PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles have had only two days of practice, but so far, Jalen Carter has done something in each practice to indicate that he is well on his way to achieving his rookie goal.
“I want to be defensive rookie of the year,” Carter said after practice Friday. “You know, I had a lot of goals and it changes every day. But my main goal is defensive rookie of the year.”
Before anyone starts calling Carter the next Aaron Donald, or even Fletcher Cox, the usual caveats apply: It was Day 2 of training camp. Carter has played mostly on the second team. The pads haven’t come on yet. And so on.
And on this particular play, Carter was with the third-team defensive line, going against the third-team offensive line.
Third team or not, Carter’s play was impressive.
The offense ran a running play to the right. Carter was being double-teamed, with 300-pound linemen on either side of him. Carter pushed one into the other, knocking both of them over like a bowler knocking the No. 5 pin into the No. 4 pin to convert a spare.
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By doing that, there was no room for the running back to cut upfield, so he kept drifting to the outside. Carter didn’t make the so-called tackle, but the running back was touched for no gain.
To Carter, it’s nothing new. He faced double teams often when he was at Georgia, and he learned how to beat them both with his power and his speed.
“It’s different, you know?” Carter said about the NFL level. “Guys are very strong. Technique is very different. What I noticed about our O-line is they might not throw their hands a lot. And they might use a little finesse with their little stance and all that. It’s harder to read run and pass. I just gotta learn.”
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On Wednesday, the first day of practice, Carter was playing on the second team, and going against the first-team offensive line. He beat left guard Landon Dickerson to the inside for a so-called sack. The play was blown dead as quarterbacks are not allowed to be touched.
It’s hard to recall another Eagles rookie defensive lineman making such an impact so quickly, since perhaps Cox in 2012. And the Eagles are no strangers when it comes to drafting defensive linemen in the first round.
Since Cox, the Eagles have used first-round picks on defensive linemen/edge rushers Marcus Smith in 2014, Derek Barnett in 2017 and Jordan Davis in 2022.
Already, Carter has caught the eye of both the Eagles’ offensive and defensive linemen.
“Jalen Carter is very fast,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “The intensity right now and the speed of his game is really fast. I’ve had a couple plays with Jalen, just trying to cut him off from the backside, and he’s really fast. … He’s really good.”
Added Cox: “I’ve been in his position, drafted in the first round. You expect a lot, but the biggest thing is to get in and learn, learn the defense, learn how to practice as a pro. Learn the new environment and having to deal with a lot of media, but let go of the distractions.
“Overall, he’s going to be a really good player for us.”
The transition to the NFL hasn’t been as smooth for Davis, who was Carter’s teammate at Georgia in 2021 when the Bulldogs won their first of two straight national championships.
Davis, who’s 6-foot-6, 336 pounds, had an up-and-down rookie season in 2022. He was starting to earn more playing time in the defensive tackle rotation, particularly at nose tackle, before an ankle injury midway through the season sent him to injured reserve.
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When he returned, the Eagles had signed two veteran defensive tackles in Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh, and Davis’ playing time diminished the rest of the way.
Joseph and Suh didn’t return this season and Javon Hargrave, who was selected to the Pro Bowl with 11 sacks, signed with the 49ers as a free agent. That leaves an opening for Davis, who has been with the first team so far with Cox and Milton Williams.
Davis has played relatively well so far in camp, but he hasn’t made the splash plays that Carter has. Still, it’s easy to see why the Eagles have high expectations for Davis, especially as a run-stopper in the middle.
“Go find another human being that looks like him,” Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said about Davis. “There are not many people built like that. He’s strong. He’s fast. He’s quick. He’s powerful. It’s about putting it all together, and then us helping him put it all together, and getting the right combination of guys in there and being impactful.”
Carter is clearly working himself into that combination of guys.
Interestingly, both Carter and Davis have had their conditioning questioned − Davis last season, and Carter after a poor Pro Day in March. Carter, however, was considered one of the top players in the draft last spring. He fell to the Eagles at No. 9 after pleading no contest to racing and reckless driving in a fatal car accident involving another car.
Carter said Friday that Carter’s conditioning is not a concern, as he showed by making impactful days during a brutally hot 75-minute practice. And he said he’s well-suited for the defensive scheme.
“I’m very powerful in our defense, the D line,” Davis said. “(Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker) wants us to fire off the ball, and that’s something I like to do.”
Carter said he’s not worried about anything else beyond that.
“I’m not really expecting anything,” he said. “When they tell me (to go in), I’m just trying to have a big impact on the game, and just do my best.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
