Alabama Football: Jaylen Waddle deserves more NFL Draft respect

Alabama football fans know what Jaylen Waddle can do, and the NFL will soon learn.

Alabama football has experience an embarrassment of riches at receiver in recent years. Henry Ruggs was the fastest. DeVonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy. Jeudy was smooth as silk with his routes. While these players flourished, underclassman Jaylen Waddle was right behind them.

Alabama fans saw Waddle at his best in Tuscaloosa. They know that he has what it takes to be a WR1 in the NFL. However, that hasn’t translated to NFL Draft respect.

As of right now, there is a top tier of receivers. Waddle is there with Ja’Marr Chase and DeVonta Smith, but he is widely seen as WR3. Many debate if Smith or Chase is better, and Waddle is left as an afterthought. While it’s high praise to be a first-round receiver with top-10 potential, Waddle deserves to be in the same conversation as Smitty and Chase.

When you look at the stats, Waddle is behind both of these players. However, that is not his fault. He made the most of every opportunity he saw. He just didn’t get many opportunities until his junior year, and that season ended early with an injury.

While Chase has better size and Smith has better production, the thing that Waddle brings to the table is speed. All three of these players are fast, but Waddle is on another level. In today’s NFL, speed matters more than ever. That’s why we saw Alabama football’s Henry Ruggs go before Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb in the 2020 NFL Draft.

While Waddle has comparable speed to Ruggs, he is more than a straight-line runner. He can stop on a dime and accelerate quickly. He is as explosive as they come, and that’s what makes him so dangerous.

Waddle is also better on special teams. Any of these players could start on special teams, but Waddle specializes as a punt returner. His ability to evade the first tackle with the slightest move while accelerating quickly is hard to find. He will likely start on special teams for his entire NFL career.

Jaylen Waddle is likely WR3, and he will likely be drafted as WR3. Still, don’t disregard his ability as an NFL talent. He is just as likely to thrive as the other top receivers in this draft class.