JALEN BROWN
(Gulliver Prep, FLA)
Wide Receiver
Blessed & possessed by blazing pace, Jalen Brown caught 56 passes, just under 1,033 receiving yards and 11 TDs in 2021, followed by 400+ yards and 3 scores through 6 games this past fall.....it's easy to understand why he's a 5 star rated talent.
Finding our attention as a sophomore in 2020, Brown exploded for 27.8 yards per catch from 18 receptions, 500 receiving yards and 8 TD catches in just 6 appearances (9 total TDs).....and from that point on, there was no looking back for Mr. Jalen Express.
Overall, Brown caught 111 passes for 2, 396 yards and 25 TDs across his Gulliver Prep career, aiming to be a significant deep ball / big play threat for LSU....perhaps sooner rather than later.
If his recorded speed is any indication, then LSU fans are in for a special new member of WRU:
Eclipsing track champion and speed wunderkind Kayshon Boutte's own 100 meter mark (10.65 as a junior beating Boutte's 10.97), while also topping the Tigers' last #7 on the 200 meter dash (20.98 beating Boutte's 21.25), the Gulliver Prep standout is set apart with scientific, boundless pace...
When that kind of surreal Tiger speed is fully harnessed and unleashed, LSU is often competing for a national title as the most dangerous team in college football.
Among Cortez Hankton's deep 2023 WR corps, Jalen Brown might not receive many reps or total targets. Although the way things are opening up in this year's receiving room, where juniors Nabers, Thomas Jr, Lacy and Hilton Jr transition from sophomores to expected veterans, at least one freshman will need to step up into an auxiliary starter role.
I'm not saying LSU will have 2 freshmen receivers hauling in 30 passes and over 500 yards apiece; our current offensive setup likely wouldn't allow that to occur.
I'm merely pointing out there is tangible space for one or two of these debutant wideouts to stamp their mark on 2023....and Jalen Brown is a bet as good as any to make that happen in year one.
Of course, Brown will face stiff competition for places at receiver, and with Brian Kelly's almost exclusive usage of 3 WR and TE formations last season, it'll be dicy to shore up a spot within the first four or five receiver slots only months into your collegiate career.
However, when looking for the young stunners who could pull that kind of history-making, record-breaking madness off in such little time (recent examples: Harold Perkins, Emery Jones, Will Campbell, Derek Stingley Jr, Booger McFarland, Marcus Spears etc), I look for emotional, mental, and athletic maturity before all else.
After Jalen made it clear Brian Kelly's quest for academic excellence (under the "Graduate Champions" moniker) sealed his signature, I knew he already had both pieces to the puzzle: the mental and athletic:
Here was a five star national top 5 rated super talent who could've fetched any size of NIL deal he wanted.....
Instead, he chose LSU...not only for their rich history catapulting receivers into the NFL, but to supply himself extra options for the future by taking his education as seriously as the sport itself.
Then, it became clear to me....Jalen Brown blazes his own trail, carves his own path:
Never born to follow in an era of lemmings, owning bottomless athletic capability, while sporting the right mentality, Brown is a rarity and a Tiger I'm eager to watch develop over the next 3 years at LSU.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
©️ 2023 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
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