Every year there is an impact player or two that falls through the cracks of rookie drafts. Identifying these players and drafting them puts your team ahead of the curve. This year, I believe one of these players is San Francisco 49ers WR, Jalen Hurd. The third round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, is a 6’5”, 230-pound athlete who is still new to the position of WR. Hurd came out of Beech Senior High in Henderson, Tennessee as the eighth best RB in the country, according to ESPN.Despite having offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida, Jalen decided to stay close to home and attend Tennessee. Jalen dominated in his first two years at Tennessee, carrying his Derrick Henry-esque frame for 2,595 total yards, and 21 touchdowns. His sophomore season, of 1,475 yards and 14 touchdowns, is particularly impressive, considering he did this starting over the future Pro Bowler, Alvin Kamara.In 2016 Jalen Hurd realized he wanted to prolong his playing career and make the switch to WR. His request to play WR was denied by the staff at Tennessee. This ultimately lead Hurd to decide to transfer out of Tennessee. In 2018, Jalen Hurd took the field as a starting WR for the Baylor Bears. In his first year playing WR, Hurd had 69 catches for 949 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also added 209 yards and 3 touchdowns as a situational RB.After the 2019 NFL Draft, I decided to create a “model” to help with my personal WR rankings. I was pleasantly surprised when Jalen Hurd came out as the fourth best WR. To create this model, I gave grades for film, analytics, opportunity, and draft capital, to all drafted WRs. (I hope to provide more insight about my “model” in the future).
