Under the night sky in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia Tech wide receiver Jalen Camp gave a stutter step at the line of scrimmage to win a clean release off the line of scrimmage, then angled his pass route to the middle of the field and the south end zone of Bobby Dodd Stadium. From the Duke 30-yard line, protected from a seven-man pass rush, quarterback Jeff Sims spun a tight spiral into the end zone, where Camp cradled the pass inches above the turf and brought it into his body for a 24-yard touchdown reception, one that helped the Yellow Jackets begin to pull away from the Blue Devils on Saturday.
Camp then stood up, spun the ball like a top and, pointing into the stands, did a quick shimmy, wiggling his shoulders while bending at the waist and knees. The ball-spin element of Camp’s end-zone boogie cost the Yellow Jackets an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, but this was perhaps a celebration of more than a touchdown.
For one thing, Camp’s dance was created two days earlier when Jalen and his brother Jamal (a Tech offensive lineman) returned to the family’s home in Forsyth County for Thanksgiving. As Jalen goofed around with his 8-year-old brother Ryder, he asked what he should do if he scored a touchdown, and Ryder showed off some suggestions. Hence, the point into the stands to recognize the choreographer.
“It was just so perfect, it really was,” said Richard Camp, father of Jalen, Jamal, Ryder and eldest daughter Jordan. “That’s a priceless moment that you will never be able to forget.”
But, more than that, Camp can rejoice over the fact that this season, in which he has begun to flourish in the Tech passing game, almost never happened, and not only because of COVID-19.
“These games that we’ve played so far this year, I’ve just gone out there and made the most of it because I know that this opportunity that I have right now is not really given to everybody,” Camp said. “I just use it as a blessing and just go out there and make the most of every opportunity every game, every play, every snap.”
Credit: Coo
Credit: Coo
Initially brought to Tech by former coach Paul Johnson as a big-bodied receiver whose primary role was blocking on the perimeter, Camp has begun to show off his development as a pass receiver for coach Geoff Collins. With 22 catches for 320 yards and three touchdowns, Camp has shown off sticky hands, explosiveness and an ability to use his size (he’s listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds) to wall off cornerbacks and create a trustworthy target for Sims.
“He’s a really good route runner, and the biggest thing with him is you can’t move off his path as easily because he’s very strong,” offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said.
To go back a year, though, Patenaude and Collins didn’t anticipate Camp being with the team in 2020. Camp was a senior in 2019, but an injury sustained before the season nagged him and kept him from playing at 100%. (Camp has declined to identify the nature of the injury.) After two games, Camp and his father met with Collins and wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon.
Together, they made a plan for Jalen to play two more games and then undergo season-ending surgery. Because of the NCAA rule permitting players to appear in four games and still redshirt and also because he had yet to redshirt, Camp could come back without a problem. Richard Camp shared his appreciation that Collins gave his son the option to return rather than just have him play out the season with the injury.
“I really admire the coaching staff because they could have done that, but they didn’t,” Camp’s father said.
After rehabbing under the guidance of trainer Mark Smith, Jalen was back for spring practice, which the pandemic stopped after six practices, sending Jalen and Jamal back home.
A trainer with his own gym in Cumming, Richard was able to oversee their training, not to mention feed them. With Jamal on a plan to consume 6,000 calories daily and Jalen 4,000, Richard said that the grocery bill grew by about $400 per week.
“And that was for, what, three months or something?” Richard said. “But I still loved to have my kids at home.”
And they waited for the season and hoped for a greater opportunity to contribute to the team. Camp didn’t always delight in playing receiver in Johnson’s run-heavy offense, but did his job.
“He’s always embraced it,” Richard Camp said. “‘OK, cool, you want me to go block all game? I’ll go block all game.’”
His capacity as a pass catcher first came to the attention of many Tech fans when the Jackets played Alcorn State in 2018. Camp leapt high for a pass to the sideline from quarterback TaQuon Marshall and brought the ball down with one hand, only to be ruled out of bounds.
The arrival of Collins opened possibilities for Camp, only for the injury to end his senior season (the first one, at least) with seven catches for 134 yards and a touchdown.
But, this year, with an offensive line better able to protect the quarterback, and a quarterback able to take advantage of it, Camp has profited. He has caught at least one pass in all of Tech’s eight games, the only player who can make that claim. Also in the résumé are a five-catch game against Florida State, a 59-yard touchdown pass against Clemson and a diving, over-the-shoulder catch against Notre Dame for 39 yards.
Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Besides his strength and route-running ability, Patenaude raves about Camp’s ability to take coaching and his understanding of how to attack coverages. The touchdown against Duke that precipitated his dance showed off more of his game.
“Jalen had to go in there and pull that ball off his shoestrings, so really good adjustment to the ball,” Patenaude said. “He has really, really good hands, and he understands his body placement and how to use his body.”
Because of the injury, Camp has had a full season with a healthy body, his game improved and a higher-functioning offense around him. He was a fitting inclusion this week to the watch list for the Mayo Clinic comeback player-of-the-year award.
“Honestly, I just look it as a blessing,” Camp said, “getting hurt last season, missing those eight games, not being able to help my team and getting another chance to go out there and help my team.”
Academically, he earned his business degree in May and is now working on a master’s degree in building construction.
His teammates assuredly don’t mind having him around, either. Linebacker David Curry called Camp one of the hardest working players on the roster.
“He’s such a good teammate,” Curry said. “He’s always positive, you never see him without a smile on his face except for on Saturdays because I think he’s stepped up, and I think he’s lowered his shoulder on some people, which guys like me on defense, we love that stuff.”
Before the Duke game, Camp spoke of how he and the team tried to use the time provided by the two postponed games to improve individually and as a team. He said that Sims and the receivers had used the time to work on their timing so “we can look polished and smooth out there on the field.”
One game out of the break, it looks like it was time spent well. When the season ends, Camp will have a decision about a potential third senior season, as the NCAA has granted all fall-sports athletes an extra season of eligibility.
Camp’s father said the family hasn’t made a decision on whether to take it. Richard Camp believes his son can play in the NFL – he has the benefit of having trained a number of NFL players – but realizes that his numbers won’t stick out. That said, wide receivers with as few as 25 catches in the 2019 season were taken in the draft. And Camp certainly would catch notice at Tech’s Pro Day. Richard Camp said that his son has a 40.5-inch vertical, can run the 40-yard dash under 4.5 seconds, can bench press more than 400 pounds and squat more than 550.
Richard Camp said he’ll put his trust in the guidance of Collins and Dixon. Before then, Tech and Camp will see if they can build on the form they showed against Duke.
“I just feel like Jalen individually and also the team itself, it’s just really gratifying to see the lights of success that we’ve had because we’ve been waiting for it for awhile,” Richard Camp said.
