INDIANAPOLIS — Jalen CarterThe world was rocked on Wednesday when an arrest warrant has been issued against himand he was forced to leave the NFL Scouting Combine to turn himself in to police in Georgia.
A day later, he returned to the combine, where his NFL future may not have been so dramatically changed.
Carter, 21, was considered a top-three prospect and one of the best defensive players in history. NFL Draft before his arrest, and that general opinion doesn’t appear to have changed — at least not yet. There’s obviously concern after Carter was charged late Wednesday night with reckless driving and racing in connection with a crash that killed one person. Georgia football teammate and staff member last month.
But multiple NFL sources told FOX Sports they believe that while teams will take a wait-and-see approach in case more damning details come to light later, most aren’t likely to completely avoid a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle who is a potentially dominant player.
It’s likely, according to some of these sources, that Carter will still end up in the top 10-15 picks, or even in the top five, where some expected him to go all along.
The exact location will depend on individual teams’ risk tolerance and what happens between now and the April 27 draft. Carter has so far been charged with only two misdemeanors for his role in the fatal crash.
The NFL has a long history of tolerating criminal activity far more serious than this.
Several league executives and coaches spoke Thursday about the developments surrounding Carter.
“First of all, it was a horrible tragedy. Let me tell you that.” Crows General manager Eric DeCosta said: “I wouldn’t want to comment on the specifics of how it would affect someone’s draft status because there’s a lot more information out there, and I’m not privy to it. I may be by the time the draft happens. It was a horrible thing that happened there, and I feel bad for the families.”
‘Lives have been lost,’ new report says Texans Head coach DeMeco Ryans added: “Just thinking about those families who have lost a loved one and putting that at the forefront. That’s the most important thing.”
That’s the most important thing, but it doesn’t change the reality of the NFL: The draft is eight weeks away, and a team is about to make a big investment in Carter. If he were selected in the top five, he would get a guaranteed contract worth $30 million to $40 million. Even if he were selected in the top 20, his contract would be guaranteed for more than $15 million.
That’s a lot of money to invest in a player with legal issues, not to mention other character issues, so teams will obviously want to know everything about the incident before selecting Carter with a first-round pick.
And it doesn’t help that his story has changed in recent years. According to a report this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Carter initially told police he was about a mile away from the crash that killed teammate Devon Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy.
But a news release from Athens-Clarke County (Georgia) police on Thursday charged LeCroy and Carter, who was driving a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk, with “operating their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing” just outside Athens at 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, the day of the crash.
“Evidence demonstrated that both vehicles changed lanes, drove into the center turn lane, drove into opposing lanes of traffic, passed other motorists and drove at a high rate of speed in an apparent attempt to distance themselves from each other,” police said, adding that LeCroy’s Expedition was traveling 104 miles per hour at one point.
Carter returned to training camp after posting $4,000 bail and planned to continue his activities, according to an NFL source. He had not planned to practice, but he underwent medical evaluations and measurements and was scheduled to interview with several teams who were likely to ask him questions about the incident.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Carter vowed to “ensure the complete and accurate truth is presented.” He added, “There is no doubt in my mind that when all the facts are known, I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.”
That’s unlikely to happen before NFL teams make their decisions, however. Carter is scheduled to be arraigned on April 18, just nine days before the NFL draft begins.
“This will be investigated thoroughly by the media, and we will follow that, obviously,” Commanders Chief executive Martin Mayhew said: “We have a company that we work with on background investigations. We have a very thorough analysis of the background of these people, particularly any criminal activity or criminal behaviour.”
“I don’t know what happened to him. I’m not saying he did anything wrong because I don’t know. But we will know. We will find out.”
Even if NFL teams figure out exactly what happened to Carter the night of the fatal crash, they still have to decide what to do about it. Carter’s size and talent are tantalizing. He has been consistently ranked in the same category as Alabama edge breaker Will Anderson And Texas Tech edge breaker Tyree Wilson as one of the top three defensive prospects in his class — and often the best of that trio.
Every team in the top 10 could use a player like him. But will the accusations against him and the revelations about his involvement in a fatal accident lead any of them to decide that all that talent comes with too much risk?
“You know, the interesting thing is very few players have too many issues,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, speaking generally about players who have off-field issues. “So it doesn’t happen very often. But I think when it does, you just have to decide where you draw the line. Our organization draws the line on certain things that we don’t cross. After that, we just try to judge who they are as a person.”
That line, of course, varies from organization to organization, and sometimes from player to player, so it’s an individual choice for teams considering Carter to decide on which side of that line he falls.
And a lot could depend on what happens over the next eight weeks, what other information comes to light and how his legal issues are resolved.
Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the last six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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