Jalen Tolbert WR Scouting Report

[Jets Global]

Jalen Tolbert NFL Draft Profile Position: Wide Receiver School: South Alabama Current Year: RS Senior Height: 6'3" Weight: 190 pounds
Jalen Tolbert Scouting Report The dynamics of wide receiver-cornerback battles are incredibly complex. But one trait that matters in any situation is athleticism. Athletic players can simply do more, and Tolbert fits this description. Tolbert has a long, lean, and compact frame at 6’3″, 190 pounds, but he’s also an impressive mover for his size. Tolbert has excellent twitch and suddenness off the line. He can stack crisp feet motions to earn early separation, employing short bursts of energy in rapid succession. Jalen possesses a great deal of potential energy as a lateral mover, and he creates displacement with ease. Tolbert is exciting. He also shows pronounced upside in space. Tolbert has strong explosiveness when he has a runway, and he has terrific long speed for his size. He uses this long speed to stack defensive backs and gain leverage downfield. And with the ball in his hands, he flashes slippery run-after-catch ability. Tolbert’s athleticism also shows up at the catch point. He adjusts to inaccurate passes with exceptional quickness. Jalen has shown off stellar body control and acrobatic ball-tracking ability on more than one occasion. Tolbert is a fairly methodical route runner who knows how to exploit defenders and break free. His footwork is strong, and he’s shown he can use a multitude of releases at the line, including a dead leg move to manipulate spacing. Tolbert also uses head fakes to manipulate leverage against cornerbacks and displays situational awareness ahead of route stems. Down the field, Tolbert’s strengths continue to rack up. He can separate in the intermediate and deep ranges with quick, savvy double moves. He also has an understanding of leverage in this realm. At the catch point, Tolbert can use his 6’3″ frame to box out defenders in tight situations. He proactively uses his length to extend his catching radius and actively guides the ball in with his hands.
Areas for Improvement Tolbert is one of college football’s best receivers heading into 2021, but if he wants to lock down early-round status, these are the things he needs to work on. Most notably, Tolbert could continue to refine his route running and play to his physical maximum more consistently. Tolbert is a good route runner as it is, but he could afford to sink his hips more during direction changes to maximize efficiency. His lacking hip sink sometimes inhibits his freedom of motion, especially on in-breaking routes. He’s shown to have the capacity to sink his hips, but he needs to be more consistent. Tolbert rounds off his route breaks at times. But conversely, he also overthinks his routes and plays into the defender’s leverage with his lateral quickness. Going further, Tolbert can better employ physicality in conjunction with his footwork and twitch. His lateral mobility gives him some utility against press coverage, but he’ll need to be more proactive and physical at the NFL level. Tolbert can sometimes be susceptible to focus drops. Although he has great contested-catch ability, his hands aren’t always as strong or consistent as desired. He’s also not a great run blocker, although he is willing in that department.
Jalen Tolbert Career at School Tolbert was set to see the field as a true freshman, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in his opening scrimmage. He’d ultimately be sidelined until 2018. Tolbert then had to reset as a redshirt freshman, still needing to acclimate to the college game. 2018 was just that — a year of acclimation. Tolbert only caught 5 passes, but his experience that season helped set up a much more productive 2019 campaign. In 2019, Tolbert started in all 12 games, amassing 27 catches for 521 yards and 6 touchdowns. It was a drastic leap in production. However, it would pale in comparison to his 2020 showing. FLast year, Tolbert was borderline dominant in the Sun Belt Conference. He accounted for approximately 40% of his team’s receiving production, accumulating 1,085 yards and 8 touchdowns on 64 receptions. He was a first-team All-Sun Belt selection for his play and placed on the Biletnikoff Award watch list for the 2021 season.
Jalen Tolbert NFL Draft Player Profile Coming into 2021 as a redshirt senior and set to be a 23-year-old rookie, Tolbert still has a few areas to refine in his game. Minimizing focus drops will be an important task this year, as will further perfecting his route running. Nevertheless, looking at his profile as a whole, all of his negatives are minor. Meanwhile, his mix of athleticism, size, and three-level ability makes him an incredibly exciting player. Tolbert is the prototypical wide receiver for any NFL offense in 2021 and beyond. He creates separation pre-snap with his eyes and understanding of defenses just as he creates separation from defenders with routes. He has tremendous straight-line speed for his size, yet doesn’t lose speed in his cuts. He’s a dependable YAC threat with terrific hands, who is an exceptional high-pointer of the football. He’s the total package outside.