Football: Jalen Camp selected by Jacksonville in sixth round of NFL Draft

As the NFL Draft winds toward its conclusion, another Tech player is officially headed to Jacksonville. Longtime Tech wideout Jalen Camp was picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the draft, becoming the 209th player off the board and the first Tech player taken in the 2021 draft.

Camp spent five years in Atlanta after signing with then-coach Paul Johnson as a two-star recruit in the 2016 class. He finished second on the team in receptions as a junior in 2018, and after his would-be senior season was derailed by an injury, he returned in 2020 to lead the team in receptions (27), receiving yards (417), and receiving touchdowns (4).

Camp becomes the third Tech player to join the Jaguars over the last couple years. Jacksonville took tight end Tyler Davis in the sixth round of the 2020 draft and picked up running back Nathan Cottrell as an undrafted free agent, and both rose to the Jags’ active roster at times during the 2020 season.

As a prospect, Camp is a strong, physical receiver who can run block well and can out-muscle defensive backs for jump balls. In other words, he’s a prototypical Paul Johnson receiver—but he remained one of the team’s most impactful wideouts after Geoff Collins shifted the team away from the flexbone. He may have a tough road ahead to crack the Jags’ 53-man roster as a late-round pick, as Jacksonville has a deep group of wideouts already. But he rose from being an obscure two-star recruit to a very capable receiver, so it’s entirely possible that he works his way up the ladder here to join the pro squad.

As the sixth round nears completion, it remains to be seen whether another Tech player—perhaps Ray Guy award-winning punter Pressley Harvin III—will be taken in the final few dozen selections.