Jaelen Strong: Arizona State WR NFL Draft Scouting Notes

Arizona State WR Jaelen Strong has received many first round grades from talent evaluators — and many believe he could be one of the highest-drafted receivers in the 2015 NFL Draft class.

Thanks to the great folks at Draft Breakdown who recently provided us with some film on Strong, here are some notes from Strong’s 2014 season.

STRENGTHS 

Strong has impressive long speed that actually translates very well to the NFL. Most of his success at Arizona State came on routes where he simply beat his defender deep — many times gaining a step on a safety who was sitting deep.

The best way to describe Strong and his ability to make plays is “slithery”. He has a knack for finding holes in the secondary and exploiting defensive backs with his sneaky moves.

This year, Strong got much better at reeling in the 50-50 balls. He had some problems with some of this early in his career with the Sun Devils.

His focus is very impressive when he goes to make a catch, displaying great body control and ability to adjust on-the-fly. Here’s an example from his game against Arizona:

It seemed as though every game, Strong checked boxes and impressed with incredible catches.

Here’s what he did in Arizona State’s game against Duke this season:

WEAKNESSES 

While his speed and overall athleticism got him very far in college, NFL scouts are going to want to see improved route-running skills here. Too often, Strong rounds off his route and doesn’t use quick, shifty footwork to break off from the cornerback — this can be improved with daily NFL coaching.

It’d also be nice to see Strong take some more heavy hits to see if his body can handle tough NFL safeties coming across the middle.

PROJECTED DRAFT STOCK

I’ve been seeing many folks give Strong a mid-late first round grade, the same general area I’m currently projecting. In my latest mock draft, I had the Browns making up for their mistakes last season, taking Strong at #19.

If he tests well at the NFL Scouting Combine and does everything right until the Draft, there’s no reason to believe a team won’t take him in the first round.