NEW ORLEANS — One of many greatest winners of Tremendous Bowl 2025 hasn’t but performed a snap within the NFL.
Anybody who watched the reveal of Patrick Mahomes’ kryptonite as a stacked go rush ought to concurrently have pushed Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter up their mock draft.
Overreaction to the Tremendous Bowl is an actual factor contained in the NFL, nevertheless it may simply be smart after the Eagles’ 40-22 win towards the Chiefs to go from seeing Carter as a high 4 prospect within the 2025 class to the favourite at No. 1.
Quarterbacks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders aren’t can’t-miss prospects. Receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter is a scouting unicorn however — even when he performs on each side of the ball (no assure) — will he make the identical affect {that a} premier go rusher would?
“There was nothing they could do,” Eagles defensive sort out Milton Williams stated. “We knew they couldn’t block us up front. We have dawgs everywhere.”
The Chiefs offensive line featured three $72 million-plus investments and one other blocker who will attain that threshold in free company subsequent month. Mahomes nonetheless was hit 11 occasions and sacked a career-high six occasions.
“In these games,” head coach Andy Reid stated, “those lines get magnified a little bit.”
To Williams’ level, three go rushers isn’t sufficient.
If you’re the Giants holding the No. 3 decide with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence on the sector, why not goal Carter and replicate your personal blueprint of overlapping Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora with Michael Strahan and Jason Pierre-Paul?
Carter, who provides inside linebacker versatility, led the Huge Ten with 24 tackles for loss, together with 12 sacks.
He has drawn comparisons to Cowboys star Micah Parsons, who has 52.5 sacks as a defensive chess piece over a four-year profession.
“When you win [matchups] on a four-man rush and you can just cycle guys through and they are still winning,” Eagles linebacker Zack Baun stated, “you don’t have to blitz.”
The Eagles didn’t blitz on any of Mahomes’ 42 dropbacks, in accordance with Subsequent Gen Stats. He nonetheless confronted the fifth-highest strain price (38.1 %) of his 133-game profession.
“I was just running around and … they let me go crazy,” edge rusher Josh Sweat stated after a career-high 2.5 sacks. “I don’t think [Mahomes] was flustered really, but you can see hints of it once we started hitting them, for sure.”
The chance-highlighting irony of any workforce selecting Carter over Ward or Sanders is {that a} go rusher went No. 1 total in Mahomes’ draft class.
Myles Garrett is a future Corridor of Famer, however the Browns certainly would decide Mahomes (who slipped to No. 10, after quarterback bust Mitch Trubisky) on a do-over.
Carter’s first-step quickness ought to translate, however a quarterback-needy workforce is topic to ridicule if Ward or Sanders pans out.
“In order to make a team blitz, you have to be able to beat what they’re showing,” Mahomes stated. “That’s what we didn’t do.”
Williams, Baun and Sweat are all free brokers whose worth might need been boosted by Tremendous Bowl LIX’s script. The identical goes for a soon-to-be rookie.
