15) were named to the All-America team than players from the SEC (10). Ohio State’s three selections are first-team wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., second-team offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr., and second-team linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.

Georgia tight end Brock Bowers won the John Mackey award. Bowers has 58 total touches, nine total touchdowns, and 819 total yards this season.

Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter is too much of a force to leave off the All-America team. Carter, who missed several games after suffering a knee injury, has 29 total tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Georgia safety Christopher Smith returned to Athens to have a season like this. The first-team All-America safety has 49 total tackles, three interceptions, and a memorable blocked kick returned for a touchdown.

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2023 NFL mock draft: Bowl games, NFL season’s end, and team needs

With bowl games around the corner, and the final few games of the NFL season starting, it’s time for Doug Farrar to do another mock draft!

Bowl games and the College Football Playoff are approaching, and the NFL has gone into the final month of the regular season. So, it’s time to put even more thought into what NFL teams would like to do in the 2023 draft with the best available players from the NCAA feeder stream.

NFL teams have been doing their due diligence all season on those prospects, and now, things ramp into high gear. The scouting combine will arrive with a crash in about two months, pro days will happen right after, and before you know it, the draft will be here to provide hope to the hopeless, and bring even more quality to those teams who have done it right to date.

So, with that in mind, here’s one way the first round of the 2023 NFL draft could go.

(The Miami Dolphins, who would have the 24th pick otherwise if the season ended today, forfeited that pick as part of the NFL’s punishment for tampering.)

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).

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2023 NFL mock draft: Heismans, bowl games, and playoffs (both NFL and NCAA)

With bowl games and the College Football Playoff right around the corner, it’s time for Doug Farrar’s latest mock draft.

With the 2022 NCAA season over, the Heisman Trophy finalists announced Monday (the winner will be crowned on Saturday), bowl season just around the corner, and the College Football Playoff starting on New Year’s Eve, it’s time more than ever to turn our attention to the 2023 NFL draft.

A couple of potential first-round picks — Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte — have decided to return to school for their 2023 season, so they’re off the boards. That still leaves more than enough top-tier talent for NFL teams to consider, and with the scouting combine starting on February 28, it’s time for teams to get their ducks in a row, with an eye on all those postseason games.

At Touchdown Wire, we’ll have you covered as we always do, with detailed prospect analysis, lists of the best players by position, and our eventual list of the 50 best players in the 2023 draft.

For now, and as the NFL playoff picture starts to become clearer, it’s mock draft season! Here’s our latest, based on wild speculation, a few things we may have heard, and team needs to a point.

(Note: The Miami Dolphins, who would have the 24th slot in the 2023 draft were it held today, forfeited that first-round pick as part of their punishment for tampering). 

What the Heisman Trophy voters got wrong this time around

Caleb Williams, Max Duggan, Stetson Bennett III, and C.J. Stroud are your 2022 Heisman Trophy finalists. Here’s what the voters missed.

Before we get into how the voters for the Heisman Trophy finalists got wrong, we can say that the four finalists for the award, the winner of which will be revealed on Saturday, December 10, we want to make clear that we are not casting aspersions on any of the four players who did make the cut. USC quarterback Caleb Williams, TCU quarterback Max Duggan, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, and Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett III all have certain attributes that make them worthy.

That’s not what we’re saying here. What we are saying is that there were other players who were as deserving — or more deserving — who didn’t make the cut, and that’s what we’re left to deal with. And it speaks to larger issues with the process.

Marquee players who are at times helped to a disproportionate degree by those around them are given credit for things that aren’t really theirs to own. The vote should be held after the end of the playoffs, so that we really know who the biggest dogs are. And it absolutely does not matter how great a defensive player you are. You are not going to win the Heisman on defense alone. Unless you’re a three-way superstar like Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson, who got the award in 1997 because he also balled out on offense and special teams, you might as well just wait for the money you’re going to get in the draft.

So. let’s get into what the Heisman voters got wrong this time around.

Georgia defensive terror Jalen Carter literally picked up LSU QB Jayden Daniels on a sack celebration

Jalen Carter?!?

Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter proved why he’s one of the 2023 NFL Draft’s top prospects during Saturday’s SEC championship game.

On a key sack play, Carter wrapped up LSU quarterback Jaylen Daniels for the stop. However, the defensive lineman didn’t bother taking the 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback to the ground.

In a Herculean feat, Carter picked up Daniels and hoisted him in the air to celebrate the defensive play. He also threw up a No. 1 with one hand while holding Daniels with the other. Like, what?

