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Jalen Carter

Arrest Warrant Out For DT Jalen Carter In Connection With Fatal Crash

March 2nd, 2023 at 9:08am CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 2: After indicating he would return to Athens to face these misdemeanor charges, Carter was booked at 11:33pm ET. He was released from the Athens-Clarke County Jail at 11:49pm, upon paying a $4K bond, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Carter will make a return to the Combine as well, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, who notes (via Twitter) the 310-pound lineman will be back to finish his measurements and interviews with teams.

MARCH 1: The Athens-Clarke County (Ga.) Police Department secured arrest warrants for former Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter in connection with a fatal January car accident. The warrants are for reckless driving and racing (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Seth Emerson).

A January 15 accident claimed the lives of Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy. Carter was driving a separate vehicle, and an ongoing police investigation found the two vehicles were “operating in a manner consistent with racing.” Police initially determined the crash a single-car accident caused by LeCroy speeding.

Carter, 21, is expected to be a top-five pick in April. ESPN.com ranks the interior D-lineman as the No. 3 overall prospect in this year’s class; Mel Kiper Jr. places him as the top player available. The highly touted prospect had been scheduled to speak at the Combine on Wednesday morning, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes (on Twitter) he is not present.

Carter met with teams prior to this updated story emerging. As of Tuesday night, Carter’s agent told Alan Judd and Dylan Jackson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he had not been contacted about potential charges. Carter said later (via Twitter) he will return to Athens to “answer the misdemeanor charges against me and to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented.”

Evidence suggests Carter’s vehicle, a 2021 Ford Tomahawk, and LeCroy’s, a 2021 Ford Expedition, were switching lanes — including on the opposite side of the road — and speeding. Just before LeCroy’s fatal crash, her vehicle was traveling approximately 104 mph. A toxicology report measured LeCroy’s blood-alcohol level at .197, well above the legal limit, and the investigation has deemed alcohol, racing and reckless driving were “significant contributors” to this accident.

Police questioned Carter, and Judd and Jackson report his story changed. Initially, Carter said he was a mile away when the accident occurred. That account changed to indicate he was following the vehicle close enough to see its taillights. Carter also later said he was driving alongside the Expedition. He left the scene of the crash, according to the Journal-Constitution. Police initially suspected other cars were at the scene at the time of the wreck, which occurred after 2:30am Jan. 15. Police asked a Georgia athletics official to have Carter return to the scene; he returned at around 4:15am and denied speeding or racing. Police did not find Carter had been drinking.

Members of Georgia’s national championship-winning team were celebrating the win at a downtown Athens strip club. Three cars left the club around the same time, per Judd and Jackson. Athens police had previously ticketed Carter for driving 89 mph in a 45-mph zone in September 2022; Carter received a $1K fine for that violation. Teams had a lot of questions regarding Carter’s maturity level before this report of his potential involvement in the accident surfaced, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. This issue will certainly overshadow everything else about his prospect status for the time being.

Georgia DT Jalen Carter Declares For Draft

January 10th, 2023 at 11:48am CST by Adam La Rose

One day after winning a second consecutive national title, Georgia’s Jalen Carter has made an unsurprising decision. The highly-touted defensive tackle announced on Tuesday (via Twitter) that he is declaring for the 2023 NFL draft.

Carter was one of many five-star recruits the Bulldogs have landed in recent years, leading to significant expectations right away for him and the team. In eight games played as a freshman, Carter totaled just 14 stops on the season, but his three tackles for loss demonstrated his potential as a disruptive force along the defensive interior.

Last year, the 6-3, 310-pounder took a considerable step forward. While splitting reps with the likes of Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt, Carter posted 37 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss, along with three sacks. Over the course of the season, it became clear that the latter was a key contributor on the team’s vaunted defense despite being surrounded by older teammates. Both Davis and Wyatt went on to be first-round picks last April, but many felt by that point Carter was the most talented member of that year’s championship team.

With a larger role and even greater expectations for his junior campaign, Carter did not fail to deliver. He racked up seven tackles for loss and duplicated his sack total from the year before. His 32 QB pressures almost matched his 2021 total, helping lead to consensus All-American honors and a stellar PFF grade of 92.3. Carter is universally seen as the 2023 class’ top interior defensive lineman, in no small part due to his scheme and alignment versatility.

That ranking puts him in the running for the title of top defensive prospect, something he is competing alongside Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. for. Given their needs on both sides of the ball, but in the front seven in particular, both prospects figure to be on the radar of the Bears, who landed the No. 1 pick after a wild sequence during Week 18. The top slot would allow Chicago to draft a Justin Fields replacement at quarterback if they wished, but signs are pointing away from such a move.

At his season-ending press conference earlier today, Bears GM Ryan Poles said that he plans on having Fields return as the team’s starter in 2023, adding that he would need to be “blown away” by another prospect (likely Alabama’s Bryce Young) at the position (Twitter link via The Athletics’ Adam Jahns). That opens the door to a trade out of the top spot, of course, but also increases the chances that a defender will be the first to hear his name called this spring if the Bears stay at No. 1. Given his production, Carter would have a realistic chance at being the top pick in that event.