One of the big storylines heading in to the 2023 NFL Combine was potential top ten draft pick Jalen Carter being charged with two misdemeanors related to a car crash that killed a University of Georgia football staffer and offensive lineman.
Carter, who won back-to-back national championships with the Bulldogs the last two seasons, had a warrant out for his arrest by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department charging him with reckless driving and racing on highways/streets. He was booked at 11:33 p.m. on March 1 and was released 16 minutes later after posting a $4,000 bond.
Police investigating the accident that killed Chandler LeCroy and Devin Willcock believe the vehicle they were traveling in was moving in excess of 100 mph before it crashed.
Carter did not participate in any on-field workouts at the Combine but did interview with teams and take a physical. Reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicated Carter had also recently been ticketed for going 89 mph in a 45 mph zone.
On Audacy’s 1st & Pod, co-host Andrew Fillipponi felt like he needed to come to the defense of ESPN mock draft expert Todd McShay for indicating back in December that Carter had “character issues.”
“I think everybody sort of owes Todd McShay an apology,” Fillipponi said. “There was this big rush to bury McShay for some of the things he said about Jalen Carter. He must’ve had good information on this guy because the story that was told to the police – differing stories twice. And I’m guessing that there were people around the Georgia football program and even people in the NFL who knew about that part of things.”
Carter initially left the scene of the crash before police and first responders arrived but returned about two hours later. He told police in one account of the accident his vehicle had been traveling beside and behind the one that crashed and killed LeCroy and Willcock.
Fillipponi said considering that Carter has only been charged with misdemeanors, his draft position next month should remain unaffected.
“I think that in the end unless teams think that he is a risk to do more stuff like this and is someone that has bad intentions, or is somebody that really doesn’t put football first, and just fools around and does reckless things I still think he’ll end up in the top ten,” he said.
