Eagles pick Georgia rushing duo Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith in first round of NFL draft

The Eagles added two Georgia pass rushers originally expected to go ahead of them on the first night of the draft.

They traded up one spot to secure defensive tackle Jalen Carter with the No. 9 overall pick and, a few hours later, added edge rusher Nolan Smith with the 30th overall pick.

Carter was one of the highest players on their board according to league sources, but character concerns caused him to fall into the team’s trade-up range on Thursday night. The Eagles sent a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Chicago Bears to move up one spot.

The 22-year-old is a disruptive interior rusher who was the focal point of a historically good Georgia defense the last few seasons. He played alongside Eagles nose tackle Jordan Davis and linebacker Nakobe Dean in 2022.

» READ MORE: Evaluating film of Georgia’s Jalen Carter and how he would fit along the Eagles’ defensive line

Carter faced misdemeanor charges for reckless driving and racing in March because of his involvement in a fatal car crash two months earlier that led to the death of Georgia player Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy. Carter pleaded no contest to the charges and accepted a deal that requires him to serve 12 months of probation and 80 hours of community service, among other things. Carter also came to Georgia’s pro day out of shape and unable to finish drills, according to several media reports.

“I felt conditioned but I guess I wasn’t,” Carter said in a Zoom call later Thursday. “That was just me. I should have done conditioning a little bit more — a lot more for the pro day.”

The Eagles had Carter in for a pre-draft visit and also met with him at the NFL scouting combine. It’s important to note Carter has said Davis was a mentor to him during their shared time in college.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman acknowledged Carter’s slide out of the top five was a byproduct of the last few months, but said the team had confidence drafting Carter because of its vetting process, led by the team’s chief security officer Dom DiSandro, leading up to the draft.

“Obviously it’s been a traumatic process for him throughout the spring,“ Roseman said. “We understand there was a reason he was available at nine. I think everyone will tell you this is one of the most talented players in the draft and one of the most talented players to come out of college in a long time. That’s part of what we’re talking about.”

Roseman pointed to Carter’s youth — he was 21 at the time of the incident — and potential for maturation and growth when discussing why the team felt comfortable drafting him.

“We understand all these players need to be developed,” Roseman said. “They’re coming into the league at a very young age. They’re not finished products. I think all of us, when we were 21 or 22 hopefully have grown a lot from that time. You just really want to get to know the person and what’s in their heart.

“When we got to know Jalen, we felt like, here’s a kid that does love football, obviously he’s a winner, he won in high school, he won in college. We felt like we have really good people in this building, we have a really good support staff, we have really good players who are good people, we have really good coaches, and we felt like it was a good fit for us.”

Carter said the Eagles didn’t ask him much about the misdemeanor charges or the incident, but Roseman said the Eagles “spent a lot of time” investigating the details from that night.

» READ MORE: Through grief, Eagles’ Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean support each other after the loss of their Georgia friends

“The 30 visit went great,” Carter said. “It was good vibes when I got there talking to everybody, head coach, defensive coordinator, general manager, it was all good vibes.”

Legal and character concerns aside, Carter was one of the best defensive tackle prospects in recent memory and has legitimate upside to become an impact player. He had three sacks in each of the last two years in a Georgia defense structured to funnel tackles and sacks to its linebackers. The 6-foot-3, 314-pounder didn’t do athletic testing during the pre-draft process, but his tape shows an explosive first step, ideal strength, and body control to defeat blocks at the next level.

His slide was precipitated by a run of three quarterbacks going in the top five and Paris Johnson Jr. going No. 6 to the Arizona Cardinals. Once the Atlanta Falcons took Texas running back Bijan Robinson eighth overall, the Eagles moved up to ensure they’d land Carter.

Smith, originally projected as a mid-round pick, experienced his own slide down the board before falling into the Eagles’ lap. Going into the draft, Smith was considered an option for the team at No. 10 overall if Carter went earlier.

Roseman said the Eagles were receiving calls from teams looking to trade up into the first round as their pick approached but decided to stick at No. 30 to take Smith.

“Coach and I just kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Hey, this is the guy,’” Roseman said. “We didn’t want to get too cute. We’re excited to have him.”

At 6-2, 238 pounds, Smith earned favorable comparisons to Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick during the pre-draft process as an incredibly explosive but undersized edge rusher who plays bigger than his measurements. Smith ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the combine and was the leader of Georgia’s championship defense the last few years.

Smith had 11.5 career sacks as a four-year contributor to the Georgia defense. He missed six games last season with a pectoral injury but managed three sacks in his eight games played. He was commended as a high-character player during the pre-draft process and is a former five-star recruit.

Dean, the Eagles’ third-round pick last year, was at Smith’s draft party in Braselton, Ga., and congratulated Smith on the NFL Network broadcast shortly after he received the call from the Eagles.

“When you go away to college and you know somebody there, that helps,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “When you come into a profession and you know somebody, I know that helps. These guys know a lot of guys here.”

— Staff writer Jeff McLane contributed to this report.