2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: DB Jalen Pitre, Baylor

Jalen Pitre is coming off an impressive Senior Bowl week. What could he bring to a team?

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Feb 4, 2022 8:44 PM EST

Jalen Pitre, DB

Height: 5’10
Weight: 196 lbs.
Class: RS-Senior
School: Baylor

Pitre is a former three-star recruit out of Stafford High School in Stafford, Texas, where he was the 137th ranked Texas recruit in the 2017 recruiting cycle. Pitre played five years of college football after injuries during his sophomore year forced him to redshirt. Pitre did not void his bowl game and decided to play against Ole Miss in his final collegiate game where the Baylor Bears beat Ole Miss 21-7.

Notables

Pitre’s designation of “safety” is just a title; he predominantly played in the slot and box for his Baylor career. LSU’s championship defense was led by now current Baylor coach Dave Aranda, and he helped maximize Pitre’s abilities. Pitre was an Academic All-American, first-team All-Big 12, and he was an honorable mention for Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021. He was first-team All-Big 12 in 2020.

Strengths

Good overall athlete for the position
Has good speed and agility in space
Fluid in space, good transitions in coverage
Has the hips and change of direction ability to play man coverage
Hyper aware makes him good in zone concepts
Very detail-oriented to his responsibility in coverage

Was frequently asked to cover fast 3/4s and he wasn’t distracted by the dog & pony show the offense ran to negate his awareness

Understood route concepts, did a solid overall job carrying routes deep
Very high processing player, understands angles very well
Good makeup/recovery speed when beat
A good nickel/overhang defender who is adept in run support
Hits low and hard (wish he wrapped up a bit more)
Solid at staying square well to his target while flowing laterally

When he played controlled and balanced (wasn’t always the case)

Great on backside pursuit
Played with good overall anticipation
Excellent blitzer who did a good job defeating backside tight ends in protection
Very good at diagnosing blitz and exploding with excellent burst
Very tough, very instinctual, and a great nickel option for NFL teams

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Can Improve

He’s not the biggest or longest defensive back (30 ⅞” arms)

Wish he was bigger

Awareness wains down the field a bit
Can be overaggressive vs zone/read

Allowed long TD run by BYU QB in 2021

Can also overpursue as a tackler
Doesn’t have a lot of experience at safety
May be forced to play apex/slot

Summary

Overall, Jalen Pitre is a good nickel-back who is smart, has the necessary coverage skills (man or zone), and he’s aggressively dynamic in run support. Aranda blitzed him a ton in his senior season, and he was effective with 25 pressures and five sacks, per Pro Football Focus. He’s a physical player who is always around the football; I just wish he was a bit bigger. His role is destined as a nickel who can play near the box in passing situations.

GRADE: 6.4