CFZ My Theory on Jalen Tolbert

[Verdict]

Not in the NFL it aint. Receiver has traditionally been one of the positions that has been most difficult to make the jump from college to pro. Typically because the speed of the game and of the competitors makes such a huge jump as does the complexity of what is asked of the kids. In college it's typically, "line up and out athlete the guy covering you." And almost all of the guys who get drafted can do that pretty much every Saturday. You get to the pros and you MIGHT be able to out-athlete 10-20% of the corners in the league. Rarely is a receiver so great of an athlete that he can just line up and beat NFL corners from day one. So it becomes a matter of mastering technique and the mental side of the game. They have to read coverages and adjust their routes accordingly. And they have to be on the same page as their QB.. which isn't guaranteed.. They have to see blitzes coming and change their route on the fly to the correct blitz beater for that particular coverage and situation. Then on top of all that you've got this other world class athlete in your face all game long trying to stop you from doing what you wanna do.

What has helped young receivers in recent years is the same thing that has helped young QBs and that is that the college game and the pro game are getting more similar every day. A lot of these college coaches are getting jobs in the NFL and bringing the same reads and route concepts to the pros. So guys are having shorter learning curves than before. But it still aint a zero learning curve. Especially not for small school dudes.

I'm not going to lie and say I ever saw Tolbert play in college. My knowledge of him is limited to highlight film .. which we all know makes every guy look like a future all pro. What I saw from him last season was a kid who looked overwhelmed and lost. Like he didn't know what he was doing, didn't know how to get open and the QBs did not trust him when he did. Hopefully some of that subsides this year and he can let his athletic ability shine through.

Years ago your thoughts set forth above would have been spot on, but that has changed a lot over the past 5 years. Receivers routinely produce in year one these days.

 

[kskboys]

You would expect a 3rd round pick to contribute on a team that doesn’t have a lot of talent at WR. If not then he was probably drafted too early.

Tolbert was a small school project pick. If they really believed he'd be ready to play right away, then they are even bigger idiots than we thought.

 

[kskboys]

Like Kelvin Joseph at CB the year before, they forced position with this pick because they needed a WR.

They need to stop doing that.

Project picks. Should be reserved for the 4th and later.

 

[kskboys]

I hear ya - I expect more from a 3rd rounder too but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. I part part of this on coaching. I find it borderline impossible to believe he couldn’t have done what Noah did. Maybe they just didn’t want to deal with the rookie mistakes.

Regardless - I’m not giving up on him yet.

Until you look at his skillset. Completely lacks explosiveness/burst. Noah has burst. Limited, absolutely, but has just enough. Tolbert most likely completely lacks the burst to get open, especially in the short game.

 

[Pass2Run]

Not in the NFL it aint. Receiver has traditionally been one of the positions that has been most difficult to make the jump from college to pro. Typically because the speed of the game and of the competitors makes such a huge jump as does the complexity of what is asked of the kids. In college it's typically, "line up and out athlete the guy covering you." And almost all of the guys who get drafted can do that pretty much every Saturday. You get to the pros and you MIGHT be able to out-athlete 10-20% of the corners in the league. Rarely is a receiver so great of an athlete that he can just line up and beat NFL corners from day one. So it becomes a matter of mastering technique and the mental side of the game. They have to read coverages and adjust their routes accordingly. And they have to be on the same page as their QB.. which isn't guaranteed.. They have to see blitzes coming and change their route on the fly to the correct blitz beater for that particular coverage and situation. Then on top of all that you've got this other world class athlete in your face all game long trying to stop you from doing what you wanna do.

What has helped young receivers in recent years is the same thing that has helped young QBs and that is that the college game and the pro game are getting more similar every day. A lot of these college coaches are getting jobs in the NFL and bringing the same reads and route concepts to the pros. So guys are having shorter learning curves than before. But it still aint a zero learning curve. Especially not for small school dudes.

I'm not going to lie and say I ever saw Tolbert play in college. My knowledge of him is limited to highlight film .. which we all know makes every guy look like a future all pro. What I saw from him last season was a kid who looked overwhelmed and lost. Like he didn't know what he was doing, didn't know how to get open and the QBs did not trust him when he did. Hopefully some of that subsides this year and he can let his athletic ability shine through.

