STRENGTHS
Jaylen is one of the best pure offensive players in this draft. His ability to play more than one position on offense at a high level is outstanding. He has those soft hands that allow him to cradle and caress the ball when it is thrown to him. Added to that skill is his ability to adjust to any ball thrown to him with unique hand/ eye coordination that gives him an enormous catch radius for his size. He shows excellent balance and with his running back skills this makes him hard to take down and makes it easy for him to slip off tackles in the open field. Jalen has that sneaky lateral explosion that he never needs to use because he is always going forwards to make yards rather than sideways. He shows an excellent stiff arm to keep tacklers off his legs when catching passes and this allows him to make extra yardage after the catch in the open field. Jaylen has an extremely high football IQ that allows him to line up all over the offense. He can be used in the back field as a running back or as a slot as a receiver. His college team used him more in the passing game as an H-Back /Tight End than as a running back but no matter what position he played he impacted and made plays and in the red zone was a match up night mare. When Jaylen runs out of the backfield he reminds me a lot of former Buffalo Bills Fred Jackson. He has that same patient, going forward… moving the chains with surprising lateral agility, sneaky gain yardage in chunks… style of running the ball.

CONCERNS
Jaylen may not time well or be as fast as some of the other running backs in this draft but try chasing him down from behind and you will see his true speed and it’s plenty fast. I have not seen him block because he was always used in the passing game but I suspect this is really not much of an issue.

BOTTOM LINE
Jaylen is a sleeper running back who can be used exactly the way the New England Patriots use James White. Now most wonder if that is worth a high selection in the draft but not me, I don’t wonder that at all. I suspect that Jaylen will not be selected as high as I have him rated because of a lack of blinding speed but as in any draft selecting running backs biased just on speed can be a big mistake besides, I suspect Jaylen will run in the 4.50 area and that is good speed for any running back. The year Cardinals RB David Johnson came out I listed him on my talent board as THE best RB in that draft because of his unique and multitalented skills along with his size and RB skills. I was told I was nothing but an “F-ing moron.” All I can say to that is…this “F-ing” moron is now telling you that one of the best Running Backs in this draft is Jaylen and he is worth a 1st round grade so let the name calling begin. He has the same type of talent as David Johnson and with the right coaches will impact the same way David has impacted for the Cardinals. Jaylen is the type of player who will make his quarterback look better. He will bail out his offensive coordinator on third and short or long when the play called was a bad call. As of this writing, no one is talking about Jaylen but I suspect after the Senior Bowl that will change.

Drew Boylhart   FEB.2018