We are going deep this week. I wanted to get some feedback from you, the reader, on what type of player I should write about. I sent a poll out, and the answer was a resounding 74.1% that you guys wanted a player that many of you have not heard of.
This week’s dynasty sleeper is former Ravens’ and current Jets’ practice squad player Jaleel Scott. If you happen to know the name, you would know the measurables with Jaleel who is an absolute unit. At 6’5, 218lbs, he is a huge target with good speed for his size running a 4.56 40-yard dash. Scott has tons of potential, so let’s get into it.
College Career
Jaleel Scott put some spectacular plays on tape during his senior season at New Mexico State. In his senior year, he had 76 receptions, 1079 yards, and 9 touchdowns for the Aggies. He also posted a 65% catch rate and continually made tough contested catches all season long. If you’ve never seen some of the plays this young man made, check this one out.
There was more to like his senior year, as Scott was heavily touted as one of the best jump-ball receivers coming out. He showed good athleticism and speed as well. Scott also showed he knew how to use his 6’5 frame when targeted in 50/50-ball situations. Pro Football Focus gave Jaleel Scott the 37th best-receiving grade in all of FBS receivers only one spot below Calvin Ridley. In the game against Arizona State, Scott had an amazing 8 receptions, 149 yards, and a touchdown.
The potential for Scott was immense coming out and some had hoped he could be a #1 receiver in the NFL due to the abilities shown at New Mexico State. If you are still unsure about his abilities coming out of college, don’t just take my word for it, check out this awesome breakdown of Jaleel Scott by Matt Waldman.
NFL Career
This could easily be titled the “Why It Hasn’t Worked” section. Jaleel Scott was drafted in the fourth round by a receiver needy team in the Baltimore Ravens. This was the same draft class as Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson. Jaleel’s hopes of making the roster quickly vanished as he was put on IR with a torn hamstring during his rookie season. Up to that point he had not made much noise in camp either. The breakout would have to wait.
In 2019 the Ravens added more competition to the roster, after drafting Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin. The writing was on the wall for Scott, and he was running out of time. The new GM, Eric DeCosta, took over that offseason, and he had not been the one to draft Scott. DeCosta proceeded to add even more receiver depth after taking the reigns as GM.
That didn’t seem to phase Scott too much in the off-season, and in 2019 he was the Ravens leading receiver in the preseason, catching 11 balls for 146 yards and two touchdowns. He closed with a 6/87/1 performance against the Redskins in the final preseason game. The talk after that game was glowing.
When asked about Jaleel Scott, coach Harbaugh even said, “Pretty much every game has been a good game for him. He’s had a great camp. He’s done really well. Ever since last year when he went on IR, he’s done nothing but come in every day and work as hard as he possibly can. Then it carried over into OTAs, carried over into training camp. When you stack that kind of work, it’s bound to show up.”
Although the coach speak was glowing, the depth chart was full with the likes of Brown, Boykin, Willie Snead, and Chris Moore. Jaleel would end up sticking around for 2019. However, he was only active in three games and had one catch for six yards his entire 2019 season.
This off-season was always going to be tough for Jaleel Scott to earn a roster spot for the Ravens, as they added more young receivers during the draft in Devin Duvernay and James Proche. A divorce seemed likely as Jaleel did not add much in the way of a special teams role that a depth receiver would need to add to make the everyday roster. The Ravens cut Jaleel during the final cutdown on August 31st, 2020. He was quickly picked up by the Jets on September 10th and put on to their practice squad.
Future Outlook
Jaleel Scott landed in an opportune spot and has not seen a snap as of yet in a Jet uniform. The Jets should be looking toward the future and that means looking to give some young players a chance here in the remaining weeks of the 2020 season. We have seen a plethora of practice squad players come up and be fantasy relevant this season in deeper leagues, like Kalen Ballage or Alex Collins. You are not adding Scott for this season. We will need to see him get an opportunity and make something of it first.
Potential has gotten him to the point where he is on the radar of those of us geeking out over deep roster spots. Time is running out on Scott. Some projected him into an Alshon Jeffery type coming out, and I do believe he can become, at the very least, a red zone threat in the NFL. Scott has not yet been given an opportunity during the regular season for reasons unknown to us.
If Scott can get on the field, I believe he could be fantasy relevant going forward. He is completely off the radar as far as ownership goes and can be had for nothing. The Jets have very limited options on their roster after Denzel Mims and Jamison Crowder. Funny enough his former teammate, Breshad Perriman, presents probably his greatest challenge to real game-time this season. That being said, keep an eye out for Jaleel Scott. He is not someone that needs to be added now. However, he could be everything we want in a receiver going forward.
Previous Dynasty Sleepers of the Week
Thanks for checking out this week’s Dynasty Sleeper of the Week. I look forward to Week 12 action and finding you some more gems throughout the season. Honorable mentions for this week were: Scottie Phillips (HOU), Austin Mack (NYG), Donald Parham (LAC), Antonio Callaway (MIA), and Qadree Ollison (ATL) You can follow me at @Cmoney52 on Twitter. You can message me or shoot me a tweet if there are players you would like to be featured in this segment.
