The interior of the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line is massive, with two former star Georgia nose tackles who fell arguably lower than they should have in the NFL Draft. Jordan Davis, the 13th overall pick in the 2022 Draft, has been solid. But the man who came in a year later, Jalen Carter — selected ninth overall in 2023, has been better. Carter, a six-foot-three, 314-pound 23-year-old, made his first All-Pro Team this season.
During the regular season, Carter was great, racking up 42 total tackles and 4.5 sacks, finishing as Pro Football Focus’ 14th-ranked interior defender. During the postseason, he has been better, notching nine tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble, including the game-sealing sack on 3rd and 2 with the Los Angeles Rams driving late in the fourth quarter of the Divisional Round.
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Carter will have a challenge against Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, since Mahomes is fairly mobile and plays behind a solid offensive line. During the regular season, Mahomes went down on just 5.83% of his drop-backs, the 17th-lowest of 44 qualified passers, although he was worse at avoiding sacks than Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who Carter brought down twice. In the postseason, the Chiefs’ offensive line has struggled somewhat, allowing five sacks on Mahomes in just two games.
This season, Carter produced the 27th-most pressure per play of any interior defensive lineman and has totaled 15 quarterback hits, tied for the third-most in football, and 51 hurries, the second-most. He’s been especially effective when lining up on the right side of the defense, although he’s lined up only 22 times on that side, as compared to 605 snaps on the left side, by far the most in the league. Overall, he has the fourth-highest pass rushing grade among interior defenders at Pro Football Focus, and his 13.2% win rate is the 15th-highest among 200 qualifying defensive tackles.
The interior of the Chiefs’ offensive line is generally better than its tackles — two of the four Kansas City players with the highest pass-blocking grades at PFF are center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith, who are most likely to block Carter, given the fact that he lines up on the left side. They have been incredible this season, allowing zero sacks and just eight quarterback hits between them. Smith has struggled a little bit in true passing sets, grading out as only a slightly above-average pass-blocker in such situations, so if Carter gets to Mahomes, it’ll probably happen on an obvious passing down. Still, given that Carter will go up against the Chiefs’ two best blockers, I’d feel more comfortable betting on Davis.
