Jamaree Salyer was the 10th best prospect in the country coming out of high school. At that time, he was widely regarded as one of the best interior lineman prospects ever. While he didn’t end up on the interior line, Salyer was instrumental out at left tackle during Georgia’s national championship run. However, the most notable part about Salyer is he cannot play tackle in the NFL and must play guard. Nevertheless, Salyer’s most notable performance came against Aidan Hutchinson in the semifinal. Here, he absolutely dominated the likely No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. This gets everyone excited about Salyer, but do the rest of his games match up with the Michigan one? Let’s find out how this former-five star projects in the NFL.
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Player Bio
Name: Jamaree Salyer
Jersey: No. 69
Position: Interior Offensive Line
School: Georgia
Class: Senior
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 320 lbs
Games Watched: South Carolina (2021), Michigan (2021), Alabama (2020)
Major Injury History: None
Player Breakdown
Pass Blocking (12.5/15)
Salyer is a relatively clean pass blocker. There’s a lot to like about him here, especially if he’s playing guard. The big struggle at Georgia was that quicker pass-rushers would get by him. When playing guard, this won’t be as much of a problem. Still, Salyer will have to adjust from the tackle to guard spot, as he tends to play best when walled up perpendicular to the quarterback, compared to guard, where you’re more in line with the quarterback.
Run Blocking (10.75/15)
For someone built like Salyer, you’d expect him to be a bit more dominant in the run game. Salyer put up 31 reps on the bench press. Still, this strength didn’t show up in the run game. Salyer isn’t really a mauler here, though he stays clean to open up the gap. He needs to work on keeping the lineman under control in outside zone concepts to his opposite side. This will go a long way in Salyer’s development and a necessary adjustment for the NFL. Salyer has the tools to be solid in the run, but right now, he needs work.
Anchor (12.5/15)
Here’s where that strength shows up more often than not. On the second play against Alabama, Salyer got absolutely driven back, leaving a rough first impression. Even though this happened, he was able to remain under control and win the rep while off-balanced. At guard, Salyer projects to have a very nice anchor. He’ll be able to remain at a constant, but there will be those reps in which Salyer gets knocked back a tad.
Footwork (8.5/10)
The flashes with Salyer’s footwork are beautiful. He used his right-foot kick a ton to shutdown Hutchinson, especially against the counters. This was super impressive for a guy who was dealing with a defender quicker and a little more dominant than himself. Overall, the footwork is nice. Salyer almost always knows what he should be doing with his feet and executes to his best ability. He can get jumbled up sometimes. However, the potential here is a big reason why this grade is so high.
Mechanics (7.5/10)
Mechanics can be a bit two-fold for Salyer. When dealing with the mental game (diagnosing, identifying, and picking up assignments), Salyer can struggle. Every team through different looks his way with stuns and twists, and he definitely did not pick them up all too well. Now, there was an improvement from the 2020 Alabama game to the 2021 games. However, he still wasn’t great here. Then, we look into Salyer’s hand usage. Here, Salyer is at his best. Salyer is quick to get his hands right into the pad level of the defender. This will lock up the defender instantly and was fully on display up against Hutchinson. Salyer won’t bring much pop with his hands, but the technique is good enough to keep almost anyone at bay.
Athleticism (7/10)
Salyer didn’t do too much pre-draft testing but succeeded when he did. The bench, as we mentioned, was his highlight. He put up 31 reps, which ranked second for all offensive linemen. In the film, Salyer looks slow. When he gets out to the second level, there’s really not much speed, and he looks flat. Working horizontally, Salyer can also look a tad slow, and guys may be able to get between him and his lineman counterpart in the NFL.
Versatility (7/10)
Experience is what gives Salyer high marks. At some point in his collegiate career, Salyer played every position but center. As we’ve mentioned, however, the Georgia product projects to play best at guard in the NFL. In emergency scenarios, he could bump out to tackle and be fine, though that could be a recipe for disaster with a thick 6-foot-3 tackle.
Length (7/10)
Again, if we were grading Salyer based on the tackle position, he’d likely come in with a three or four grade. However, at guard, he gets up there in the grade because of the arm measurement. At the combine, Salyer’s arms measured in at 33, nearly 34 inches. This is very adequate for a guard, and Salyer does well to use his length to get his hands on guys early. With this length at guard, Salyer can become a successful player. Otherwise, at tackle, he’d have big problems.
Control (3.75/5)
Salyer can be in control, though reps can get hectic as well. This normally happens when he has to move out of structure or gets off balance. The perfect rep for Salyer includes him setting up his feet early, getting the hands right in the pad level, and keeping the lineman constantly upright. When you task him with more of a speed rusher, he can flail at them, thus losing the rep, and chaos ensues.
Player Summary
With all the talent coming out of Georgia in this draft, Salyer has flown under the radar a bit. This is a player with a pretty high floor but a bit lower of a ceiling. With time, Salyer can develop into a mid-tier starter at guard in the NFL. He’ll be a nice value for any team and can mostly fit in any scheme right away. As for his draft stock, Salyer is being looked at as a late day two, or more likely, an early day three pick. Any of those two spots are perfect for him as the talent matches up perfectly.
Rookie Projection Rotational Guard
Third-Year Projection: High-Tier Backup Guard
Player Grade (76.5/100): Late Third-Round Pick
Pro Comparison: Deonte Brown
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