Georgia inadvertently gave Tennessee and the rest of the SEC a recruiting weapon to use against the Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs inadvertently gave the Tennessee Vols and the rest of the SEC a recruiting weapon to use against the defending two-time national champions. It goes without saying that elite college football players sign with a program with the eventual goal of reaching the NFL. Georgia's had no problems getting players to the NFL […]
The Georgia Bulldogs inadvertently gave the Tennessee Vols and the rest of the SEC a recruiting weapon to use against the defending two-time national champions.
It goes without saying that elite college football players sign with a program with the eventual goal of reaching the NFL.
Georgia's had no problems getting players to the NFL in recent years — especially defensive players.
The Georgia coaching staff, however, doesn't always do everything they can to help players get to the next level.
In fact, ESPN's Todd McShay, an NFL draft insider, provided an example this week of how the Bulldogs are damaging the draft stock of one of their former players.
Former Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter is expected to be a top 10 draft selection in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday night. Carter, however, has dealt with some questions about his off-field character. Some of those questions stem from Carter being charged with reckless driving and racing (both misdemeanors) earlier this offseason.
Questions about Carter's character, though, first started popping up before those charges.
McShay reported in mid-December that there were some concerns about Carter's character. He suggested that the dominant defensive tackle was a problem in the locker room at Georgia.
At the time, McShay's comments seemed like they were out of left field. There had been no prior reports of Carter having any major issues at Georgia.
Some comments that McShay made this week ahead of the draft may shed some light on where the ESPN insider first heard those character concerns. Based on McShay's comments on Barstool Sports' Pardon My Take podcast this week, it sounds like the noise about Carter's character was coming from…Georgia's coaching staff (at least in part).
"One page of seven different sources I've talked to, and when I started I had about five in December, and it includes quotes from the coaching staff," said McShay. "Let's just put it this way, as good as Jalen Carter was and as important as he was in his last two years winning national championships, I don't think there are a lot of people in Athens that are crying that Jalen Carter is leaving town. I think he's been a lot to handle."
McShay has been hearing since before the College Football Playoff that Carter has locker room concerns. And McShay was hearing some of those things from Georgia's coaching staff. If those coaches never give McShay that information, then the talk about Carter's character right now probably isn't a thing (the misdemeanor charges might just be viewed as an outlier if not for the McShay comments).
If you're Josh Heupel at Tennessee or any other coach that recruits against Georgia, that's something that could be a useful weapon on the recruiting trail. Tennesese can sell that they'll do everything they can leading up to the draft to help a player's draft stock rise while selling that Georgia only does that when it's convenient for them (that's not to say the Bulldogs don't help their players leading up to the draft, they certainly do, but the Carter example is still something that could be concerning to recruits).
I don't know if this "recruiting weapon" will help the Vols or any other program land a recruit over Georgia — Kirby Smart has built a powerhouse in Athens. But with everyone else chasing Georgia, it certainly couldn't hurt to deploy this strategy and see if it helps win a recruiting battle or two.
