NFC East Rival’s $22 Million First Round Pick Called ‘The Carter Stopper’

One of the things it would be awesome to see the NFL get a few more of are intense, player to player rivalries. There might just be one brewing in the NFC East between 2 very big, bad men.

The Wager Chasers Betting Show recently called Dallas Cowboys rookie offensive guard and 2025 first round pick Tyler Booker “The Jalen Carter Stopper” in reference to Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

The show also incorrectly asserted 2 of the only 3 sacks Booker gave up in college were to Carter, who played for Georgia, and came during Booker’s freshman season.

Carter and Booker actually never faced each other in college. The one season the SEC stars both played college football at the same time was the 2022 season, when Georgia went 15-0 and won its second consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship but didn’t face Alabama that year.

The last time Carter faced the Crimson Tide in college was the previous year’s CFP National Championship Game — a 33-18 win by the Bulldogs in which Carter essentially declared himself as one of the nation’s best players with a blocked field goal, sack and 2 TFL.

From Wager Chasers: “Let me tell you how stupid the Cowboys are … they went and drafted a guy called ‘The Jalen Carter Stopper’ … when (Booker) did play Jalen, Jalen took him to the woodshed.”

While that’s not true and no woodsheds were taken to — not yet, at least — we won’t have to wait long to see how the two match up against each other. The Cowboys and defending Super Bowl champion Eagles open the NFL regular season on Thursday, September 4, in Philadelphia.

Booker Already Anticipating Matchup With Carter

If we’re being honest, it does seem like Booker may have actually been put on this Earth to shut down defensive tackles.

At 6-foot-5 and 321 pounds, he has the size and athleticism to take on Carter, 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds, who is coming off his first NFL All-Pro selection and is fresh off leading a dominant Eagles defense to a blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

Booker, a 2-time All-SEC pick, has seemingly had Carter on his mind seemingly since the moment he was drafted at No. 12 overall and signed a 4-year, $22.5 million rookie contract.

“Cowboys OG Tyler Booker was asked who the player in the NFL he’s most excited to line up against is,” The Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Nick Harris wrote on his official X account on April 25. “His answer: Eagles DT Jalen Carter.”

In this case, maybe Booker should be careful what he wishes for.

Expectations Sky High For Carter in Third Season

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski put Carter, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, on a list of 5 NFL players who might be able to dethrone Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II as NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2025.

Carter would be just the second defensive tackle to win the award in the last 25 years. Former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald won the award 3 times.

Only one player in Eagles history has ever won the award — the late Reggie White in 1987.