Steelers Could Be "The Sweet Spot" At Pick 17 For Jalen Carter According To NFL Insider Mike Florio

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Chuck Noll made a franchise-defining mistake in 1983 when they passed Dan Marino for Gabe Rivera. They spent half a decade in mediocrity, and it took a coaching purge and a high-stakes game of chicken between Noll and Dan Rooney to get them back to the playoffs and a coaching change to get them back to the Super Bowl. Marino and the Steelers suffered separately, and it may have ultimately kept both from winning a championship during his Hall of Fame career.

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk made his weekly appearance on the PM Team w/Poni & Mueller on Wednesday and when Andrew Fillipponi likened passing on Jalen Carter to the Marino debacle, Florio played defense for the fans who remember the pain of the incident.

“Why do you have to treat old-school Steelers fans that way and remind them of when they passed on Dan Marino,” Florio began. “I think there is a chance he slips. I started from the position what is this guy doing? He has red flags galore; he had a horrible pro-day workout. The equivalent of failing an open book take-home exam. What is he doing applying these kinds of restrictions on his willingness to going to visit teams?”

Florio and many fans and commentators in his age bracket have the initial reaction that a draft pick should not be setting limits during the process. Unlike the curmudgeons who have piled onto Carter for disrespect to their teams, the longtime NFL insider has evolved from his initial reaction.

“The more I thought about it,” Florio continued. “I’m a big fan of anyone pushing back on the NFL Draft industrial complex. There is this presumption that every guy involved bends over backwards for anything teams want and suffers any indignities because it’s a job interview. I like the idea that the guy at the top of the stack is willing to say I am not playing the game your way.”

CBS Insider Dismisses Idea That Drew Rosenhaus And Jalen Carter Would Decline An Invitation From The Steelers

Carter was the number one prospect in pure talent before the NFL combine and the news broke about his pending arrest for reckless driving. He surrendered on the misdemeanor charge during the combine and flew back to discuss the issue. Based on the situation he chose not to work out, but Carter did answer as many questions as the teams had and made himself available to face the music. Carter did work out at his subpar pro day, but Florio is supportive of the posturing by the former Georgia Bulldogs defender.

“You have seen my film, you know what I can do,” Florio said about Carter. “If you don’t draft me someone else will and they would be somebody you play twice per year. I like that part of it.”

It is a given that every offseason before the NFL draft a top prospect slip and a combine phenom(s) rise inexplicably. The process is designed to make teams doubt what a prospect has done in actual games and find red flags. It is a scout and general manager’s job to make sure that the team is investing wisely, and that Carter has real issues. Florio, however, takes an angle that has not been given nearly enough attention.

“If we do care about the mental health of athletes,” Florio posited. “We have to realize that this guy is going through some stuff including survivor guilt. You get in a drag race with another car, one car wrecks, and one car doesn’t. Two people die, and you don’t. He has to be carrying around that could have been me. Why am I still living and not dead? If he doesn’t want to fly around the country, I say do what you got to do.”

Shortly after the Georgia Bulldogs won their second consecutive National Championship, Carter was involved in a drag race that cost the life of his teammate Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy who was a recruiting staffer that was driving the other car. Carter is not thought to be responsible for the crash but was charged as a participant in the race that resulted in two fatalities.

Chris Mueller who is Fillipponi's cohost asked Florio if another theory was at the root of the issue on Carter’s position instead of mental health. Mueller asked Florio if his agent Drew Rosenhaus might have been behind the decision.

“There is a chance and it’s a great point,” Florio answered Mueller. “This is a little hocus pocus from Drew Rosenhaus reminiscent of what he did 20 years ago when Willis Mcgahee was sliding in round 1 after having a very graphic and catastrophic knee injury. It could be an effort to speak a top 10 draft spot into existence. Some agents know what the floor is, they have reliable information that this team will draft you. The Eagles may have told him if he is available at 10, we are taking him.”

Filliponi asked if it was possible that Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II would be so offended, they would not consider drafting Carter. The Pro Football Talk founder responded that a draft day fall could produce an even more angry and focused talent.

 “There is a sweet spot to the slide,” Florio concluded. “You slide far enough, and he learns a lesson through the slide, and he develops a high degree of incentive. A high willingness to be motivated and do everything right. I don’t know where that number is, that magic number, maybe his agent has made it number 10. If somehow, he is there after 10, he views that as a slap in the face. That’s the question the Steelers are going to have to ask and 17 could be low enough if he is still there. It’s like the Randy Moss effect.”

Randy Moss famously was a top-five talent that slid to the Minnesota Vikings late in the first round and he produced the greatest rookie season for a wide receiver ever. Carter has that type of talent and dropping to pick 17 could net the Steelers an unblockable force that is determined to prove 16 teams wrong. The modern NFL is not kind to teams that forget not every player is a boy scout. When it comes to red flags, players with ugly domestic violence issues have been key players in recent Super Bowls.

Carter made a stupid mistake by drag racing. The death of a friend is more punishment than anything the courts or the NFL can pile on, but that does not excuse his legal culpability or responsibility. If the Steelers get the opportunity, they should reward the best player in the draft with a second chance.

What do you think Steeler Nation? Does Carter’s talent warrant a second chance, or should they pass? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.