It is, for many players. I'm saying it's not like baseball where you have to typically spend several years in the big leagues before you can contribute. Often times, rookies come in and play right away. It's not uncommon at all. Not like QB where it takes a couple few years on average.

That said, Tolbert is the kind of guy who may take a year or so to pan out. Which was the point of my post. I was pointing to how he got significantly better each year in college. So you could project he may get better in the pros. But I wouldn't bank the house on it.

 

[cnuball21]

Until you look at his skillset. Completely lacks explosiveness/burst. Noah has burst. Limited, absolutely, but has just enough. Tolbert most likely completely lacks the burst to get open, especially in the short game.

I don’t know where you’re getting that from. He won at all 3 levels in college and his 10 yard split is really, really good.

 

[Verdict]

Tolbert was a small school project pick. If they really believed he'd be ready to play right away, then they are even bigger idiots than we thought.

I tend to agree with your post. I’m not saying he’s a bust but it sure looks like he was overdrafted.

 

[kskboys]

I don’t know where you’re getting that from. He won at all 3 levels in college and his 10 yard split is really, really good.

Not sure what you typed in has to do w/ burst.

 

[kskboys]

I tend to agree with your post. I’m not saying he’s a bust but it sure looks like he was overdrafted.

I'm hoping he'll still pan out, at least to be a 3. Definitely overdrafted, mostly due to being a small school project pick. For small schoolers to be picked before round 4, they must absolutely have an excellent skillset. Not seeing that here.

I do like his jump ability and decent downfield ability.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Until you look at his skillset. Completely lacks explosiveness/burst. Noah has burst. Limited, absolutely, but has just enough. Tolbert most likely completely lacks the burst to get open, especially in the short game.

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jalen-tolbert/3200544f-4c14-8914-de91-cd54d59de2a2

Strengths:

• Put together big games against the best opponents.
• Right at home against SEC cornerbacks (SEE: Tennessee game).
• Stellar 2021 production, including seven games of 100-plus yards.
• Shimmies feet and shakes press jam.
• Fights through grabby coverage.
• Routes are gliding and smooth.
• Stick-shift route runner with excellent change of speeds.
• Powerful pre-break burst fools the coverage.
• Sinks hips for quick, sharp turns.
• High school baseball player with natural tracking talent.
• Frames up his defender and imposes his will on the high-point.

 

[Mannix]

He is going to have to otherwise he won't be here in a years time

I'll take that bet....Booger doesn't like to admit fault.

 

[cnuball21]

Not sure what you typed in has to do w/ burst.

It’s the first 10 yards of the 40 yard dash…

Measures how fast a player can get up to speed, start ability, burst…etc.

 

[Hennessy_King]

So you made up this rule and any player who doesn't abide by it needs to be cut? Hell teams have first and second round picks who don't contribute in year one and they still hang onto them with the idea in mind that they can develop them. We all want every draftee to become an instant stud. But the sane among us know better.

If we had good starters and depth at the position I could see him not getting much time. But that wasnt the case. I hope i eat crow on this but i dont see him even being a #3 option in the future

 

[shabazz]

After the 2022 draft, Dallas Cowboys fans fast-forwarded to the future, and Jalen Tolbert was the day 1 starter.

Now, in 2023, they rewind, and it just never came to be.

Most had high hopes for Tolbert going into preseason, so the question is: why?

Why didn't Jalen Tolbert win the starting spot in 2023.

In my opinion, it comes down to experience.

If you know about Tolbert's sports history, he mostly played baseball in his youth. It wasn't until the 11th grade that Tolbert started dabbling in football. During his freshman year, he tallied just 5 receptions for 60 years; his sophomore year he was 27 for 521; during his junior year he caught 64 passes for 1,085 yards, and ended his college career with 84 catches totaling 1,474 yards, according to sports-reference.com.

After the draft, we all heard about how Tolbert was a standout in camp. He probably was. Unless you don't believe the testimony of people attending camp. Then there was preseason. And we saw maybe a little glimpse of what Tolbert could do on a single pass play for 17 yards, I believe it was.

Then, he played a handful of plays versus the Bears, and it never really amounted to much. But if you consider he made a considerable leap every year in college, then it's reasonable to expect he might turn things around after an off-season in 2023.

It's not like he never got open. There were times when he was wide open, sometimes for a touchdown even. But Dak was often looking at something else on the field.. I look for Tolbert to be a bigger part of the offense next season if he can digest the playbook and the speed of the NFL.

