Know your draft crush, part 8: Ja'Lynn Polk
Looking at the film of a WR who has been mocked to the Chiefs more than once
In this year’s “know your draft crush” series, I’m once again examining various wide receivers the Chiefs could target in early rounds of the draft. Fortunately, the 2024 draft is packed with good WR prospects. In an attempt to figure out who would be the best fit in Kansas City, I’m looking at as many as possible, breaking down the film to look at the same traits for each player: Speed/acceleration/agility, releases, route running, hands/catch point work, YAC/playmaking, and an overall takeaway. Here are the guys we’ve looked at so far:
Methodology and Adonai Mitchell (UNLOCKED)
Draft twitter owes me an explanation. Because I was not familiar with Ja’Lynn Polk’s game, and no one warned me about it.
Let’s get right down to it. As I’ve continued this series, Polk came up next on the list as a guy who Peter Schrager mocked to the Chiefs in the first round. The response from most Chiefs fans, at least on X/Twitter, was that fans would be happy with Polk but not in the first round. I had a fair number of fans tell me that they thought of Polk as more of a slot WR and not a complete guy, along with a few concerns about his 4.52 40-yard dash.
But, of course, none of that is going to stop me from looking at a prospect’s film. And I really, really liked what I saw in Polk. Enough so that I demanded an answer as to why he’s not talked about more highly. Because he’s a guy who does a lot of things really well, despite not being a speed demon, and it’s hard to ignore.
Let’s talk about Polk’s film, where he wins, how he could fit right in with the Chiefs.
In case you don’t recall, here’s the list of receivers I’m HOPING on being able to sift through before the draft. I’ve crossed out the ones we’ve done (including Polk). As you can see, I’ve got zero shot at getting it done. Let me know what players you’re most desperate to see!
Brian Thomas Jr, Ladd McConkey, Troy Franklin, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Keon Coleman, Xavier Legette, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Malik Washington, Ricky Pearsall, Roman Wilson, Devontez Walker, Jalen McMillan, Malachi Corley, Jarami Thrash, Jermaine Burton, and Brenden Rice.
Ja’Lynn Polk - Washington
Relevant measurements - 6’1”, 203 pounds
Games reviewed - Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon, Cal
(NOTE - Most of the video clips I’ll use will be to highlight positive traits, because they’re more fun to watch. But that doesn’t make the negative traits for a prospect any less real… it just means I like to show the fun things!)
-Speed / acceleration / agility-
This is where you can find out why Polk isn’t being talked about as a first rounder. As shown in his 40 time and the respective splits, Polk is definitely not a burner. His speed isn’t horrible, but it’s not close to high-end. He also doesn’t accelerate terrifically, which combined with a relatively “meh” top speed leads to him rarely being able to run away from guys without winning the leverage battle (which he can do, but I’ll get to that).
Polk’s limitation in speed and acceleration means that he has a narrower window for success in that he has to win in a myriad of other ways. I should be clear that Polk isn’t SLOW, he just isn’t FAST. There’s a definitive difference, but it definitely matters in terms of threatening down the field.
Polk does show off nice agility and quickness, with the ability to stop/start and change direction smoothly and suddenly to grab separation. He’s able to get space on short and intermediate routes this way with some consistency. However, he’s not someone who ran away from defenders in college, and shouldn’t be expected to do so at the next level.