This morning on the Nick Kayal Show, Nick gave four reasons why Jaylen Waddle should be the pick for the Atlanta Falcons if they trade back in this year’s NFL draft.
As we all know the Alabama Crimson Tide stand-out wide receiver is an electrifying talent and dangerous with the ball in his hands. At the beginning of the season, Waddle was a Heisman Trophy front-runner until he was sidelined for nearly three months with a broken ankle. And then his teammate Devonte Smith went and won it. Waddle will be a great pickup for whatever team that drafts him, but the consensus is that drafting the speedster No. 4 overall would be a reach for the Falcons, especially if highly scouted Florida tight end Kyle Pitts is still on the board.
However, If the Atlanta Falcons decide to trade back in the 2021 NFL Draft, Kayal believes Jaylen Waddle is the way to go for the Falcons. And these are his four reasons why:
1. Jaylen Waddle would be the perfect fit in the slot/WR3 spot for the Falcons.
With Julio Jones coming back healthy under new head coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot, and Calvin Ridley proving he is a wide receiver one himself last season a third and final speedy Alabama wide receiver in the slot in Jaylen Waddle would be icing on the cake and a deep threat they could still very much use on offense.
2. Jaylen Waddle can line up out wide as WR2 in the event that Julio Jones or Calvin Ridley miss time.
Waddle is an underrated route runner, and obviously has crazy speed, so he could not only blow by a lot of corners, but also win one on one matchups with his technical route running as well. With that being said, whether it’s Julio Jones or Calvin Ridley on the other side of him they will grab a lot of attention to open things up even more for Waddle.
3. Jaylen Waddle can be lined up in the backfield in special packages.
We’ve seen it with other talented and speedy guys such as Marquise Goodwin, Tyreek Hill, and even Odell Beckham Jr. Receivers who have speed sometimes line up in the back field, get motioned to the backfield, and do all sorts of things to confuse opposing defenses. Jaylen Waddle can do that same thing whether he is used as a decoy in that play, or it’s another way to get him the ball in space, teams will have no choice but to have eyes on Waddle, and that will open up Jones, Ridley, Gage, or even newly signed Mike Davis who caught sixty balls out the backfield last year in Carolina. Jaylen Waddle just adds another creative element to the Falcons offense.
4. Jaylen Waddle could be the Atlanta Falcons long term answer to their lack luster return game
Nick Kayal says everything that needs to be said when it comes to Jaylen Waddle in the return game. “If you watched Jaylen Waddle the last couple of years for Alabama, that guy had a gear that Jerry Juedy didn’t, Henry Ruggs didn’t, Devonte Smith didn’t, He was legitimately a better receiving version of Devin Hester.” Now, before Falcons fans get too excited, we should all slightly pump the brakes because Nick isn’t calling Waddle the second coming of Devin Hester, but he is putting him in that company saying “Not the returner that Devin Hester is, but in that short list conversation of names where like when you punt to that dude you better have a hang time of six seconds, or angle it out of bounds.” The Falcons haven’t had a guy like that since... you guessed it Devin Hester.
Nick makes it pretty clear when he compares Waddle to Kyle Pitts, Ja'Marr Chase, and Devonte Smith saying "Kyle Pitts can do two things. He can put his ground in the dirt as a tight end, or he can line up as a receiver. Ja'Marr Chase can do one thing, he can line up out wide. Devonta Smith can do two things he can lineup out wide, or line up in the slot." You just read about four things Jaylen Waddle would bring to this Falcons offense, and Atlanta could use every single thing if they want to bounce back and even have a chance at winning a championship before the Julio Jones and Matt Ryan era end. Nick Kayal believes Waddle is special as he basically said that Waddle is more talented than Tua Tagovailoa, Quinnen Williams, Amari Cooper, Mark Barron, Marcell Darius, Orlando McClain, and yes even Julio Jones, all top ten picks out of Alabama from the last decade. If the Atlanta Falcons trade back in this year’s NFL Draft and land somewhere between picks eight through twelve, are you hoping Jaylen Waddle’s name is called when the Falcons’ pick is in?