Breaking Jalen Carter News Drastically Alters Bears' Plans

The Chicago Bears probably had specific ideas about what they planned to do going into the 2023 NFL draft. Those are likely changing now. Reports have surfaced that top prospect Jalen Carter, the freakish Georgia defensive tackle, was involved in a street car race that ended with the death of a former teammate. An arrest warrant has been issued for him involving two misdemeanors. What makes it worse is there are reports from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Carter left the scene of the accident and later gave conflicting accounts of what happened to the police.

Devin Willock, an offensive lineman for the Bulldogs, and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed police initally reported as a single-vehicle accident.

Details of the investigation, released Wednesday, cited evidence that Carter and LeCroy were "operating their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing" shortly before the fatal crash.

The timing of this is absolutely brutal from Carter's perspective. Many experts consider him the #1 overall prospect in the 2023 draft class. He was a virtual lock to be a top five pick, with the Bears being one of the teams likely to draft him. Now? There is a very real chance he will experience a significant drop come April. While his physical capabilities are obvious, his character must now be called into question. Teams will be reluctant to risk a top five or ten pick on a player facing legal issues.

The Bears' assessment of Jalen Carter means one of two things.

One is the possibility they will remove him from their board. They don't want to take a risk on a player with cloudy off-the-field questions this early into a rebuild. That means Will Anderson of Alabama and Tyree Wilson of Texas Tech are front and center as possible draft targets if they stay at #1 or move down within the top five. On the other hand, if GM Ryan Poles feels adventurous, he might see this as an opportunity. He could make a trade to move further down in the top 10, perhaps to seven or nine, and suddenly feel he'd still have an opportunity to land Jalen Carter anyway.

The charges being misdemeanors may soften the blow somewhat. It's still a really bad look. Carter didn't exactly show common sense by getting himself into a situation where street racing felt like a good idea. It was a monumentally dumb decision. One that may cost him millions of dollars depending on how far he falls. This may force the Bears to be more aggressive in free agency, searching for defensive tackle help. Edge rusher and offensive tackle now look like more probable options come draft night. What a wild swing.