NFL Analysis
4/26/24
4 min read
Jalen McMillan 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Jalen McMillan.
Jalen McMillan's 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 197 pounds
- 40-yard dash: 4.47
- 10-yard split: 1.53
- Vertical jump: 37"
- Broad jump: 10'7"
Jalen McMillan 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS
- In 2022 predominantly lined up in the slot in multiple splits but also significant snaps outside. Location versatile.
- Smooth strider with excellent length and play speed to challenge coverage at intermediate and vertical levels.
- Free access and stride length made him a vertical dimension. Stacked corners with excellent ball tracking skills.
- Showed an understanding of how to attack corners to separate at the top of the route stem. Sense of pace and timing.
- Ability to make sharp, decisive cuts at the top of route stem without shortening his stride length. Balance and burst.
- Routes where he sunk his hips showed outstanding body flexibility. Natural quickness with great body control.
- Showed run-after-catch traits, attacking upfield with the ball in his hands. Subtle suddenness with competitiveness.
- 2023 – Smooth strider who ate up ground, getting on top of the secondary with stride length and route savvy.
- Made some tough catches away from his frame. Showed he could go up and highpoint the ball when needed.
WEAKNESSES
- Had a few too many drops on routine catches, but my overall sense is that he does not have problematic hands.
- Not shifty and elusive with the ball in his hands. Much more straight linear run after catch. Needs a runway.
- 2023 – Still saw too many drops on what should have been routine catches. That needs to be cleaned up.
- Not a contested catch receiver. Did not show the kind of aggressiveness and physicality needed at catch point.
- Didn't face much press coverage given the schematics and formations of Washington's pass game. Is that a concern?
NFL TRANSITION
McMillan is one of the better wide receiver prospects in the 2024 draft. He has a strong traits profile that projects and transitions to the next level as both a slot receiver and Z movement receiver who can line up in multiple locations within the formation.
McMillan has excellent length, which translates to him being a smooth, fluid strider with deceptive route and play speed. That allows him to be an intermediate and vertical dimension in an offense. The question that must be answered by NFL evaluators and coaches is whether McMillan must transition to the next level in much the same way he was deployed in the Washington offense. Through formations and motion, he almost always had free access to routes without having to face press or physical coverage.
One potential concern with McMillan as you project him to the league is how he will handle physicality at the line of scrimmage, through his early route stem and at the catch point. There is no question he is smooth and fluid with the stride length and route control to attack, break down corners and separate at the top of his stem when he is clean through the route. But he will be challenged with more physicality in the NFL.
That brings us back to the original point of whether McMillan will be team- and scheme-specific. And if that is the case, can he still be a volume receiver with high-end production?
Other Notes
McMillan came to Washington out of California as a 4-star recruit and a top 120 prospect in the nation. He became a starter in his sophomore season (2021). McMillan had an outstanding 2022 season with 79 catches for 1,098 yards and 9 touchdowns but was hurt in the middle of the 2023 season, finishing with only 45 receptions and 5 touchdowns.
McMillan predominantly worked out of the slot in 2022 with 53 of his 79 receptions and 86 of his 120 targets coming from inside, He was also featured as a motion receiver in Washington’s offense; McMillan lined up in multiple splits running routes from different locations including some snaps offset in the backfield
In 2023, McMillan again worked predominantly out of the slot, with 49 of his 66 targets and 33 of his 45 receptions coming inside. McMillan was location-versatile in the Washington offense, lining up in all positions, including the backfield and wing alignments. Washington's offense featured reduced splits and bunch formations, so McMillan has extensive experience with those concepts
