BALTIMORE — It didn’t take long for Jalen Carter to remind everyone why he was a top 10 pick in the draft.
In fact, it took just one play.
On the first first snap of Carter’s NFL career, he brushed past his former teammate into the backfield for a QB hit on Josh Johnson, who somehow threw it away.
“First play of my NFL season, getting to the quarterback,” Carter said. “I thought that was pretty awesome. I plan on doing that more.”
The Eagles plan on Carter doing that more too.
That’s why they traded up to pick the talented defensive tackle out of Georgia with the No. 9 overall pick. And even though he played just two snaps in the Eagles’ 20-19 loss to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, that was more than enough to flash.
“He is working hard every day, and he’s had some really nice plays,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s very talented, and he’s just got to keep working. He still has yet to make a play in the NFL, so he’s just got to put his head down and work. But he’s put some nice practices back-to-back – back-to-back-to-back, actually, so he's just got put his head down and keep working.”
“I was just making sure I at least wrapped him up because he did try to run off,” Carter said. “I got his legs but I looked up and saw the ball was gone and I was like, ‘Dang.’”
After starting the game on the bench for the first two plays, Carter entered on 3rd-and-10, an obvious pass-rush situation. On the play, he beat his former Georgia teammate Ben Cleveland to get into the backfield. Cleveland (6-6, 370) was a third-round pick back in 2021 but Carter remembers practicing against Cleveland as a freshman.
Carter looked at the list of Ravens offensive linemen coming into this game and knew he’d get a chance to face his former teammate. He made the most of it.
“I had an outside move in my mind,” Carter said. “But after just seeing him come off the ball the way he did, it translated into an inside move and I got inside.”
What also made Carter’s first NFL snap so special was that Nolan Smith lined up next to him. The Eagles’ other first-round pick from Georgia was out there with Carter, rushing from the left edge and trying to keep the quarterback in the pocket.
This time, Carter beat Smith there.
“I tell him it’s a race to the quarterback every time,” Smith said. “But if one of my dawgs get there, I’m going to celebrate. I’m happy for him and I know he had a good rush. I haven’t watched it yet but hopefully I’ll watch it upcoming soon on my way back.”
Smith played more than Carter in their NFL debuts and his performance was a little more up and down. But this was Smith’s first game action since tearing his pec with the Bulldogs in late October. For Smith, it just felt nice to get back on the field.
“It was good,” Smith said. “A lot of people don’t know I just came off of surgery so I was just happy to be out there hitting somebody. I just know my mom was in the stands yelling my name. ‘Get closer! Get closer!” And that’s all I think about. She’s my why and she will push me so that’s what I think about.”
The highlight for Smith came late in the second quarter, when he bent around big left tackle Daniel Faalele for a QB hit of his own. The Eagles had two QB hits on Saturday night and they came from their two first-round picks.
“I had some good rushes,” Smith said. “I could have did some things better. A lot of things better. Me and Coach [Jeremiah Washburn] gonna look at it and critique from there.”
While there can sometimes be a pretty steep learning curve for rookies in the NFL, both Carter and Smith said they felt comfortable with the speed of the game. Sometimes you hear about rookies who feel like everything else is sped up and they aren’t.
These two back-to-back national champions weren’t overwhelmed at all.
“It felt the same,” Smith said. “It felt just like college.”
Both Carter and Smith were a part of a dominant defense at Georgia so it’s probably good news that they felt as comfortable as they did in their first NFL action.
After just two snaps, Carter agreed that he’s hungry for more. And he claims no moment from Saturday was too surreal.
“I’ve been ready for this moment all my life,” Carter said.
He didn’t take long to show it.
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