Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
Last Updated: 3/26/2024
After transferring from Texas Tech, Ja’Lynn Polk started slowly after dislocating his clavicle in his first game with the Huskies, forcing him to miss a majority of the 2021 campaign. He bounced back in 2022 with a modest 694 yards and 6 touchdowns. This past season, he stepped into the spotlight after an injury to Jalen McMillan opened up more opportunities. His 1,159 yards were fifth in the Pac-12 and his nine touchdowns were seventh — both were career highs.
Polk is a big-bodied receiver who excels in contested situations, using his physicality and natural ability to high point the ball to dominate defenders. He has good hand eye coordination and concentration through the process of the catch allowing him to make some “wow”-type catches. We also see him catch away from his body more often than not, while showing soft hands at times, but not consistently. There have been plenty of drops throughout his tape, not all of them being his fault, but it is noteworthy.
Polk’s ability to track the ball downfield paired with his speed and long strides make him one of the better deep threats in this class. These deep and longer developing routes are his bread and butter as he is not the most sudden route runner. This doesn’t mean he can’t operate underneath but his routes are limited and lacks the ability to create a plethora of separation. He can make up for some of this at the line of scrimmage where he leans on his quickness and jab step release. This quickness and acceleration also allow him to eat up yards quickly after the catch, but he lacks the elusivity to make multiple defenders miss.
- Fluidity
- Speed
- Physicality
- Elusiveness after the catch
- Suddenness
- Lacks soft hands
- Freshman All-America Third Team (College Football News) (2022)
- 40-yard dash: 4.52s
- 10-yard split: 1.52s
- Vertical: 37.5”
- Broad Jump: 10’9”
- Three-cone: TBD
- Shuttle: TBD
- Bench: TBD
- X receiver
Ja’Lynn Polk forecasts to be a solid WR2/3 within an offense at the NFL level, but his best traits lean toward a more boom/bust fantasy asset. His big plays will produce match winning performances but could also leave you disappointed more regularly. If he lands in a high-volume passing attack there could be a safer floor, but feels more likely to follow a Mike Williams or Gabe Davis path.
