Imagine Jalen Carter as an edge rusher?
We know from the first month and a half of last season what the former Georgia star is capable of as an interior lineman. When he’s on, he’s so good it’s scary. All-pro scary.
But with his speed, power and relentlessness to the quarterback, can you just imagine him lining up outside and the havoc he could wreak working in certain situations against offensive tackles?
You might not have to imagine it.
Carter has quietly been taking some reps along the edge in training camp this summer, and considering the multiplicity new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wants in all his players we just might see Carter do it during the regular season.
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“It's good, it’s fun,” Carter said after practice Wednesday. “Actually, I haven't really been on the edge that much, but I always tell them if they need me anywhere, we’ve got a package for it. If I'm on the edge, we'll see what happens.”
We saw Fletcher Cox line up outside a lot over the years and have success with it. Any time you can give an offensive lineman a different look and a change of pace, you get a potential advantage. If a tackle faces a tall, quick pass rusher like Josh Sweat for a couple series and then suddenly on the next series sees a massive powerhouse like Carter, who outweighs Sweat by 60 pounds, that’s not an easy adjustment to make.
“Yeah, in high school I was on the edge a lot,” Carter said. “I've been moving around a lot. I got a lot of space, I can line up wide, where I can make the tackle set out a little farther or whatever. There's a couple of keys in there that I can do.
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“I didn't know (before camp) that I would be at the end spot. With the new D.C. and all that, they’ve got plays that he's bringing in, packages that line me at the end spot, and I'm here to help wherever.”
Carter already has a world of pass-rush ability.
His 6.0 sacks last year were 8th-most in the NFL among interior linemen and 2nd-most among rookies, behind the Rams’ Kobie Turner, who had nine.
The only player in Eagles history with more sacks as a rookie since sacks became an official stat in 1982 is Corey Simon, who had 9 ½ in 2000.
The franchise record for sacks by an interior lineman is 11 ½ by Andy Harmon in 1993. Javon Hargrave came within half a sack of Harmon’s record in 2022. Kenny Clarke in 1984, Jerome Brown in 1989 and Cox in 2018 have also had double digits in a season.
Carter is capable of wiping out all those records if he can sustain his fitness and production over a full season.
And the Eagles could certainly use another force in their pass rush game.
All the Eagles’ edge rushers come with a big question mark this summer. Sweat didn’t have a sack the last eight weeks of last season. Bryce Huff has only had one season with significant playing time or production. Brandon Graham is 36 and a deep role player at this point. And Nolan Smith, Carter’s college teammate, is coming off a lost rookie season.
Lining Carter up on the edge can help the Eagles generate pressure if it’s not coming from the traditional edges. You probably won’t see a ton of it this year, but it’s an intriguing extra dimension to a defensive line in flux.
“Man, every move that he uses came from my tool bag,” Smith said with a laugh. “You know, he does it a little different. He has a power element off of it, so it's just really cool to watch him getting into really developing his pass rush and doing certain things and just adding them to his bag.”
Moving Carter outside is a joint production of Jeremiah Washburn, the Eagles’ edge rusher coach, and Clint Hurtt, who coaches the interior linemen.
“Clint and I really intermix those guys quite a bit,” Washburn said. “But, yeah, he's good anywhere.”
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