Category: 2020 Player Profiles

STRENGTHS
Jacob has exciting arm talent to go along with excellent size, and solid overall athletic talent that goes along with becoming a franchise quarterback for the team that selects him. He shows on film just enough foot speed to run for first downs on third and short situations. He is very accurate and has the arm strength to make any throw on the field with excellent velocity or touch. Jacob does a solid job understanding defenses. He has good overall decision-making abilities and is smart enough to extend plays by manipulating the pocket to keep his passing lanes open. Jacob still has tremendous upside, understanding his athletic passing talent and in increasing his football IQ.

CONCERNS
Jacob has to continue on the path of improvement that I have seen him on since he played for Georgia. He still has more upside to his game. He needs to improve and get a better understanding of defensive blitz schemes. The ability to continue to move in the pocket against the blitz will be the key to success for Jacob at the next level.

BOTTOM LINE 1.75
Jacob has Dan Marino type arm talent. That’s right… I said former Dolphins great, Dan Marino! The catch is, I don’t think Jacob knows that or understands that he hasn’t tapped all of his arm talent abilities. Add to that, the normal football IQ of a quarterback coming out of a college system, and you can now understand how I believe there is excellent potential and upside to his overall game. His improvement has been dramatic this year and from the year he played in Georgia. His ability to handle pressure in the pocket, make plays from a muddy pocket and manipulate the pocket to extend plays has been the biggest improvement. His accuracy and arm strength and ability to stand strong in the pocket remind’s me a lot of Dan Marino and yet he has a totally different arm motion than Marino. That being said, his accuracy and velocity are the same and his ability to throw players open is also the same as Marino’s. Jacob learns best, playing on the field and although he might struggle at first, sitting on the bench and not getting use to the speed of the NFL quickly will be detrimental to his ability to improve his arm talent. I least that’s how I see it. Some young QB’s need to sit to improve and some have to be thrown on to the field to improve. Jacob responds to repetition and you do not get that sitting on the bench behind a veteran QB.

STRENGTHS
Bryce is a multi-talented, multi-position football player. He has the coverage skills to be one of the best cornerbacks in this draft. He also has the size and tackling skills along with the speed to play as a single safety, in the slot or up close to the line of scrimmage in any down and distance situation. He is smart and shows leadership skills beyond his age. He could be a coach on the field as well as your best cover corner. Bryce has the makeup speed and burst you like to see in any defensive back playing any position on your team. On film, Bryce shows the character and athletic talent along with the competitiveness needed to be a franchise defensive player for the team that selects him. I call him Bryce (Good Night) Hall because when he’s on the field your offense will go to sleep.

CONCERNS
He’s injury will affect his draft status for most teams in this draft, but it will not affect his play on the field when it is all said and done. Depending on how well he is healing and how fast he regains his pure speed, the team that selects him might have to “redshirt” him (so to speak) the first year. Reports are that Bryce broke his leg and dislocated his ankle.

BOTTOM LINE 1.41
Bryce is big enough, smart enough, physical enough, fast enough to even be moved to outside linebacker if need be. For me personally, if I’m drafting in the top ten selecting Bryce is a no brainer. I rate players who I believe have the needed talent, size, football IQ and leadership qualities above players who I believe are locked into just playing one position. I do this because coaches are fired and new coaches with new systems are hired. Looking from a GM or Ownership side, this makes players with multiple position qualities a priority to me. Bryce has multi-position qualities all over him and because of those qualities, I believe rating him as one of the top defensive backs in this draft is a no brainer. For me personally, he can’t sneak up any higher than I have him already rated on my talent board and that would be, as the 1st DB in this draft. Of course, he still has to show improvement and that his injuries are not career-ending injuries. To my knowledge, it might take some time to heal both injuries and regain his speed. That being said, my gut tells me, some playoff team is going to get very lucky when they find Bryce (Good Night) Hall still on the board, ready to be one of the future stars of their defense.

STRENGTHS
Jordan has the arm talent of a Franchise Quarterback. He can make all the throws with touch and accuracy and if you need him to thread the needle in the red zone that is not a problem. He has a competitive spirit that will make him dangerous when he needs to bring his team from behind in a two-minute drill. Jordan has enough athletic talent to manipulate the pocket or gain yardage when plays break down. He can throw from different release points with accuracy and does a good job throwing on the run. Jordan works mainly from shotgun, but stands strong in the pocket and works well from a muddy pocket. There is a whole lot of talent to work with and this makes Jordan the type of quarterback offensive coordinators drool over making their wives and girlfriends jealous at the amount of time the two will spend together.

