Are we about to see Jalen Carter's playing time increase?

Jalen Carter ranks 33^rd among NFL defensive tackles with 89 snaps played.

Carter ranks first among NFL defensive tackles with 12 quarterback hurries.

It’s impossible not to wonder … “What if?”

What if he did play more snaps? How much more productive could he be?

Carter is a 22-year-old rookie just finishing up his first month playing pro football. He’s part of a deep rotation with college teammate Jordan Davis, veteran Fletcher Cox and unheralded Milton Williams. And the Eagles have been very careful to monitor his snaps.

Carter got 40 of 80 defensive snaps in the opener in New England, 28 of 58 in the win over the Vikings and 21 of 47 Monday night in Tampa.

So overall, he’s played 48 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. Cox has played 68 percent (126) and Davis and Williams have both played 39 percent (73). Marlon Tuipulotu and Kentavius Street have played 21 and 16 snaps.

Why is a potential Pro Bowler, a possible Rookie Defensive Player of the Year and Pro Football Focus’s No.-1 rated interior lineman playing half the Eagles’ defensive snaps?

Nick Sirianni answered that question Wednesday while also hinting that Carter’s playing time will increase as the season continues.

The Eagles will always use a rotation up front. And it works. But let’s be honest. Carter is too good, too talented, too dominating to play less than half the game.

He's fit, he's healthy, he's not slowing down late in games. Doesn't more Carter make sense?

“It's a long season, and especially at that position you want to rotate guys to keep coming at the offense with waves,” Sirianni said. “We're very fortunate that when you take one guy out, the other guy is a really good player, too.

“Obviously, Jalen is playing good football right now. We want him to get the snaps he’s getting. I don't know exactly the percentages broken down, but I know he's getting quite a bit for the defensive tackles.”

But 48 percent of the snaps?

“Maybe does that move up as we continue? Yeah, it could,” he said. “But he's playing good football right now.”

Stathead, which tracks things differently than Pro Football Focus, lists Carter with six hurries. It’s not an official stat. But even using Stathead’s lower number, Carter has the most hurries by a player in his first three career games since Jacksonville’s Josh Allen had six in 2019.

He’s also forced two fumbles, recorded 1 ½ sacks and added two tackles for loss. He’s the first player with those numbers in his first three career games since former Eagle Ndamakong Suh with the Lions in 2010.

As far as overall grades, PFF has Carter as the top interior lineman in the league with a 93.2 overall grade. Davis is seventh at 88.7, Cox is at 69.2 and Williams is at 56.5, an uncharacteristic number for him.

We don’t want to get too carried away with Carter’s remarkable early start, but consider this: His current Pro Football Focus grade is 93.2? Cox is a six-time Pro Bowler, a four-time 1^st- or 2^nd-team all-pro and a Hall of Fame candidate. His highest PFF grade ever was 92.5 back in 2018.

That's how productive he's been in his first three games despite averaging just 29.7 snaps per game.

Do the Eagles really want this kid playing less than half their defensive snaps? I think we all know the answer.