2022 NFL Draft: Jamaree Salyer Scouting Report

When NFL scouts and general managers are looking for players to draft, one place they look to are teams that win College Football Playoff National Championships. More importantly, they are looking for the players that helped get that college team to the National Championship. One of those players this past year was Salyer. As part of the core of the National Champions Georgia Bulldogs that beat Alabama, Salyer was a Second-Team All American and Second-Team All-SEC for the 2021 season. Amazingly, in a tough SEC conference, he only allowed two hurries and not a single sack for 2021. To Salyer’s credit, Georgia played SEC’s Alabama twice, a team that had college football’s sack leader, Will Anderson.

Salyer was a five-star recruit out of Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. Coming out of high school he was the nation’s number one ranked offensive guard, the number three ranked recruit out of the state of Georgia, and the number 10 ranked recruit in the nation. He was also USA Today’s 2017 All-USA First Team. Additionally, he was also on his high school’s track team as a discus and shot-put thrower.

Salyer has played both tackle positions at right and left as well as both guard positions at right and left during his time at Georgia. He mainly played left tackle during his senior season. However, in a recent interview with CBS Sports HQ at the NFL combine, he said that he wanted to improve on playing center. Salyer discussed how he played center in games, in practices, and played the position at the Senior Bowl.

Strengths

Good size for his position;

Good arm length;

Great timing on snaps;

Can play multiple offensive line positions;

Anchors well;

Very strong;

Ability to out-maneuver defenders and throw them off balance;

Good footwork;

Light footed.

Weaknesses

Leads with and dips helmet before his feet;

Lacks flexibility;

Trouble with edge rushers at times;

raw talent;

prone to injury.

NFL Comparison: Jonah Williams

Projection: Early to mid-third round

Bottom Line on Jamaree Salyer

Salyer is an outstanding player. He is one of the best offensive linemen coming out of college football. In fact, PFF listed him as the 69th best overall player in the 2022 NFL draft. But for some scouts, he missed too many games due to injuries. His time missed could lower his draft stock. There have been other players, such as Jacksonville Jaguars Dylan Moses, that had higher grades by nfl.com than Salyer, who went undrafted due to medical history. Fortunately, Salyer had never missed an entire season due to any injuries in his college career.

If any team is willing to take a chance on Salyer in the draft, that team may not have an instant starter. But, with enough time and coaching, he will be someone who will be able to develop into a one. It may take a season for Salyer’s development to blossom, but it will be worth it for the team that picks him. If he can avoid the injury bug, Salyer should eventually develop into a reliable starter on the offensive line in the NFL.

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