The Philadelphia Eagles need to build their defense around Jalen Carter but the second-year defensive tackle must prove he’s worthy of that sentiment.
It goes without saying that in order for the Philadelphia Eagles to compete in 2024, their defense must significantly improve.
There will be personnel changes, but the development of the young players Howie Roseman has added over the last two seasons must take precedence over any other planned changes.
Maybe the key to it all is the 2022 Georgia team, which includes Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean, as well as the 2023 Bulldogs class, which includes Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and Kelee Ringo. All of these players are under new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s tutelage.
If you take it even further, Carter’s enormous playmaking ability—he finished second to Houston’s Will Anderson for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 and was selected with the ninth overall choice in the draft—nearly has to be the cornerstone of the entire scheme.
The Eagles must, not simply wish, center their defense on Carter’s unique abilities.
Most people by now are aware that if Carter hadn’t run afoul of the law after becoming involved in a drag-racing incident that claimed the lives of Bulldogs employee Chandler LeCroy and Georgia player Devin Willock last April, he might have been considered as the top overall pick.
With the exception of an alleged shoplifting incident at a self-checkout kiosk, where Carter allegedly took a bag he believed to have been paid for by the woman he was with, Carter, who turns 23 on April 4, stayed out of trouble during his rookie season.
Ultimately, it was just a straightforward misunderstanding that got out of hand when Carter resisted a security guard’s attempt to clarify the situation. Still, the page turned swiftly.
However, following San Francisco’s overtime loss to Kansas City in the Super Bowl, Carter made another careless mistake, this one more alarming.
Jon Feliciano, an offensive lineman for the Niners, came under fire for criticizing teammate Spencer Burford for failing to make a block. In the end, Feliciano said he was sorry and blamed the no-no on having had too many cocktails the night before.
Uninvitedly entering the fray, Carter disclosed that Feliciano had ridiculed the inexperienced defensive lineman Willock’s death during the Niners’ blowout of the Eagles on December 3.
Feliciano didn’t refute the charge; instead, he raised the stakes by saying that Carter’s threats to murder him were the reason behind his inappropriate behavior.
“After receiving a flag, the dude threatened to kill me three times, saying that my kids would never see me again because I was laughing at him,” Feliciano stated. “I told you, I believe you; you have a body.” Then he kept messaging my friends and uploading pictures of my family for weeks.
Along with mentioning that he had reported the incident to the NFL, Feliciano also shared a screenshot of Carter tagging him in an Instagram story with an image of the O-Lineman and his children.