Prospect Profile: Ja’Lynn Polk, WR, Washington

Context

Splits time between slot/outside in Washington’s high volume passing, air raid attack.

Before the Catch

Washington’s offense faced a high proportion of Zone defense and therefore the majority of the time, Polk was releasing against Bail or Off Coverage. In his release work, he is a master of attacking leverage. Against Bail or Off, he can expertly set up his break, and take advantage of the flexibility that the offense affords him in reacting to the coverage he is seeing. He’s an exceptional processor at the position and will quickly adjust his plan based on what he is seeing from the Defense. Against soft press he’s able to close the space to effectively set up his release move, while those moves to defeat press need to be more sudden and explosive. When he’s pressed with a jam, he shows good play strength and hand timing to clear his hands and get out into his route. He’s developed good technique against the quick jam. His specialty is using his processing ability to get open against Zone Coverage – just a glimmer of separation can result in a completion with him due to his work at the catch-point.

The offense allows him to make adjustments to his routes and to target the open areas of the field, so when facing Zone coverage he is able to somewhat freelance and find the open space on the field. He’s also expert at creating that space by attacking leverage with intelligence, manipulating Defensive Backs to leave the space for him to run into before Penix drops it in to him. When a defender is close to him at his break-point, he can utilize his play strength to subtly create space to allow the QB to target him. When he faces man coverage, his routes are precise but they aren’t sudden or explosive. There are also enough signs for savvy DBs to be able to get a read on his intentions; this includes rise in his speed cuts and prematurely turning his hips. Everything he does is smooth but that isn’t always conducive to getting open consistently against man coverage. On posts and corners and slants, he has good posture and runs technically good routes. He has enough speed for deep routes but he won’t win with athleticism alone out of his breaks.

The Catch and after the Catch

He has outstanding hands and is particularly adept at catching the ball outside his frame. He has excellent ball tracking on all types of target and his body control and adjust to the football is elite. He is able to contort himself mid-air into positions that are advantageous to allow him to catch the ball. He attacks all targets with the correct hand position and can make even catches of remarkably high difficulty like running flat out to the boundary and having to dive sideways and forwards to catch an underthrown ball, while staying in-bounds. He is a very secure set of hands. One potential area for improvement here is making sure to use his body correctly to protect the ball when facing Defensive Backs with elite ball skills, but he competes with this type of competition anyway. He is not a prolific YAC-getter; he can work intelligently with some blockers out in front but he won’t run away from people or make them miss with change of direction. He is a tough, hard-nosed run blocker who will open holes on the perimeter and inside.

SUMMARY
Outstanding processor of coverage. Really special at the catch-point with both hands and body control. Lots to work on to gain separation against the best cover CBs in man

PRODUCTION
SO: 108 Tgts, 69 Recs, 1159 Rec Yards (16.8 Ave), 9 Rec TDs
FR: 68 Tgts, 41 Recs, 694 Rec Yards (16.9 Ave), 6 Rec TDs
INJURY: Emergency Chest Surgery (’21) Ended Season

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 3
Intelligence 5
Versatility 5
Grit 5
Scheme 4