McCarthy also told the media he had a hamstring issue, so maybe there was something to that. Or maybe there wasn't. Either way, while it's still too early to judge; it's likely also to risky to sit on your hands and avoid drafting a receiver in the 2023 NFL draft.

I’m not sure why, but when I started reading the list of explanations, I imagined violin music playing in the background

 

[RonnieT24]

It’s the first 10 yards of the 40 yard dash…

Measures how fast a player can get up to speed, start ability, burst…etc.

To be fair 10 yard split measures how fast a player can get up to speed from a dead stop. Burst for a receiver is more about getting in and out of breaks and how one accelerates when you need to. A guy can be explosive as hell from a dead stop and still not have great burst once moving.. Sometimes it's because they spend too much time and too many steps breaking down before making a cut and sometimes it's just because they lack that ability to put a foot in the ground and make that sudden cut to create separation. So explosive straight line speed and burst absolutely are not the same thing. That said, the scouting reports did say Tolbert had that burst in his routes as well as the fabulous short area quickness. I think the reason he didn't play fast as a rookie was simply that his head was spinning and he had no idea where to go and what the hell he was supposed to do when he got there. As a result he looked tentative, slow and lost most of the time he was on the field. Hopefully a full offseason fixes that for him and his physical gifts can become more apparent.

 

[RonnieT24]

If we had good starters and depth at the position I could see him not getting much time. But that wasnt the case. I hope i eat crow on this but i dont see him even being a #3 option in the future

The team won 12 games and was in contention for home field advantage until very late. Teams in that position frequently leave rookies on the bench unless they are just killin it. Which Tolbert obviously wasn't. I think if you look back at the rookie receivers who have come in and made an impact over the last several years you will generally find them playing for teams that sucked rocks the year before, and weren't exactly on top of the league even during their breakout rookie seasons. The Bengals went 9-7 in Chase's rookie year. Weren't the Vikings 8-8 in Jefferson's rookie season? What were the Rams in Kupp's rookie season. 7-9? About the only impact rookie WR I can think of who didn't play on a struggling team was AJ Brown with the Titans. But they didn't exactly have Jerry Rice and John Taylor keeping him on the bench. And those guys were all drafted higher than Tolbert. But their circumstances, both by draft position as well as the state of their respective teams enabled them to get on the field more.

I'm not here to tell you Tolbert is a potential superstar in the making. I am simply saying I am not ready to shovel dirt on his career after one year. Now if he's still stumbling around out there in 2023.. we're having a different conversation.

 

[cnuball21]

To be fair 10 yard split measures how fast a player can get up to speed from a dead stop. Burst for a receiver is more about getting in and out of breaks and how one accelerates when you need to. A guy can be explosive as hell from a dead stop and still not have great burst once moving.. Sometimes it's because they spend too much time and too many steps breaking down before making a cut and sometimes it's just because they lack that ability to put a foot in the ground and make that sudden cut to create separation. So explosive straight line speed and burst absolutely are not the same thing. That said, the scouting reports did say Tolbert had that burst in his routes as well as the fabulous short area quickness. I think the reason he didn't play fast as a rookie was simply that his head was spinning and he had no idea where to go and what the hell he was supposed to do when he got there. As a result he looked tentative, slow and lost most of the time he was on the field. Hopefully a full offseason fixes that for him and his physical gifts can become more apparent.

To an extent yes, but that’s why I used the 10 yard split instead of the 40.

It’s impossible to have an above average 10 yard split unless you have the burst to get going in a hurry.

 

[Rayman70]

some receivers develop differently. Recall Jimmy Smith in the 1990's? He did nuthin here and he never could get healthy or develop. But after he left he went nuts for a few years. Great player for the Jags I think. I think we just need 2 wait and see with Jalen. The kid needs time.

 

[Verdict]

I'm hoping he'll still pan out, at least to be a 3. Definitely overdrafted, mostly due to being a small school project pick. For small schoolers to be picked before round 4, they must absolutely have an excellent skillset. Not seeing that here.

I do like his jump ability and decent downfield ability.

Can’t argue with any of that.

 

[stilltheguru]

I'll just wait until training camp for him. There is no 3 year wait to show you can play receiver. Year 2 is when you show you have something. You probably can't name a wr who did nothing first 2 years then came alive year 3 in the past 10 years