Know your draft crush, part 9: Javon Baker
Lookin at the UCF receiver's film as our series starts to wind up.
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)
We are practically on the draft’s doorstep, so I’ll keep this intro part quick.
In case you don’t recall, here’s the list of receivers I was HOPING on being able to sift through before the draft. I’ve crossed out the ones we’ve done (including Javon Baker, the topic of today’s piece). As you can see, I never stood a chance.
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.
I hate the idea of not getting through more guys for purposes of figuring out who I’d take (and when) if I were Brett Veach. So here’s the plan for Tuesday… I’ll look at a few games of multiple receivers left on the list, and do a quick paragraph or two on each of them so I can add them to my “tiers” in the finale (which I plan on writing up Wednesday) when I discuss what I’d do with the position in the draft if I were Brett Veach. If the Chiefs end up drafting one of the receivers I didn’t spend as much time on, I’ll write a full-fledged review then!
In the meantime, for our last more “in depth” review, this one centering around Javon Baker, a player many of you requested I look at.
Javon Baker - UCF
Relevant measurements - 6’1”, 202 pounds
Games reviewed - Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech
(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-
Baker is a guy who does not have high-level acceleration or speed. He did show the ability to outrun some angles at times when he hits his top gear, but overall he’s not a burner and he doesn’t ramp up at an elite level either. So the numbers you see in that 40-yard dash and his splits show up on the field.
Baker does possess a good amount of quickness, though, and has some nice start/stop to his game that allows him to grab separation despite his lack of top-end speed. That showed up on multiple shallow and intermediate routes, where he was able to get loose for a bit with his ability to change direction well.