While there have been some wild things that happen in college football this season, watching one player literally picking up an opponent to celebrate felt like a first.

Carter’s astonishing strength has been a feature of his game at Georgia, but this move was just unfair for opposing offenses.

Daniels will likely never forget the day he got picked up by another person on national television during a sack celebration. Could you?

Seahawks go defense-first in this two-round 2023 NFL mock draft

Here’s how the mock played out for Seattle.

Once the Seahawks decided what to do with their 2023 free agent class, their focus will turn to the draft. This franchise hit a home run in 2022 for the first time in 10 years and another strong class could put them into championship contention.

In a new two-round mock from Luke Easterling at Draft Wire, the Seahawks address their defensive needs with their first three picks. Here’s how the mock played out for Seattle.

2 Georgia defenders ranked in top 10 NFL draft board

2 Dawgs go Top-10 in the ’23 draft per PFF

Pro Football Focus has two Georgia defenders in the top 10 of their 2023 NFL draft board.

Star defensive lineman Jalen Carter comes in at No. 5.

“Carter has been hampered by an injury in the early going and has been limited to only 65 snaps. However, his work as a sophomore in 2021 is enough to solidify his top-five draft stock, as he led the Bulldogs with a 90.0 pass-rushing grade.”

Edge defender and team captain Nolan Smith is at No. 10.

“Smith is next in the line of athletic marvels the Bulldogs have produced in recent years. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder can fly sideline to sideline. You also see him play with physicality at that size, with run-defense grades of 90.6 and 81.4 the past two seasons. He needs more ways to win as a pass-rusher, but you bet on the athlete.”

Smith suffered a season-ending pectoral tear that required surgery. Whether this will affect his draft status is unknown.

PFF also has UGA cornerback Kelee Ringo (15) and offensive tackle Broderick Jones (25) on the list.

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Mina Kimes manifesting solution for Seahawks’ recurring run defense problems

It certainly wouldn’t hurt to add a big, run-stuffing DT in the middle of the line.

The first several weeks of the 2022 season the Seahawks couldn’t stop the run to save their lives. The Broncos, Niners and Falcons all had success running the ball, a major factor in the team’s 1-2 start.

Seattle started to turn things around after a disastrous loss to the Saints in Week 5 – when Taysom Hill went off for three touchdowns and 112 yards on just nine carries. Over the next four games the Seahawks’ defense improved dramatically, especially when it came to stopping the run.

Unfortunately, Seattle’s issues defending the run have returned in a bad way. First, the Buccaneers went against type and ran all over the Seahawks in Munich, with rookie Rachaad White finishing them off to the tune of Take Me Home, Country Roads. Yesterday, Josh Jacobs went off for a record-breaking 229-yard performance on the ground, including an 80+ yard walkoff score to seal the deal in overtime.

So, what’s the solution? Coach Pete Carroll told reporters after the game that there were schematic issues – namely doubling Davante Adams a lot opening up the box, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add a big, run-stuffing DT in the middle of the line.

ESPN analyst and Seahawks fan Mina Kimes came up with an idea late in the game – she shared a tweet manifesting Georgia DT Jalen Carter going to Seattle in the draft.

Carter (6-foot-3, 310 pounds) is arguably the top run swallower in the 2023 class. He’s typically being mocked in the top five.

Here’s the highlight reel for Carter.

Good news: the Seahawks are in position to land a blue-chip piece like him. Denver’s latest loss pushed Seattle’s first-round draft pick up to No. 3 overall.

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2023 NFL mock draft roundup: Eagles load up on dynamic defenders, land RB Jahmyr Gibbs

We’re in Week 12 of the 2022 NFL season, and it’s never too early for 2023 NFL Draft projections and mocks with the 9-1Philadelphia Eagles in a position to reload on offense and defense

We’re now 12 weeks through the 2022 season, and it is never too early for 2023 NFL draft conversations centered around Philadelphia having multiple picks in round one.

Thanks to some draft night wizardry from Howie Roseman, the Eagles traded the No. 16 overall pick, No. 19 overall pick, and a 2022 sixth-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for the No. 18 overall pick, a 2022 third-round pick, a 2022 seventh-round pick, a 2023 first-round pick, and a 2024 second-round pick.

We’re tracking the Birds’ picks via Tankathon, and through the first quarter of the season, Philadelphia looks to be heading toward a top-ten selection.

The mock drafts are starting to heat up, and we have the roundup for this weekend’s action.