Gang Green Nation
Taking a look at a Jets receiver/returner prospect
The New York Jets recently signed former South Alabama wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett as an undrafted free agent. Today we break Pritchett down in detail.
The 22-year old Pritchett is listed at 5’8” and 175 pounds. He was a first team all-Sun Belt selection last season after posting a thousand-yard season. He also played one season at Tuskegee.
Background
Pritchett began his college career at Tuskegee, where he caught 27 passes for 488 yards and three touchdowns in nine games in 2021. That included two hundred-yard games.
He was then able to walk on at South Alabama, although he had just two catches in eight games in the 2022 season.
In 2023, he started earning regular playing time on offense and eventually started 10 of 13 games. He ended the season with 883 yards and eight touchdowns on 57 catches and was named as an all-Sun Belt honorable mention at the end of the year.
2024 saw Pritchett take his game to a new level, as he earned all-Sun Belt first team honors by catching 91 passes for 1,127 yards and nine touchdowns. He also contributed well as a punt returner.
Pritchett wasn’t invited to the scouting combine but did participate in Senior Bowl week. However, he was not selected in the draft in April.
After Pritchett went undrafted, the Jets signed him to an undrafted free agency deal with $107,500 guaranteed.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Pritchett brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Pritchett is undersized but you would expect him to have good speed, explosiveness and agility numbers based on his film. His pro day numbers were disappointing, though. While his 40-yard dash was clocked at 4.44, which is solid, the rest of his numbers were below average across the board. It appears likely that he plays faster than his timed speed, but those numbers probably hurt his chances of being drafted.
Usage
With his lack of size, you’d expect Pritchett to be limited to a slot-only role at the NFL level and he did play in the slot more than three-quarters of the time in 2024. However, he was exclusively an outside receiver at Tuskegee and also played more outside than in the slot in 2023 with the Jaguars.
He only had one carry in his college career, but a lot of his catches were pop passes on jet sweep motion.
Deep threat
Pritchett has had good success getting behind the defense for deep balls and is a viable big play threat. He had 10 different games with at least one 35-yard catch over the past two seasons.
The most impressive thing about Pritchett when he runs deep is how early he tracks and locates the ball. This enables him to maintain his balance in a strong position to contest.
Routes
Pritchett has a reputation as a smooth route runner, and looked good in one-on-one drills...
