STRENGTHS
Jaylen is an impact receiver with the ability to make an impact play every time he touches the ball. He has good size and excellent quickness and along with his speed, this makes him dangerous up against single coverage. Jaylen can be physical and can catch the contested pass. His quickness gives him the ability to get open inside the red zone. His quickness also allows him to be an impact returner on punts and kicks. Jaylen is the type of player who doesn’t have to touch the ball many times in a game to impact that game. He’s a home run threat any down or distance and anyplace on the field. Jaylen reminds me a lot of Sammy Watkins.
CONCERNS
Jaylen has to be more physical when running his routes. He is not an aggressive or passionate blocker so using him in the slot is not a great idea unless you want to give away that the play you are about to run is not a running play to his side. He runs his deep routes with excellent passion but he doesn’t run all of his routes with that same attention to detail and passion. Of course, his injured ankle and how well it has healed, and how much that might affect him in the future, is also an issue. Some teams might think it will be a chronic situation affecting his ability to stay on the field. Jaylen is most cases, is lined up off the line of scrimmage or is put on the move or lined up in a cluster of 3 receivers, off the line. In most cases that means at the next level if not used the same way, he will struggle getting off the line against physical corners until he learns the tricks of the trade.
BOTTOM LINE 1.83
Right now, Jaylen projects as an impact receiver and special teams player, but not as a franchise receiver and that is a big difference for me. That’s doesn’t mean he won’t and should not, be selected early but it does affect (for me and some teams) at what point in the draft do you select him. I believe if you’re a playoff team needing an impact player he is a perfect fit. If you’re a team that doesn’t have a franchise receiver now, selecting Jaylen to fit that bill might be asking too much of him. Sammy Watkins was the 4th pick of the 2014 draft and has played for 3 different teams. Nevertheless, Sammy has still made a lot of money so when comes down to it, maybe being an impact receiver instead of a franchise receiver is enough for Jaylen to be selected just as early. I wouldn’t do it but then again I’m not picking, I’m just talking to myself.
