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Georgia’s Jalen Carter may well be the first name called by Roger Goodell during April’s NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive tackle moves with shocking suddenness for a man his size mixed with almost inhuman power.
Carter has helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back College Football Playoff national championships and now he appears ready to cash in at the NFL level.
But not every NFL Draft evaluator is as sold on the Florida native. Take ESPN’s Todd McShay for example. McShay said in December that he heard from some around the NFL that Carter had character concerns.
https://twitter.com/jontweetssports/status/1603164357323591684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1603216250787741696%7Ctwgr%5Ee04fbafcef4d4553660e31145eeff5c383668363%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2F2022%2F12%2F15%2Ftodd-mcshay-jalen-carter-character-torched%2F
While Carter himself caught some heat earlier in the season with a pregame scuffle against Missouri. But even since McShay’s comments, Carter’s coaches and teammates have leapt to his defense.
Fans Slam Todd McShay After Heartwarming Jalen Carter Story
Now fans are coming after McShay after a report by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic shared the story of Carter literally paying for a teammate’s lunches.
Before this season Carter found out that Wallace, as a walk-on, couldn’t eat all the meals the scholarship defensive linemen were getting. Walk-ons weren’t able to eat lunch, but this year the players were given the choice to buy it.
“Jalen heard about that. I’m the only walk-on in the defensive line room and he goes, ‘I’m not gonna let that happen.’ So he used his scholarship money to pay for me to get lunch every single day,” Wallace said.
Wallace thought it was “ridiculous” to hear someone critical of Carter’s character. “You honestly don’t know the guy if you think that. You can ask anybody on the team, whether it’s the O-line that he bullies every day out there … everybody thinks he’s an all-around great guy, and I think he’ll be great for any team that picks him.” – via The Athletic
Carter told Feldman that he felt inclined to share “the blessings” he received from being on a full scholarship. While his act of kindness also began a trend among Bulldogs players.
“And that started a wildfire with some of our good players (who benefit from name, image and likeness) picking different guys in their position group to make sure they’re good, so they can eat every time we eat just like you’re a scholarship player,” Scott said. “No one told him to do that. The nutritionist informed me about it. Had she not told me, I wouldn’t have known about it. And that’s what I like about it.
Fans immediately jumped on McShay when news of the story broke.
Pretty amateur stuff from McShay here. He has to know his words carry weight (I wish they wouldn’t). It’s one thing if he’s wrong about a prospects ability, i.e. claiming Mahomes would be a bust. It’s another being wrong about a kids character. Bush league! https://t.co/nEjGLoEGsg
— jack pavlish (@JackPavlish) February 21, 2023
Todd McShay gets paid to guess the draft like the rest of twitter only thing different for him is he wears a suit and talks for 8.5 mins on tv https://t.co/8K3QGr8do5
— 🇻🇮 Coach D🇻🇮 (@NoOneLikeD) February 21, 2023
bUt tODd MCsHaY sAiD?!?!?? https://t.co/AgvKJEZXlY
— KARL MARX BABIP MERCHANT (@KarlMarx66666) February 21, 2023
The Chicago Bears currently hold the No. 1 pick in the draft. Reports state the Bears could either draft a quarterback should they trade Justin Fields or trade out of the No. 1 spot.
But if they do neither, there’s a good chance Carter is patrolling backfields in Chicago next season.