CONCERNS
Jordan has all the athletic talent but lacks the decision making in the red zone that needs to be partnered to that talent. It will take time to establish it but his competitive spirit leads me to believe that it’s just a matter of time. Although Jordan has dealt with a few offensive coordinators he still might be coming out too early to succeed quickly for the next level.

BOTTOM LINE 1.87
We have all seen this before, an extremely talented player that should be a great player but lacks the ability to overcome bad coaching and their own lack of mature football IQ to succeed at the next level. For Jordan, everything will depend on what team drafts him and if that team has a stable coaching and GM situation. The perfect scenario for selecting Jordan in this draft is a playoff team with a veteran starter ready to give up his seat by the sixth or eight game of the season providing his skills have eroded. The athletic talent is all there and the excellent arm talent is there but the decision making, leadership, and overall maturity to handle adverse situations on the field are not there…yet, and it might never be there if he is forced on to the field before he is ready. Jordan has the potential to make the players around him better if given the time to truly learn the quarterback position at the NFL level. You have to select him in the first round to give him that time and the team selecting him, the five-year option to work with him. I know I would. It took the Lions Mathew Stafford till just this year 2019, (ten years, drafted in 2009) to learn HOW to play the quarterback position all because he was rushed onto the field too quickly, because of his excellent arm talent. Think about it.

STRENGTHS
Mekhi is a big, powerful, pass blocker with a very quick first step. He is a pure Left Tackle because of his size, long arms and lateral quickness out of his stance. He shows on film the needed athleticism to be a dominating offensive lineman and a franchise Left Tackle. He is an excellent pass blocker with just enough nastiness to be a solid run blocker. When Mekhi is challenged he steps up to that challenge, not allowing his athleticism to overpower his techniques. He is smart and has quick enough feet to get out to the second level and make his blocks sealing the corner on sweeps and screens. Mekhi still has upside to his game and has more untapped potential than he shows at the college level to dominate.

CONCERNS
Mekhi shows some frustration during the game when he is up against some adversity. As the game goes on, and the losing sets in, Makhi will start pushing players in frustration and not staying with his blocks. Makhi has to learn to stay with his blocks, control his frustrations and learn to turn the page if he gets beat and not to get beat on the next play.

BOTTOM LINE 1.56
Mekhi could easily move up to be the first offensive lineman taken in the draft if as I suspect, his workouts are as good as I think they will be. His lack of patience on the field might be an issue that is attached to the run blocking scheme they use at Louisville and not to anything that is happening on the field. I think Mekhi might be frustrated when run blocking because he would like to just maul the crap out of the man in front of him instead of having to be in sync with his offensive lineman. There is no doubt in my mind that Makhi has not been challenged enough at the college level and will flourish with better coaching and challenges at the next level. But there is some doubt, as to how he will react to the need for him to be consistent in his play on the field and become more of a leader that his teammates can depend on when adversity hits during a game. Makhi could be as good as Redskins Trent Williams or…he could be as inconsistent as Bengals Cordy Glenn. Remember I do all of these profiles from film and film only and I’m convinced that in spite of my concerns of his play on the field that if I was to interview him that this concern would be brushed aside quickly. I think this kid will be more like Trent Williams and not like Cordy Glenn.

STRENGTHS
Jerry has the size and length and Velcro-like hands to be a potential franchise receiver for the team that selects him. He has those long legs that give him the long speed to go deep and the quick feet to make those short routes impossible to defend him. He is a smart receiver and a very good route runner. Jerry works hard on the route running techniques needed to separate from his defenders. He has excellent run after the catch skills because of his quickness and speed. Jerry has a good catch radius and does an excellent job adjusting to the ball in the air to make the difficult catch. He will run every route on the route tree and is fearless going over the middle on slant routes. Right now, coming out from the college level, Jerry is an impact receiver who can break the big play with the potential to be a franchise receiver if he keeps working on some little issues.

CONCERNS
There are small, nitpicking details that will decide if Jerry is a potential “impact” receiver or a potential “franchise” receiver. One of them is to improve his blocking. He is lackadaisical at times and doesn’t stay or finish his blocks because when he engages he doesn’t continue to move those quick feet of his. He also has to build up his upper body so that he won’t get moved off his routes and needs to get better at using his hands to get off the line of scrimmage into his routes even faster. Of course, he needs to learn to read defenses and the blitz like a quarterback to understand when to break off his routes. Jerry is smart and I have no doubt he will improve in all of these nitpicking concerns.

