Why Jalen Carter is already an elite NFL player for the Eagles
The Philadephia Eagles have struck gold on yet another draft pick, this time with Jalen Carter. The DT slid to the Eagles at ninth in the draft, after an off-field incident dropped the stock of the Georgia player.
Carter is now paired up with several other Georgia players who have made their way to the Eagles, like Nolan Smith, who was picked at the top of the first round.
The Eagles are 2-0 after scrapping a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. The Vikings fumbled the ball multiple times, creating some lucky breaks and short fields for Philly. The Justin Jefferson fumble at the one-yard line is a prime example, which was ruled a touchback.
The Vikings would have been 14-10 up with a touchdown, instead, Jake Elliot kicked a 61-yard field goal and the Eagles never looked back.
It's becoming apparent that running the ball against the Eagles is very difficult this season. The Vikings only ran the ball eight times for 28 yards, whilst the Patriots had 75 yards on 22 attempts. The Eagles averaged over five yards on average per run against the Vikings, a two-yard average difference between offense and defense.
Jalen Carter was the best player on the field in week one at the Patriots game. Carter recorded his first sack, tackle for loss and QB hit on Mac Jones in Week 1.
The Eagles landed 10 QB hits on the battered Vikings O-line and were all over Cousins. The Eagles' defense only allowed the Vikings to score 14 points through the first three quarters, Cousins threw two late touchdowns to make the score look closer.
Carter has 11 pressures, 10 hurries and a sack in two games, and looks not just NFL-ready, but elite.
The 39.28 minutes of possession against the Vikings shows the Eagles can get a lead and run the clock down. This Eagles team is poised for another season, and Jalen Carter is potentially looking at Rookie of the Year.
Jalen Carter and the Eagles should get a lot of sacks in the coming weeks
The Washington Commanders O-line struggled in the Week 1 win against the Arizona Cardinals. Sam Howell was sacked six times, as the Commanders sneaked a hard-fought win against a bad Arizona side.
It was Washington who ended the Eagles' unbeaten run last year, but Philadelphia was all over them in the first game. They recorded 9 sacks in the 24-8 win in September. The Eagles recorded 70 sacks in 2022, the second most all-time.
With the additions of Jalen Carter and a pass rush that seems to be better this season, they could go on a streak of games with four or more sacks each week.
The Eagles play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week, the LA Rams at the end of the month and Washington twice before their bye week. Don't be surprised to see Jalen Carter dominant in the coming games.