Smart Raises The Big Question With Jalen Carter

What is Smart looking for from Jalen Carter this offseason?

After the losses of Devonte Wyatt, Jordan Davis, and Travon Walker, there are some big shoes to fill in the defensive line room in the season ahead. After two seasons of shining amongst those guys, no one seems more destined to take on the mantle than defensive tackle Jalen Carter. 

Carter is already garnering serious attention from the NFL as he reaches the end of his potentially final spring in Athens, as the junior defensive lineman becomes draft-eligible at the end of the 2022 season. In the leadup to what's shaping up to be a historic 2022 NFL Draft for the Georgia Football program, where the Bulldogs could break the program record for most players taken in the Draft for the third year in a row, some believe that the best player from Georgia's roster a season ago isn't even on the board. 

"They could have as many as three first-round draft picks on the defensive line that we saw today, and the best one of them all (Jalen Carter) has to go back to school this year." 

- Daniel Jeremiah 

High praise for Carter after spending his first two seasons coming off the bench due to playing behind a stacked defensive line room. Despite the high praise, Smart is still raising questions about what is to come from the Apopka, Florida, native in 2022. 

"It’s a matter of can he play with maximum intensity and sustain. We need him to play more snaps this year. Can he do that? Can he go through offseason workouts and gets to where Travon was. Devonte Wyatt was able to play so many snaps because he was in such great shape.”

There is no question when it comes to the talent of Carter. Still, if he cannot stay on the field consistently and be a three-down lineman for Georgia, it could see his name fall down draft boards in his junior season if conditioning is an issue. An overall valid point from Smart, who is known for using the press to challenge his players publicly. 

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