BOTTOM LINE 1.77
Jerry’s talent is obvious and you must know by now what I say when you see the obvious you draft the obvious. He is quick, fast and smart with excellent hands to catch the ball. He has good size and can play any of the receiver positions because of his high football IQ. Jerry looks on film to be a bit quiet but also shows the competitive nature in his play that is needed to keep improving and getting even better than he is right now. There is a belief/rule, that you can get “any” kind of receiver at any point in the draft but remember, there is always an exception to every rule. The exception is, are you just looking for “any” kind of a receiver or are you in the business of selecting the best receiver? Jerry might be that exception because he isn’t just “any” kind of receiver. He’s an impact receiver with the potential to be a franchise receiver. For those of you new to reading my profiles, an impact receiver is the type of receiver that can make the big play at any point in the game but a franchise receiver is the receiver you go to when everyone in the stadium knows he is getting the ball and they double team him and he still catches the contested pass and moves the chains or scores the go-ahead TD. There is a difference and franchise receivers come in all sizes and athletic talent.

STRENGTHS
Grant has the size, strength and just enough cover skills to be used as a safety or to cover those big tall slots Receivers and Tight Ends. Grant shows the leadership skills that most teams look for in the safety position. He is smart and like a coach on the field and that alone makes Grant a very valuable player to select. He’s a strong tackler but not a head hunter. Grant has just enough speed and along with the instincts, anticipation skills and high football IQ to be used as a single safety going up against those sneaky quarterbacks who try to move safeties with their eyes. Grant will be an impact defensive player for the team that selects him because of his ability to be a coach on the field and lead his teammates.

CONCERNS
The question is, does Grant have the talent level to play cornerback or safety and the answer is, in the RedZone he can play any position in the defensive backfield but in the middle of the the field he lacks the makeup speed to recover when a man gets behind him if left in single coverage on an island.

BOTTOM LINE 1.61
Grant is a safety who can play in the slot and blitz or cover big receivers. If you think you are selecting anything other than that then you have some very poor scouts and I know most teams don’t have poor scouts, just administrations that override the scouts. Like I stated before, Grant can cover in the red zone because of his size, strength and football intelligence but don’t try to put him on the outside to cover pure wide receivers because he will get beat. Grant can also be used in the front seven on obvious passing downs because he has enough bulk and is a good tackler to help out Linebackers. He’s a football player and a multi-position player depending on down and distance and field position because of his football intelligence, athletic talent and sure tackling skills. I’m not sure what else teams would be looking for in a pure safety.

STRENGTHS
Jeff has the size, strength, football intelligence any sure tackling skills to play any one of the defensive back positions in any style defense. He shows the agility, quick feet, and adjustment to the ball in the air to make receivers wish they had his skills. He is smart in zone coverage and communicates well with his teammates showing the leadership needed to become a core player for any style defense at any position as a safety, cornerback or used in the slot. He shows a good burst to the ball and shows solid makeup speed. He can be used as a single free safety because he shows on film the speed, quickness, and football IQ to anticipate and roam from sideline to sideline. Jeff’s best attribute is his passion to impact and understand down and distance. Jeff is a potential shut down defensive player who shows the hands to make interceptions and the size and talent to play any position in your defensive backfield.

CONCERNS
My biggest concern would be trying to replace Jeff’s impact when he gets injured. He throws himself around making tackles and defending passes and this could be a problem staying on the field. Of course, that truly is not a reason to not select him early in this draft, isn’t that obvious?

BOTTOM LINE 1.48
Remember what I always say, “when you see the obvious, you draft the obvious”. Jeff is obvious. Because of his size and skillset and sure tackling Jeff is not only a talented player, he is also a value player and that will make him rated high on most team’s draft boards. Jeff also shows the maturity needed to accept millions of dollars from the team that selects him and still show up for work. He is one of those players that teams will select even if they have depth at the defensive back position because his talent and skillset and size are obvious and you always draft the obvious when it is sitting there right in front of you.

STRENGTHS
Kristian is that tall, lanky, smooth as silk, style cornerback who can cover receivers like a glove. He has those long arms and long legs that help him to recover when he gets beat. He is smart and reads receivers, understanding when the ball is in the air to make a play defending and knocking it down or to make the interception. Kristian has the size to be used at other positions in the defensive backfield but his impact will be at the cornerback position. Kristian will come up and tackle players on the sweeps and screen to his side but his impact for the team that selects him will be as a cover corner in single or in zone coverages.

CONCERNS
Kristen is not a strong tackler but he gets the job done. He also struggles to get off blocks but he is smart and will turn the sweep or screen to the inside allowing his teammates to make a play. Kristian can get beat because he seems to get lackadaisical at times thinking his talent will bail him out.

BOTTOM LINE 1.86
Kristian should be an excellent cornerback at the next level once he matures and realizes that it takes more than talent to play in the NFL. I’m not suggesting that he takes downs of, not at all. It just seems that at times on the field his mind wonders and that can happen at the college level without many consequences but at the NFL level, receivers and quarterbacks will set him up and his excellent talent will not help him out against opponents who have talent equal to his. Kristian just needs a little time and pear pressure to bring out his competitive nature consistently and when that happens he should become an excellent cornerback for that team that selects him.

