Javon Baker 2024 NFL Draft Profile
The 2024 NFL Draft profiles are coming at you nonstop, and we have another one here for you. We all know that this receiver class is absolutely stacked, but there are some guys that I believe aren’t being talked about enough, and one of them is UCF’s Javon Baker. Baker played very well at UCF during his time there, and I think his skill set is going to translate well. What does his draft profile look like? Let’s talk about it.
Javon Baker was once playing for Nick Saban at Alabama. That alone should tell you that the kid is talented, he was just stuck in a room with guys like Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Jameson Williams, and John Metchie. He would transfer after one year to UCF, where he got to show what a promising player he was. He would end up with 108 catches for 1,935 yards and 12 touchdowns during his final two years.
He has the body for the NFL (6’1, 200 lbs). What pairs well with a good frame? Great route running ability. Enter Javon Baker. His play speed is a hair faster than his timed speed, and it shows on tape. He is strong and uses his frame to point the ball well, often ripping balls from the defender. He’s super physical off the line, not getting jammed very often after the snap. His game on the road in Oklahoma is what sold me (5, 132, 2 TDs) he was having his way with the DBs winning every ball that came his way.
The top-end speed isn’t all there, as we saw with his 4.54 40-yard dash time. I don’t mind it. His potential as a pure route runner makes up for it. The issue for me is I saw a lot of simple concentration drops. This can be cleaned up, sure, but it is a talking point heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. I’d like to see him work on his underneath game a little bit, the short out routes specifically.
I like Javon Baker quite a bit. I thought he had a good showing at the Senior Bowl and followed it up with an above-average performance at the combine. The pure juice might scare some teams off, but I think his potential as a great possession threat makes up for it. I have a late day two, early day three on him. I think scooping him up and letting him learn and develop his route tree from a vet would do wonders for him.
