NFL Draft
4/14/25
5 min read
Jalen McLeod 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Auburn Tigers EDGE
Height: 6015 (verified)
Weight: 241lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Patrick Johnson
Scouting Overview
Auburn Tigers linebacker Jalen McLeod is a tweener prospect whose gifts rushing the passer give him a viable pathway to meaningful NFL reps. He’s taken a roundabout path to the NFL and saw a late-career expansion of his play to off the ball, which gives him some added intrigue to his play.
At his core, he’s a low-to-the-ground, twitchy, and high-motor pass rusher who can play from a variety of angles and alignments to play forward and attack the passer. He’s longer than his height would suggest and showcases the play strength necessary to negotiate blocks at the NFL level.
2025 NFL Combine Results
DNP
Positives
- Plays with excellent urgency and can win off the edge with contact balance & speed to power
- Late-career opportunities have expanded to open possibilities as an attack player from mugged & potentially stacked alignments with more development
- Heavy-handed punch allows him to jolt blockers and create space at first contact
Negatives
- While he’s been given opportunities off-ball, he’s grossly underdeveloped there and will struggle in space
- Undersized build to survive full-time as an every-down rush player on the edge
- Tackle consistency wanted this year with more opportunities off the ball & in space
Background
McLeod is from Washington, DC, and played high school football at Friendship Collegiate Academy. There, he was a standout pass rusher who earned a 3-star recruiting ranking (247 Sports) while finishing his high school career. Despite his recruiting status, McLeod generated only modest heat on the recruiting trail and committed to play at Appalachian State as a member of the team’s 2020 recruiting class.
McLeod played in five games as a true freshman for App State in 2020, retaining his four years of college eligibility due to the pandemic. He would play in all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2021 and broke out as a pass rusher in 2022 with 37 pressures across just more than 200 pass rush opportunities.
After the 2022 season, McLeod entered the transfer portal as a 3-star transfer (247 Sports) and landed with the Auburn Tigers. He assumed a starting role for the first time in 2023 with 11 starts in 12 games and then led the team in sacks and tackles for loss as a senior in 2024.
McLeod accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl upon the completion of his final season.
Tale Of The Tape
McLeod’s natural background as a pass rusher is evident when you watch him play. He boasts a good sense of cornering as an outside rusher but offers the right tempo and violence through his hands to test pass protectors in a variety of ways.
He’s not an elite traits player and lacks ideal length to thrive as an undersized outside linebacker full-time. He is, however, unequivocally better suited to live on the edge than he is off-ball, where some of his tightness and transitional quickness in coverage can be greatly exposed.
That said, he is an impressive play processor who brings a professional mindset to his prep. McLeod is one of those players who hasn’t had the luxury of being longer and more explosive than everyone else to this level of competition, and it shows. He’s well prepped for misdirection, block combinations, and backfield tracks and does well anticipating flash fakes and angles to contest and create splash plays and backfield production.
McLeod has fast and heavy hands that allow him to jolt blockers, and he boasts sufficient level length despite his sub-6-foot-2 stature. This allows him to sustain exit angles off of contact, and he does boast enough burst to continue his pursuit of the ball from neutral platforms. McLeod showcases sufficient level bend to go with his low center of gravity to dip the inside shoulder and reduce his surface area against tackles when he can gain an advantage with speed.
There’s power rolled into his frame as well, albeit not dominant power. Soft-setting tackles can be made to pay for late hands and light anchors.
McLeod does boast some savvy in his deconstruction ability but lacks the raw anchor and the length to provide a margin for error. Some naturally gifted tackles with length and power will likely test his ability to hold serve at the point of attack. He is quick to identify the track of the ball carrier, but he’s not an elite block-shedder to the play-side, and he does not have the elite chase-down ability from the backside to consistently run down plays away. That said, he’ll try his damnedest.
This is an easy player to like. He plays and preps the right way with some variety in usage opportunities. The fit may not be for everyone, but McLeod is a worthy Day 3 bet who can hit with the right vision in how to get him on the field, particularly on passing downs.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
McLeod projects as a “spinner” rusher at the next level. He’s best served rushing the passer and being a sub-package player who can align and attack from a variety of angles.
He will require a specific vision and role to maximize his potential and opportunity.
Grade: 69.50/100.00, Sixth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 216
Position Rank: LB17
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