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.

STRENGTHS
Clyde is a game-changing, momentum-changing, multi-position football player. He can cut and spin on a dime and his speed and lateral burst and quickness are unique to few players who play the game at any level. He runs with surprising power and trying to tackle Clyde is like trying to catch the Tasmanian Devil although unlike (Taz), Clyde is very smart and his high football IQ is what allows him to play more that one position in any style of offense. Clyde has wide receiver skills and will catch anything you throw to him down the field or out of the backfield. He has phenomenal eye/hand coordination along with the ability to adjust to the ball in the air. Clyde will block with the best RB’s in this draft but don’t waste him in the backfield on third and long, it’s a waste of his impact and game-changing momentum talent. I look at Clyde on the field and all I see is a player with the same talents, football intelligence, size, strength, the ability to catch the ball down the field as former Buffalo Bills great and hall of fame running back, Thurman Thomas. I call him Clyde (Taz) Edwards -Helaire because tackling him is like trying to tackle, catch or stop the Tasmanian Devil.

CONCERNS
Most “experts” will crap about his size and think Clyde is not an every-down back. Those are the same “experts” who thought that about Panthers Christian McCaffery when he came out. I told everyone that Christian was an offensive weapon and that’s my same conclusion about Clyde.

BOTTOM LINE  1.37
Do you not, take the gun that is your favorite and the one you are most accurate with to the gunfight because you think it’s too small? Not me, size does not matter when you play the game of football. It only matters (it seems) when it comes to the NFL Draft. Game-changing players come in all sizes. They play on the defensive side of the ball, and the offensive side of the ball. They, impact in just about any game they play in and they require double teaming to slow them down but it doesn’t stop them totally. Recently I saw the Championship game against Georgia and in that game, Clyde had 57 yards rushing, 61 yards receiving. Some might say he was not that impacting but I disagree. Clyde’s QB had 41 yards rushing and although he is athletic, he is not considered a running QB. So how and why did the QB run so much? It was because Clyde was being double-teamed on most downs and the QB was smart enough to recognize that and used it to his advantage. With that information, you can now understand how Clyde impacted that game, by just being on the field. That is a game-changing football player and a player who makes his teammates around him better and that is the definition of a franchise player. So, go ahead, don’t select him because of his size. Trust me, Clyde (Taz) Edwards-Helaire, will see you in the future and you won’t be able to stop him as he whirls and twills through your defense, making game-changing plays and his teammates, even better, just by being on the field.

STRENGTHS
Tristian shows excellent athletic talent and size to play Right Tackle or potentially Left Tackle. His set up is excellent when pass blocking showing his balance and nimble foot quickness to mirror his opponent. Tristan has the athleticism to go to the second level and make blocks and can be used to pull and for sweeps and screens making blocks in the open field. He shows on film excellent upper body strength and burst out of his stance to overpower his opponent when run blocking and the leverage to dominate. Tristan looks to be very coachable bringing what he learns in practice into the game. He shows leadership skills through his play on the field and the pride when pass blocking to protect his quarterback on every down and distance. Tristan has the mental strength and work ethic to become a pro bowl offensive tackle for the team that selects him but what really attacks me to his play is that he has the potential to become a Franchise Left Tackle if he continues to develop.

CONCERNS
Tristan has all of the pure talent needed to become an excellent offensive tackle but for the purposes of this draft and this profile, he does struggle at times to stay with his blocks overall. This is just a maturity issue and I have no doubt with his mental strength and physical stamina that he will improve quickly. It’s just an issue of keeping his feet moving after he engages.

BOTTOM LINE 1.60
Tristan plays right tackle for his team and to suggest that he has the athletic talent and mental make up to be moved to the Left side is purely a projection from what I see on film. That being said I know he can play on the right side and that is how teams should be looking at him for the purposes of this draft. With less and less teams using Tight Ends to block and no full backs right tackles are left on an island and teams will put their best pass rushers on the left side of their formation so, right tackles really need to move as well as most left tackles. Tristan can do that and can do it very well. I expect Tristan to be selected early in this draft after he works out and teams see how athletic he is. I also expect that although he will need time to develop at the next level it should not be long before he is starting at one of the tackle positions for the team that selects him. It’s not an insult to be considered the “Baby” of this group of talented offensive lineman in this draft because usually, the baby winds up being the best. Tristan has that baby face that makes you think underneath that he doesn’t have the killer instincts to dominate but those that might think that will be dead wrong.