Falcons Draft Profile Jalen Carter: Strengths, weaknesses, highlights, prediction
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Well, I think the header says it best, Jalen Carter's strength is his strength. He is one overly powerful man that can throw offensive linemen with one arm—just ask Oregon's right guard who was thrown like a rag doll by his arm.
Obviously, with the power he possesses, he can stack and hold his blocker on running plays and then shed them at the right time to make a play. He has shocking lateral speed for his size and can swim-move offensive linemen right off the snap. You will routinely see Carter get past his blocker before the blocker can even fire his hands out. Kentucky knows all about that as Carter was constantly in their backfield.
Carter's hands are overwhelming and can quickly shed blocks on his way to engulfing the quarterback.
Carter is a high-energy, passionate player who can get his defense fired up after making a play. He also has some intrigue as a field goal blocker.
Weaknesses:
The main thing that you would like to see Jalen Carter improve on is his consistency in a couple of areas; the first being sustained power. He has snaps where he will look absolutely unstoppable using his strength, while he has other snaps where he looks underwhelming for his size. I saw more snaps than I expected where linemen were able to control him.
And, second, Carter needs a more consistent motor. Obviously, he isn't a small man and won't have the best stamina, but you still would like to see more down-to-down dominance.
Jalen Carter has snaps where he has no plan on how to attack resulting in him being blocked early and not having an impact on the play. I believe this is a minor issue as NFL coaches will be able to correct it.
His arms need to find a better balance between being too short and too extended. You see the polar opposites; short arms that allow linemen to get inside his pads, or long arms that result in upright rushes.
Carter also struggles to keep his speed when making his way through contact. He isn't the best at absorbing unforeseen contact.
Summary:
There is no mistaking the type of player Jalen Carter is and can become. His power and finesse is already worthy for the NFL and he has shown the energy and passion that you love to see at his position. His off-the-snap quickness is so good that he could potentially be a double-digit sack artist from the inside, however, he would need to find better stamina to reach that production. He also needs to find a better pad level and more balanced arms. All in all, he can be a game wrecker at the pro level.