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Jalen Pitre NFL Draft Profile
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Jalen Pitre Scouting ReportPitre plays larger than his frame, and his play strength is better than expected. He’s willing to square up with larger blockers and maintain gap discipline. He can also brush past chipping tight ends and swallow up plays in the backfield. Pitre is a violent player in close quarters, and he doesn’t let size mismatches intimidate him. Pitre further compensates with his athleticism. The Baylor defender is a springy athlete in the short range. He has impressive, sudden lateral twitch, and he’s incredibly explosive and rangy in pursuit. When he recognizes plays, he’s relentless. He explodes into the backfield and can track down plays from behind. Simply put, Pitre is a heat-seeking missile in the box who plays with torrid speed and pace. Pitre also showcases the ability to adapt quickly as plays progress. He uses frantic but composed and efficient footwork in the box to maintain positioning. Additionally, Pitre appears to have good hip fluidity, and he sinks his hips well into direction changes. Pitre’s instincts are excellent and a vital piece of his game. He plays fast but knows when to slow up, maintain his positioning, and control his throttle. He’s excellent at adjusting his angles at a moment’s notice with quick twitch and footwork. And he can also sell angles to blockers and evade blocks with that same lateral quickness and targeted physicality. Pitre can instinctively swim through congestion and track down ball carriers. He takes great angles as a tackler more often than not and brings intense closing burst to the contact point. In coverage, Pitre’s eyes follow the quarterback, and he can effectively identify misdirections and maintain discipline. Furthermore, his explosiveness and quick stimuli enable him to click and close, swiftly negating short routes. Pitre’s pass defense is more of a projection, but the Baylor safety has good route recognition ability and spatial awareness in zone. He can identify concepts and adapt quickly, and he’s shown he has enough speed and fluidity to carry certain receivers downfield and recover ground. He flashes ball skills at the catch point as well. As an extra rusher, he actively uses his hands to rip down anchors and reach the quarterback. |
Areas for ImprovementPitre brings a lot to the table, but there are imperfections to make note of. Most notably, Pitre’s size does hinder him at times. His smaller frame sometimes impacts his ability to wrap up as a tackler. He can also get knocked back by larger blockers and sometimes struggles to disengage blocks in a timely manner. Offensive linemen can easily negate him once he gives up surface area. Pitre’s more of a work in progress there. He can better apply fast feet and agility in man coverage. He doesn’t have a ton of experience in off or press man, and his footwork can visibly improve in those areas. Pitre can improve his technique at route stems. He sometimes gives players too much cushion and doesn’t always play with proper leverage. His transitions aren’t always smooth in the open field, either. He sometimes loses his balance when flipping his hips, resulting in delays. Additionally, Pitre can get grabby at times when trying to match receivers off breaks. Pitre isn’t quite as instinctive in the deep third. He doesn’t always get proper depth. Moreover, the Baylor safety might not have elite top-end speed in that area. He occasionally overpursues and misses tackles, sometimes getting fooled by option plays with his aggressiveness. |
Jalen Pitre Career at SchoolDespite being undersized and unorthodox in style, Pitre’s playmaking ability earned him early opportunities for the Bears. As a true freshman, he played in 12 games with eight starts, logging 37 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, a sack, and a pass deflection. Pitre’s early production alluded to future promise, but his 2018 and 2019 seasons were less productive. The Baylor safety logged just 11 tackles and 2 tackles for loss as a sophomore and played in four 2019 games before redshirting due to a nagging shoulder injury. The arrival of Dave Aranda in 2020 could have further clouded Pitre’s standing, as regime changes often do. But instead, it unlocked Pitre’s full potential. In 2020, Pitre tore apart the Big 12, totaling 60 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and 2 defensive touchdowns. He was an honorable mention for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Yet, he somehow upped his production in 2021, with 75 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 2 picks, 7 deflections, 3 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries. Pitre earned the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year title, proudly staking his claim as the best player on a dominant Baylor defense. |
Jalen Pitre NFL Draft Player ProfileThe most common hang-up with Pitre’s profile will be this — where does he play at the next level? He’s noticeably small for a player who lines up in the box on a large portion of his plays. And he doesn’t have enough composite experience in coverage to garner full confidence. The translatability questions have merit. However, when you look at the traits, an answer appears — play him everywhere. The word “everywhere,” of course, comes with a caveat. Pitre probably isn’t someone you want in single-high alignments. But in the slot, on the edge, and at the second level, he brings plenty to the table as a hybrid STAR defender. With his high-end explosiveness and play speed, the Baylor defender can surge into the backfield and earn tackles for loss. He’s incredibly dangerous and disruptive as a blitzer, and he’s not just a space player up close. He matches blockers with physicality, and with his instincts, he has a magnetic attraction to the ball. Pitre has the traits to translate in coverage in the short and intermediate ranges. While he can improve his footwork and movement technique, he’s reasonably fluid. He also has great processing speed, positioning, route-recognition ability, and the ball skills to capitalize at the catch point. Pitre is likely relegated to Day 2. But in that range, the team that knows how to use him could get an invaluable defensive catalyst. Pitre is a pure playmaker, with the explosiveness, acute attention to detail, and tenacity to be a constant disruptor. And if he develops in coverage, he can be an eraser up to 20 yards off the line of scrimmage. |
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