Former Detroit Lions guard T.J. Lang has asked his NFL contacts about Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Jalen Carter.
"There was just an overall consensus and a lot of concern, either with immaturity or making bad decisions," Lang told Mike Valenti on 97.1 The Ticket this week.
Despite being considered one of the most talented prospects coming out of college, Carter has a few red flags stemming from off the field behavior and his underwhelming workout in front of a large group of evaluators.
"If you just turn on the film and watched this kid play and never interviewed him, it would be a damn easy process for him. He’s one of the best three talents in this draft class. And I put more stock into that," said Lang. "But if you’re the Lions, a team that has worked so hard the last two years to do this thing right, to bring in the right guys with the right characteristics and right type of leaders, if you get it wrong with one player at No. 6 that’s going to come in feeling some sort of immortality, it could go sideways really quick."
Appearing on this month's "Real Sports," Carter was asked if NFL teams have inquired about the automobile accident that cost two people their lives this past January.
"Yes. A couple of teams asked me about it, but they really didn't get to in-depth about the accident," Carter said. "They just wanted to hear my side. That was it."
The talented defensive lineman is aware the off the field incident could impact where he is drafted, but his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is confident that his client will still end up being selected in the Top 10.
In fact, Carter has not taken a pre-draft visit with a team that is selecting outside of the Top 10.
Lang indicated that his concerns would diminish if the Lions ended up taking, as it would indicated the team did their research but still felt confident to add him to the roster.
"If they end up taking him, I would obviously be thrilled because the guy is a hell of a football player at a position that they need on this team."
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