Ja’Lynn Polk 2024 NFL Draft Profile
Washington is sending out three receivers to the 2024 NFL Draft, and we have already covered Rome Odunze’s profile and Jalen McMillian’s profile, and now we take a look at Ja’Lynn Polk. Polk finished second in receptions and yards on a prolific Huskies offense led by Michel Penix Jr (who we have also covered), but what does his draft profile look like? Let’s talk about it.
Polk, a former three-star recruit out of Texas, originally committed to play at Texas Tech and played there for one season before transferring to Washington. Polk didn’t really see a ton of action until his Junior year, and this last season is where he really exploded onto the scene. He finished last season with 69 receptions for 1,159 yards and nine touchdowns.
Ja’Lynn Polk has got solid size for the NFL (6’1, 200 lbs) and the speed was fine when he ran at the NFL Combine. What jumps out on the tape is his hands. The hands are so sure, always reaching out for catches instead of letting it come into his body. The body control is nice, expanding his expansive catch radius by just a little, which is handy. Routes are much better than his running mate McMillian as well. Played both in the slot and outside at Washington.
That raises a fairly big question though: where will he play? I don’t think he has the pure acceleration off the line to play in the slot, and the release off the line and top-end speed aren’t quite good enough to play outside. Sure you can continue to play him in either spot, but you’d like to hammer a spot down. The route tree feels kind of limited as well, but that could also be because of what he was given at Washington.
Ja’Lynn Polk should be a decent receiver at the next level, but I am not totally sure where I would draft him. I probably land on a fourth-round grade, and that isn’t meant to be a knock on him, but this class is absolutely loaded. The guys ahead of him are just that much better. He could turn into a good option on the back half of his rookie deal, but I wouldn’t expect a ton out of him out of the gates.
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