If you haven’t been tracking Jaylen Waddle for the last three years, you could be forgiven. Early on in his career, Waddle was largely overshadowed by the likes of Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III – two eventual first-round picks. After they left Tuscaloosa, Waddle was primed to assert himself as Bama’s top wide receiver in 2020. 
[RELATED: A Closer Look At LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase]
In his first six games, Waddle went off for 28 catches and 591 yards — good for 21.2 yards per catch on average — plus four touchdowns. He also kept up his strong work in the return game, giving evaluators even more opportunities to gawk at his speed on film. Unfortunately, his final return of the regular season came against Tennessee, couching his season up until the National Championship game against Ohio State.
Despite the ill-timed injury, Waddle remains one of this year’s most highly-coveted prospects. His injured ankle even kept him from running the 40-yard-dash for scouts this year — that hasn’t slowed him down either. Waddle was clocked at 4.37 seconds before he even stepped foot on campus. And, depending on who you ask, he could even be a shade faster than Ruggs on the field. Ruggs, for reference, clocked a 4.27-second 40-time last year.
With explosiveness and sustained speed down the field, it would almost be too easy to compare Waddle to Chiefs star Tyreek Hill. Almost. Both players have the ability to wreck one-on-one coverage with their speed and, like Hill, Waddle can accelerate, stop on a dime, and throttle his way past the coverage. Former teammate Najee Harris – viewed by many as the best running back in the 2021 class — also sees the similarities.
“He’s small but he’s dynamic. He’s explosive. Really really explosive,” Harris told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “The closest thing to Tyreek Hill. You gotta see him in person. How he plays how he gets in and out of cuts. How he stops and goes 60 [mph] right away.”
The knocks on Waddle are few and far in-between. Many of them were out of his control. Waddle never put together a full season like LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase did in 2019 (1,780 receiving yards and 20 receiving touchdowns, both SEC records), but he was buried behind an All-Star cast in 2018 and 2019. Then, 2020’s ankle injury effectively ended his year. His hands aren’t quite as reliable as Chase’s either. Still, Waddle has already crossed a lot of the “cons” off of his list – concerned chatter about his catching ability and upper body strength have turned into mere whispers. Blessed with serious wheels, route running, and tons of tools to make opponents miss, Waddle has cemented himself as this year’s WR2 or WR3, depending on how you rate him vs. ‘Bama teammate DeVonta Smith.
Chase ran away with the WR1 crown at his pro day when he posted a 4.38-second 40-yard dash, a number that even surprised the LSU star (“I was going for a low 4.4,” Chase said.) If Chase’s absolute ceiling is No. 4 overall after three QBs come off the board, then Waddle’s should top out at the Bengals’ No. 5 pick. After that, it’s the Dolphins at No. 6 and the Lions at No. 7, two clubs that want/need a game-changing WR like Waddle. Even with lots of variables in play, it’s hard to imagine Waddle waiting past the top ten.
Could be Tyreek Hill. Could be Tavon Austin. If a team is going to take him in the top 10 they better have a very specific plan for how to utilize that speed.
Your draft order in the last paragraph is wrong. Eagles are 12. Phins are 6.
Yeah you would think they’d have an up-to-date draft order to reference
I feel this guy will be a Lion
Only if Sewell and Slater are gone. Build with beef then get the mustard!
@dugdog I do too. As much as I don’t want it to happen right now. I do too. Chase is the only WR at 7 worth taking.
If he is drafted by Lions, the new regime is as bad as the previous.
I’ll take the 6’1” DaVonta Smith and his dominating tape by a hair. Can’t go wrong either way though. I also think Chase is easily the WR1 and the top player overall actually. All three are top 10 talents but thanks to the QB frenzy the Giants and Eagles have a shot at one of them.
6’1” sounds good til you look at his height/weight ratio. At 175, there’s no other WR in the NFL that’s that thin. Does that concern you at all?
it’s just the Kyler argument all over again. doesnt fit the normal player mode therefore is going to struggle. not how it works.
Kyler still hasn’t completely quieted his concerns. But that’s still secondary as an issue. The more important issue here is that Smith plays a position where he will be hit more and with less protection than Murray. The NFL does not allow much hitting these days on wideouts, but the only position that gets more protection is QB. Smith will also be relied upon to make more contested catches than most wideouts due to his exceptional hands. I still think that he’s worth taking at the top of the draft, but there is a slight concern over the possibility of injury and if I were his team, I’d like to see him gain some weight (not enough to slow him a lot) and shield himself from big hits.
It is a little concerning. His BMI is 22. But he balls. Incredible route runner. Separates with ease. He doesn’t need to be physical. Plus I expect the NFL to add at least 8-10 pounds although he will be a bean poke his entire career. Worked ok for other light WRs like DJax and Ridley.
he’ll be a hit in Thanksgiving Games
We all know that the big 3 WR’s in this class, at least 1 won’t pan out & another will probably be like B Cooks. 1st round pick, but never stays with a team very long.
It’s probably better to call it the big 4 WR’s since Pitts is at that level of talent.
Pitts is classified as a TE, but he’s really a WR and TE combined.
Pitts, two players for the price of one!
I’d say that he’s just a WR. He does that exceptionally well with ungodly size for the position, but his blocking leaves much to be desired. I’d really just consider Pitts a WR completely, even if I lined him up next to the tackle for mismatches.
Ja’Marr Chase is hands down the best WR available in the draft this year. If you ask me, it’s not even close. Waddle reminds me of Ruggs way too much; a HR hitter but not a guy who’s going to get 6+ catches every week. IMO, Devonta is better than Waddle too but Ja’Marr is much better than both. Pitts should go before both Smith & Waddle in the draft as well. He’s a generational talent at TE and if he can improve his blocking, he could become a Top 3 TE in the NFL by 2022 – 2023. Of the 4 players, Waddle has the best chance to become a bust while Chase is pretty much a sure thing. Pitts and Smith slot in somewhere in between.
Honestly, if I had to guess, these WRs are going to fall down draft boards. Similar to last year when Metcalf slipped to late 2nd. Not saying waddle will slip to the 2nd, but there are just so many good WRs available that teams are more likely to gamble and wait to get a WR and instead draft a thin position (Edge, CB, Safety) in the first…