STRENGTHS
Jalen has remarkable athletic talents to play the game of football. He has the size, physical strength, pure running ability, along with the arm strength and accuracy to make all the throws required of him at the next level. He can play from the pocket, throwing in rhythm as good as any quarterback who came out from the college level. Jalen shows leadership skills through his play on the field. He will not hesitate to use all of his athletic talents when adversity hits his team and he is playing from behind. The closer we get to the draft I expect Jalen to be considered as one, if not THE, top QB in this class. His remarkable athletic talent and excellent character should be the reasons.
CONCERNS
I know Jalen’s football IQ will be considered high when tested on the chalkboard but, on the field, it doesn’t show to be high at all. He takes off from the pocket every time his 1st receiver is covered. His ability to understand (Not initially read) zone coverages is very poor and good secondary coverages at the college level gave him big-time problems. Because of his athletic talent to run the ball he has not learned to understand zone coverages and how to defeat them passing the ball. I’m not suggesting that he can’t play from the pocket or that he is bothered by pressure when standing in the pocket. I’m saying he struggles to understand and absorb during the game what is happening to minimize his impact in the passing game because he relies too much on his athletic running skills when his first receiver is covered.
BOTTOM LINE 2.03
Jalen’s athletic talents will be too good for most QB needy teams to pass up on selecting him in the first round early because of the 5th year option. The catch 22 is, if you put him on the field too early he will fail but if you don’t put him on the field early enough, he will struggle to get use to the speed of the NFL and learn about the complex zone coverages and how teams disguise them at the next level. The other problem is that, Jalen’s workouts will astound the GM’s and Head Coaches and no matter what the scouts say to try to convince them to check their excitement at the door, it will be very hard for them not to select him earlier than he should be. So, the parameters for me, selecting Jalen would be as follows, select him late in the first round to have a 5-year option, he must be in a stable franchise with a veteran QB that will allow him to develop and a better than average QB coach. It’s my opinion that if he is taken in the top ten and thrown on the field, it’s a crapshoot as to how well he will do. I guess you could say that about a lot of QB’s in any draft and maybe that is why so many selected in the top ten fail. Well that’s my opinion and of course, we all know my opinion doesn’t matter much to those selecting in any draft, my opinion is just to be used later as an…I told you so.
