Prospect Bio

Jalen Tolbert was a do-it-all athlete at McGill-Toolen High School in Alabama. He played baseball, basketball, and football where he caught 37 passes for 696 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior. Tolbert was a two-star recruit, receiving offers from Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Memphis, and Mississippi State among other small schools. He chose Southern Alabama where he was forced to redshirt his freshman season due to a knee injury. He returned to catch just five passes while playing in five games in 2018. With health finally back on his side, Tolbert caught 27 passes for 521 yards and six touchdowns while starting all 12 games in 2019. Tolbert built on that performance in 2020 to become the first 1,000-yard receiver in school history. He hauled in 64 receptions for 1,085 receiving yards and eight touchdowns and earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors.

Tolbert was back again in 2021 when he had his best season. He caught 82 passes for 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns on the back of seven 100-yard outings. He was once again named first-team All-Sun Belt and was the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year.

College Stats

Jalen Tolbert College Stats Courtesy of sports-reference

Positives

+Speed

+Deep threat

+Versatile 

+51.2% College Dominator (96th-percentile, PlayerProfiler)

+33.4% target share in 2021

+6.8 receptions per game in 2021

+3.63 yards per team pass attempt in 2021

+36.4% receiving touchdown share in 2021

Negatives

-Fifth-year player 

-23 years old 

-Level of competition 

-Thin-ish frame

-0 career rush attempts or kick/punt returns

Highlight Reel

Comparable Player: TBD

NFL Draft Projection: Fourth Round

Bottom Line:

Jalen Tolbert is a fast, versatile athlete who dominated over his last two seasons at Southern Alabama. He projects as an X or Z at the NFL level where he can use his speed and vertical ability to make plays down the field. Unfortunately, he’s not as polished as you’d want to see from an older prospect with the experience he has and will likely take some time before he gets on the field in a full-time capacity. He certainly checks some big boxes analytically, but those are slightly discounted due to the level of competition and age at which they were accomplished. Tolbert is a decent pick in the third round of rookie drafts based on upside, but don’t expect to get an immediate return on your investment.

Post Draft Analysis:

Jalen Tolbert is one of the underrated winners of the draft. He got third round draft capital to a team with an open starting outside receiver job. The departures of Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson, along with Michael Gallup still recovering from a late-season ACL injury, opens an opportunity for Tolbert to step right into a significant role in one of the league’s best offenses.

Resources: DLF, PlayerProfiler, PFN, PFF, TDN

Yards Per-Formance Prospect Grade