Jalen Royals NFL Draft 2025 profile: Full scouting report, pro comp, future outlook for Utah State WR

A little more than two weeks after the Patriots beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, Jalen Royals was born in Powder Springs, Georgia, about a 20-mile drive from downtown Atlanta. He and his older sister were always into sports, with Royals gravitating toward basketball in his early years. In fact, he was so good that he wound up on AAU basketball teams as a guard and played in various tournaments all over the country. With his focus on basketball, he didn’t really get recruited much to play football and didn’t even have eye-popping stats at Hillgrove High School — he had under 500 yards with four touchdowns in a Covid-shortened senior year in 2020. But basketball wasn’t an option for college, so Royals followed the only athletic path he had and landed at Georgia Military College, a junior college.

Royals caught seven passes (two for touchdowns) in 11 games with the Bulldogs. With aspirations to get noticed, Royals took up an offer from Utah State to go to a summer football camp. That turned out to be his lucky break as he ran a reported 4.32 seconds in the 40-yard dash and soon got an offer to join the Aggies before the 2022 season.

After transferring, Royals didn’t record a single stat in 2022 but broke out in 2023 with a 71-grab, 1,080-yard, 15-touchdown season for Utah State. He was arguably its lone standout player during a 6-7 season where three different quarterbacks played. Royals could have left school via the transfer portal after 2023 but stayed loyal to Utah State after it committed to him when no one else would.

Jalen Royals NFL Draft profile

• Age as of Week 1: 22 years old
• Height: 6-foot
• Weight: 205 pounds
• Hand size: 9 1/2 inches
• Comparable body-type to: Amon-Ra St. Brown

CBS prospect ranking

Position: No. 7 | Overall: No. 66

NFL comparison: Golden Tate

Golden Tate lined up everywhere and made plays both off short and long throws. His quicks and jukes bought him space to extend plays. Royals might not play all over the field or with as much flair and spunk as Tate, but he could certainly evolve into a versatile weapon who can have a long career with some 1,000-yard seasons, much like Tate. 

Jalen Royals scouting report

Accolades

• Two-time All-Mountain West (first team in 2023 and second team in 2024)
• 2023: Set program record with 15 receiving touchdowns; led FBS with seven receiving touchdowns of 50-plus yards

Strengths

• Built very well with a stocky, thick upper body and chunky legs. 
• Predominantly worked wide (over 82% of snaps each of past three years). Many believe he’ll work better as a slot receiver in the league. 
• Royals’ smooth feet and short-area quickness, both off the snap and at the break-point in his routes, were his best traits and his primary means of getting open as well as adding yards after the catch. It would show up in his comebacks to the quarterback (typically in three steps) and in jukes to fake-out or freeze defenders. A good coaching staff can maximize this skill and really turn him into a YAC beast.
• Solid leaping ability helped him land top-shelf targets.
• Tracked the ball awesomely on deep throws.
• Was particularly great at adjusting and nabbing off-target throws, often using “late hands” so as to not tip off defenders.
• Succeeded on scramble drills, sometimes using subtle push-offs to buy steps and become an available target for his quarterback.
• Consistently displayed good balance to help him bounce off defenders and stay on his feet for extra yards after the catch.
• Not afraid of contact and would frequently run through weak tackle attempts. 
• Foot injury suffered on a kickoff return in 2024 needs to be checked out, but he practiced and played in the 2025 Senior Bowl. It’s the only reported injury Royals has had.
• Low-key personality who’s focused on getting better and hustling off the field to do it. Roller skating enthusiast. 

Concerns

• This shouldn’t be a biggie but Royals lined up almost exclusively on the left side of the formation — all but five targets in 2024 came between the left sideline and the right hash mark. Same thing in 2023 — almost everything was to the left.
• Also mildly concerning is the style of offense he played in at Utah State: spread formations where he lined up next to the sideline and often targeted inside of 10 yards. He must be able to adjust from that to more common NFL formations and splits if he is to thrive at the next level.
• Royals’ route tree has room to grow. He mastered hitches in his last two years at Utah State and does have experience with a myriad of other assignments. But a lack of corner and out routes is a little alarming, as is a limited number of slants, digs, posts and crossers. He’s got the athleticism to win on any route, so it’s just a matter of diversifying. Not a huge deal.
• Royals’ 68% catch rate on a 9.38 ADOT suggested good hands. He also was good at using “late hands” to keep defenders guessing on when the ball was coming. But there were some inconsistencies in his technique (he brought plenty of passes into his chest) and in his inability to win contested catches. Royals also had a few easy passes bounce off his hands (he was credited with three drops in 2024, five in 2023).
• Has very good timed speed (4.42), but that wasn’t his top trait to help him separate. Would sometimes have just enough burst to get a half-step on defenders but was more often tightly covered downfield, including in single-coverage situations. Obviously was tough to wrangle when in space after the catch but did not consistently show getaway speed and was caught from behind a number of times, a significant concern given the competition he played against in the Mountain West.
• Struggled when he took on significant physicality both off the snap (against man coverage) and at the catch point, frequently losing out on contested-catch opportunities.
• Won’t win over coaches with his blocking effort and took a passive approach to selling his routes on run plays. He has to be better than this to keep defenders engaged.
• Inexperienced against top competition. Just five games in his past two seasons against top-25 ranked teams, totaling 302 yards on 19 receptions with two touchdowns (both against Boise State). Also played just three games in two seasons against Power 4 Conference teams, totaling 91 yards on 10 catches with no touchdowns. 

Bottom line

Armed with a good physical build complete with a thick upper body, he became the Aggies’ No. 1 receiver who worked at all three levels. Not only was Royals used to take the top off of defenses, but he was often targeted on short and intermediate routes with the intention of letting him make plays after the catch. Royals is an athletic, crafty receiver with playmaker traits, but he will need extensive coaching to grow into a more complete player. He’s perfect for a West Coast offense, especially one with a good anticipatory passer.

Jalen Royals college stats