Next up in our 2012 Texans draft watch series is South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.
Jeffery is one of 65 players to be granted special eligibility for the 2012 NFL Draft by the NFL after meeting the league’s three-year eligibility rule and submitting a written application renounced his remaining college football eligibility.
In other words, he's an underclassman whose declared for the draft. A college junior.
But don't let that deter you. There's a good stable of underclassmen who make it in the league. The rub is that GMs don't have a crystal ball and aren't able to know for sure which ones will make it and which ones won't.
In fact, the first three players I've reviewed in this series are all juniors (Randle being the youngest so far), so you can see that I'm not too concerned about the possibility of the Texans going young in the early rounds.
If they can play, they can play, right?
Jeffery is one of those guys who isn't going to improve his stock greatly by staying in college another year. He's established himself, to a degree, and has decided to make the jump.
But like any player there's the question of potential vs. reality.
Jeffery had a huge sophomore season, one the led to great expectations and a 'best player in the SEC' tag heading into the 2011 season. (espn)
But his production dropped off during his junior season, but given the entire Gamecocks offense was just plain bad you can't really pin that on one player. Despite a down year in 2011, Jeffery still set the school record with 3,042 yards receiving over three seasons. (SI)
Jeffery is one of several 'big and tall' receivers in this draft and at 6-4, 229 his allure is his size. But where he ends up being selected on draft day will depend on how he grades out during the combine.
Jeffery has good hands, can catch in traffic, has a big body and is a huge target. He has all the makings of a great red zone receiver.
But what he has in size he lacks in speed, at least in burst off the line. Jeffery isn't going to run by anyone so he relies on his height and bulk to pluck balls over smaller defenders.
He's not Calvin Johnson (who is?), and at this point he's not a Julio Jones or A.J. Green either, that is unless he rips a sub-4.5 at the combine which doesn't sound likely according to most reports. He may be more like USC's Mike Williams than any of those guys for all we know, but Jeffery has set the bar high for himself.
"I'm ready for the next step. I'm physical and can make plays in the red zone. I can make big plays in big games. I can work on my speed and get quicker. I want to be like (NFL receivers) Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson and Andre Johnson" - Alshon Jeffery (espn.com)
I'm not sure how you 'work on' your speed, at least straight line speed because it is what it is, but there are things that Jeffery can do technique-wise to help him improve his burst off the line of scrimmage. It's those first ten yards that he needs to work on. He tends to lumber off the line but once he gets that big body rolling, he's hard to bring down.
Despite the nitpicks, Jeffery is a potential first round talent and second rounder at worst. He's another one, like Randle, where a 40-time could mean a million dollars or two.
Maybe lining up against fellow Gamecock Johnathan Joseph in practice every day could help Jeffery become a legit NFL receiver.
And if you heard about Jeffery getting tossed from the bowl game against Nebraska and are holding that against him, watch this video and tell me what he did that was so egregious.
Alshon Jeffery, WR South Carolina (projection and position rank from nfldraftscout.com)
- 6-4, 229
- DOB: February 14, 1990
- Projected draft round: 2
- Position rank: Rated #5 out of 344 WRs
- 2011 ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-SEC FOOTBALL SECOND TEAM
- 2010 All-America and Biletnikoff candidate... 2011 preseason first-team All-SEC and All-America according to Phil Steele... also named to Playboy's preseason 2011 All-America team (gamecocksonlinecom)
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