First impressions: Jalen Carter gives off a familiar vibe if you ask Eagles veteran Jason Kelce
Jason Kelce hates player comps, but Jalen Carter does have impressive familiarity.
First impressions matter, but they aren't necessarily everything.
For Philadelphia Eagles veteran Jason Kelce, it takes time before he can assign his astute analysis of a given player. However, Eagles first-round draft pick Jalen Carter is already working towards creating a positive impression by channeling a skillset that feels familiar to Kelce and the Eagles holistically.
As a guest on the Green Light podcast, Kelce and his former teammate Chris Long discussed several topics, including the Eagles’ No. 9 selection in the draft.
“I have not seen him enough to say,” Kelce said. “But we just lost a really, really good D-tackle in (Javon) Hargrave and we still have Fletch (Cox). He kind of reminds me on some elements of a little bit of both of those guys. He’s thick in the lower body the way Hargrave was but I’m going to be interested to see what his hands feel like. I’ve only noticed two players’ grip strengths in my career. One is Fletcher Cox, the other one oddly enough is Clay Matthews.”
Kelce first saw what Carter brings to the table during the top-30 visit portion of the Eagles' draft process. Then Kelce had a positive feeling about the style of player Carter could be at the NFL level. He described Carter as "mature" physically and someone who is "ready to play right away."
Kelce explained that he hates player comparisons. But with Carter, he can't seem to help himself. Outside of just some familiar players in Hargrave and Cox, Carter also reminds Kelce of Daron Payne, the Washington Commanders' Pro Bowl defensive tackle.
"He’s kind of got some Daron Payne to him too, just body stature,” Kelce said. “He bends really well. Daron also sits with his ass kind of down, kind of in a 2-gap stance even when he’s playing a one-gap, 2 technique. That’s kind of how he looks a little bit in his stance. I haven’t seen enough of him to say yet but just walking around. You just see somebody lift weights.
“Everything just looks like it moves right. He kind of, in some ways, one of the things I learned after watching Jason Peters over and over again, it never looks like he’s not in control or in the right body position. In his prime especially. It was just like he was always in balance. Kind of feels like that.”
Carter was a player many projected to go in the top five, but off-field issues led to his stock sliding right into Philadelphia's draft range. His presence makes up for the familiar faces the Eagles lost in the offseason. And as a player expected to have an instant impact, the Eagles could have walked away with the steal of the summer.
