STRENGTHS
If you are looking for one of the best defensive players in this draft you are looking for Jalen. He is big, and powerful, with excellent overall athleticism. He can push the pocket against a double team and rush the passer beating a double team. He has good quick feet that make him, along with his size and strength, explosive off the line of scrimmage. Jalen has been coached very well and uses excellent hand techniques when defending against the run to keep his defender off his body making it easy for him to shed blocks and make tackles at the line of scrimmage. If you try to block him on third and long with just one offensive lineman, Jalen will explode off the line and be in your backfield, like a bear coming out of its winter-long hibernation looking for its first meal. Jalen is in NFL football shape. He is technique-sound, big, strong, explosive off the line, and demands a double team on every play and that shows me that Jalen “Big Bear” Carter has an excellent work ethic and is ready for the next level.
CONCERNS
Go ahead, nit-pick…I dare you. Will Jalen get you double-digit sacks? Not likely, because he understands how to play his position and the goal of his position. If stats are what you’re looking for then Jalen is not you guy. If you want a dominating defense in all phases of the game then Jalen is your guy.
BOTTOM LINE: 1.40
Jalen is the type of player you build your dominating defense around. He will stop the run and push the pocket and demand double teams and sometimes triple teams because he can beat double teams. I don’t care what you have been told over the years, but a good pass rush starts with an inside player demanding a double team so that your Edge Rushers are freed up to play one-on-one. The great pass rushers can beat double teams but most teams’ pass rush is “produced” by Edge Rushes up against one on one defense, blitzing LBs and stunts played up front. A dominating Defense starts with an interior lineman who can stop the run consistently and who demands the double team in pass-rushing situations. Jalen demands double teams on just about every down and distance. Most people value the pass rusher over the interior lineman who can stop the run and be disruptive when pass rushing. When I find a player with Jalen’s size and athletic talent I find it very hard to value any other defensive player over that type of potential impact player. But that’s just me.
