3 reasons Chicago Bears passing on Jalen Carter makes sense
The question back in December was whether the Chicago Bears would take Jalen Carter first overall. Then, at the NFL combine it was whether Jalen Carter would make the Bears trade down further. At the NFL draft, the question was if the Chicago Bears would take Carter if he fell to nine.
Months and months of Jalen Carter talk wrapped up with the Bears trading down, and the Eagles taking Carter ninth overall. The move is equally surprising and unsurprising if that can be so. It is surprising because he is such a talent. However, there were reasons this makes sense.
3. Defensive Tackle is deeper than Tackle in this draft
The Chicago Bears likely knew that they had to walk away from this weekend with a starter up front on both sides of the football. This was the debate all draft season, do they take the tackle to protect Justin Fields or do they take the defensive player who fits the scheme of Matt Eberflus perfectly?
The question was all the rage at pick nine, but we must remember that the draft goes beyond one day. It is more about what is the better bet on day two, tackle or three-technique. At three-technique, you see names such as Keeanu Benton, Gervon Dexter, and Adetomiwa Adebawore on the board.
At tackle, Matthew Bergeron fell out of round one because the NFL views him as a guard. The same be said for Cody Mauch. It leaves Tyler Steen, who was a day three pick before transferring to Alabama, or Jaelyn Duncan who took a big step back last year. Or, there is Dawand Jones who put on a lot of weight after the NFL Combine and would not step on a scale.
Yes, there are questions with those interior defensive linemen for them to fall to this spot as well. However, you can see all of them getting on the field, even if they are not elite, and helping a rotation. For the tackle options, they may not be good enough to start, and they may be liabilities if so.
The defensive line can be won with numbers, the offensive line needs talent across the board. Tackles flew off the board, and now there are no locked-in day-one starters left. The Chicago Bears can find players on the defensive line who can get on the field in week one, though.