SEATTLE — The Seahawks' presence at No. 5 in the NFL draft can be viewed as a divine gift. They're reaping the compensatory benefits of a bottom-feeding team without having to go through the actual suffering of constant losing to land it.
But in addition to offering another reason for them to salute the Denver Broncos, who served as surrogate losers last season on the Seahawks' behalf, the high pick also comes with extra pressure to get it right — and a philosophical dilemma that's likely to be staring them in the face.
If the draft goes as many have projected, the first two teams, the Panthers and Texans, will take quarterbacks. The No. 3 team, the Arizona Cardinals, could very well select Will Anderson, the edge rusher from Alabama. And no one would be surprised if the Colts at No. 4 take a quarterback as well.
That would leave the Seahawks at No. 5 with the knottiest conundrum in the entire draft. Jalen Carter, long regarded as the No. 1 pure overall talent in the field, but possessing any number of cautionary red flags, would be theirs for the taking — but at considerable risk.
The Georgia defensive tackle could step into a starting job and become an All-Pro fixture on the defensive line for the next decade. Or those warning signs could foretell a player who doesn't live up to expectations or flames out.
Oh, maybe it won't come to that decision for Seattle. Maybe a team above the Seahawks will defy the orthodoxy and take Carter. Or perhaps the Seahawks will trade out of the pick. It's possible the Seahawks are dead set on taking a quarterback themselves.
But it's sure shaping up as being a simple, yet extraordinary complex, decision for general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll: Take Carter and hope he can be a huge piece in the defensive revival they've spent all offseason working on, or decide he's not worth the risk with the highest pick this regime has had.
The pros: Carter is regarded as a generational talent — quick, tough, explosive and any other buzzword you'd want to describe a defensive tackle. NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote: "Based upon talent, traits and projection, Carter appears ready to step into the NFL and become a productive three-down talent with Pro Bowl potential."
The cons: We can start with Carter's involvement in the tragic car accident in January that killed University of Georgia football staff member Chandler LeCroy and offensive lineman Devin Willock. Carter, who was street racing LeCroy, was issued a warrant for his arrest for his involvement in the crash on March 1 while at the NFL combine. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing and received 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine, 80 hours of community service and completion of a state-approved defensive driving course.
According to Carter's attorney, Kim T. Stephens, with the pleas the state is "forever barred from bringing any additional charges against Jalen Carter for conduct alleged to have occurred on January 15, 2023." Stephens also stated that Carter was found to not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
But even if the Seahawks can look past Carter's role in this incident (he also received a citation in September for going 89 a 45-mph zone), there are other worrisome elements. At Georgia's pro day, Carter was nine pounds over his weight and couldn't finish his drills. That's highly alarming considering the pro day is essentially a job interview, with representatives from all teams in attendance.
Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, who is based out of Atlanta and attended the Pro Day, wrote: "He looked flabby. He looked overly winded after drills. He looked like a risk for any team that might decide to hand him a $20 million-plus signing bonus."
Schultz also wrote: "Putting aside the two misdemeanors that Carter has been charged with ... the main questions about Carter that have been out there among pro scouts since during the season related to his consistency and work ethic."
Todd McShay, the ESPN draft analyst, had gone further when he said in December, "With Carter there's some character issues. Does he get along with everybody, what's he like to deal with in the locker room. Those sorts of issues. I know it's early in the process, but I'm forewarning everyone out there, Carter is going to be kind of a hot-button name when we talk about some of the intangible aspects of it."
That turned out to be prescient, but his Georgia teammates and coach Kirby Smart at the time leapt to Carter's defense in denying McShay's implication. Smart pointed out that Carter fought hard to come back from two injuries last season when he could have protected his draft status: "He wanted to come back. He wanted to win football games," Smart told reporters. "One of the greatest traits Jalen has is his teammates, his brothers. He endears himself to his teammates and wanted to come back for those guys."
That's a lot of information for the Seahawks to put in their blender before the draft. They will have had three in-person visits with Carter — at the combine, at the pro day, and this week in Seattle.
No doubt, their impressions from those meetings as well as their extensive due diligence will play heavily into the decision. So will past instances when they looked past various purported character or off-field issues, some of which worked out (Bruce Irvin) and some of which didn't (Malik McDowell).
The Seahawks have great belief in their culture and Carroll's ability to nurture all players and get them to buy in. But after the McDowell debacle, Schneider vowed in 2018 the Seahawks were going to make "less excuses" for flaws the team finds in players during the evaluation process.
Schneider told reporters at the time that assessing character could be an even bigger component going forward.
"That's a good point," he said. " ... There's character, psychological testing, orthopedic testing, orthopedic grades, true fits. Sometimes you can make excuses in all of those areas because of a guy's specific skill set."
Now the Seahawks may well face a massive decision that will put all that to the test, with more at stake than ever before. It seems to me that the preponderance of issues with Carter simply makes it too problematic to risk a precious No. 5 overall pick, despite his undeniable talent.
The Seahawks hope a selection this high doesn't come around again for a long time (unless they're able to hoodwink another team). But with such a rare opportunity to land an impact player, they know what's on the line. Coupled with other offseason acquisitions, an impact player at No. 5 could be their ticket back to a championship run.
If the Seahawks decide that Carter, with all that's hanging over him, is just too talented to bypass, they know the unspoken subtext: They had better be right.
