Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer confessed that he didn’t know as much about his sixth-round pick, former Georgia Tech wide receiver Jalen Camp, as others in his organization.
“To say that I’m that familiar with him, I’m not,” Meyer said Saturday after his new team had finished its draft.
But he likes what he knows. He is particularly struck by his potential and measurable traits, calling him “a big, fast guy.” Speaking at a news conference on Saturday following the draft’s conclusion, in fact, Meyer said that he asked those who know him better (including wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal, who evidently stood up for Camp in the draft) if Camp is only scratching the surface of his potential.
Meyer brought this up after a question to him about Camp’s potential, given that he only began playing organized football as a sophomore, transitioned to a spread offense as a junior at Tech and put up extraordinary numbers at Tech’s pro day.
“The answer was back to me, there’s an incredibly high ceiling for everything that you just said,” Meyer said. “It was almost verbatim what came back to me. The transition from wishbone to spread offense and the developed guy that still is not exactly there yet.”
Credit: The Florida Times-Union
Credit: The Florida Times-Union
General manager Trent Baalke spoke similarly.
“What you’re trying to do later in the draft is you’re trying to find guys with upside — guys that for whatever reason may not have gotten the type of notoriety at the position or had the success at the position or whatever else may play a role in that,” Baalke said. “But you’re looking for height/weight/speed, you’re looking for traits, you’re looking for anything you can hang your hat on to develop. [He’s] another guy that’s a great culture fit, has a great work ethic, an excellent mindset, and he has the physical traits to develop and help us not only as a receiver, but hopefully play an important role on special teams if he reaches his potential.”
Baalke was well aware of Camp’s performance at Tech’s pro day, when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds, had a 39.5-inch vertical jump and recorded 30 bench-press reps at 225 pounds, three more than the NFL draft combine record for the position.
“For a big man, his vertical (jump), his linear stuff was excellent,” Baalke said. “His change-of-direction stuff was very good for a player that size. So, across the board, his numbers stood out. Just a big guy with traits that did some nice things at the position, and some things that our receivers coach and our offensive coordinator feel very strongly they can develop.”
Daily Jackets: The AJC presents a daily look at the one thing you need to know about Georgia Tech athletics today.
About the Author
