2016 NFL Draft: Jakeem Grant Worth a Draft Pick

Texas Tech’s Jakeem Grant seems to be getting little 2016 NFL Draft love for a player who broke his school’s career receiving records previously set by Wes Welker and Michael Crabtree.

Unfortunately for him, his less-than-impressive stature (5’6” 160lbs) drops him pretty far down most teams’ draft boards.

Wariness to draft such a small player is certainly understandable, but watch Grant play and the first thing you’ll notice won’t be his size, it will be his blazing speed. Grant officially ran a 4.38 40 yard dash at his pro day. Along with this speed comes exceptional quickness. Just watch him turn this short pass into a 90 yard reception, shaking the entire Oklahoma defense as he does so:

A player with skills like that definitely seems worth a second look to me. Sure he spent most of his college career playing against unimpressive Big 12 defenses, but he was able to rack up 125 yards and 3 scores against LSU in the 2015 Texas Bowl, including a score against cornerback Tre’Davarius White, a player who was graded as a second round draft pick this season if he hadn’t decided to stay for his senior season.

Along with Grant’s impressive receiving numbers at Texas Tech comes his talent in the return game. He returned four kickoffs for touchdowns in his college career, and held an impressive average of 26 yards per return in his senior season. Jakeem Grant was a big play waiting to happen for four years at Texas Tech, but that still leaves NFL coaches wondering if those skills would translate to the next level.

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Luckily for Grant, there’s a decent amount of evidence that suggests he can have some success at the next level. The most immediate comparisons to Grant are surely Wes Welker and Danny Amendola, two fellow Texas Tech alums, who also have faced questions about their size. To be fair, Welker (5’9”) and Amendola (5’11”) are bigger than Jakeem Grant, but they have similar skill sets.

Both Welker and Amendola were talented return-men in college, and what they lacked in size they made up for in quickness. Neither of them had Grant’s speed though, which gives him something else to offer. A player like Trindon Holliday may be a better comparison, but even he isn’t perfect, because Grant is a little bigger and plays less like a track star and more like a football player. Perhaps Los Angeles’ Tavon Austin is the best current comparison, and he has begun to have great success as a receiver and returner.

Jakeem Grant can’t really be described as a “sure thing” but he has plenty of qualities that give NFL teams hope. Most notably, his speed. Teams have found ways to use small, fast players like him in the past, and his potential makes him worth the effort. Possibly the biggest draw for teams looking at Grant is his attitude. He plays with a chip on his shoulder, and won’t let anyone tell him he can’t make it in the NFL.

After his pro day, some scouts reported that they clocked Grant with a 4.1 40 time, and while his official time was 4.38, Grant holds to the fact that he ran a 4.1. When questions raised across the internet about the validity of this time, Grant had a simple response on Twitter:

I understand some guys don't believe I ran a 4.10, but if you want to time me yourself I don't mind making your clock look bad!!!!
— Jakeem Grant (@_TheDreamIsHere) March 11, 2016

Despite his small size, Jakeem Grant does not lack for confidence at all. During a 2015 college football season that saw fellow Big 12 receivers Josh Doctson and Corey Coleman receive a lot of national attention, Grant said he was disappointed that he wasn’t receiving the same kind of recognition:

"“It just kills me that I’m putting up these numbers and I’m still not being talked about because of my size, my height,” Grant said (via ESPN’s Max Olson). “I understand that. People like bigger guys. But a lot of bigger guys can’t do what I can do.”"

He plays with a chip on his shoulder, and isn’t going to let anyone tell him what he can or can’t do. Instead, he seems ready to prove to the NFL that he deserves a shot. He’s already had visits and workouts with the Houston Texans, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, and Dallas Cowboys, and any of those teams would do good to consider drafting him.

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Grant has a unique skill set that will make him useful and he lacks nothing when it comes to effort and drive. He’s currently projected as a 6th-7th round pick or an undrafted free agent, but any team in need of an elite speedster or a talented return-man should consider drafting him in the late rounds to avoid losing him to another team.