New York Jets Draft Profile: Jawan Jamison

Nov 10, 2012; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Rutgers running back Jawan Jamison reacts after the game against the Army Black Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium. Rutgers won the game 28-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL draft is finally almost here. Just under two weeks from now, all of the powers that be from the NFL will be convening at Radio City Music Hall to choose from the finest athletes that colleges have to offer.

Before that happens, each team is permitted to meet with 30 top prospects, along with hosting a local workout day for still more candidates. From these visits, we can get a unique insight into players that our team is seriously interested in, which can guide our previews a bit.

Today, we are going to take a look at one of those local visiting players, this one from Rutgers University. We are taking a look at their red-shirt Sophomore running back, Jawan Jamison.

MEASURABLES

Jawan Jamison measures in at 5’8″ 200 pounds. He posted a time of 4.68 seconds in the forty yard dash. Here are his stats while at Rutgers University:

Take a look at his profile from nflmocks.com

Here is some video on Jamison from a game against Arkansas this past season:

PROS: The first thing I see is that he takes the football and gets North and South quickly. There is no indecisiveness, and no dancing in the hole. He just gets right up into that hole for positive yardage. We didn’t see a lot of pass catching on the tape, but from what we did see, we could tell that he is good at it.

CONS: Lack of experience for one. Two years of major college experience is not a lot, and doesn’t bold well into making an immediate impact.  Secondly, he is a bit small.  His stature doesn’t help, as 5’8″ tall makes it difficult to see through the “sea of bodies” while running the football.  At 200 pounds, he’s not real big either.   He is not big enough to really go through people, but not elusive enough to go around them either.  If you are going to be a successful running back that is small, you must be able to make people miss, a la Leon Washington or Joe McKnight.  Jamison isn’t either, type, and you can see that his has difficulties with yards after first contact.

It’s great when the teams are able to bring in local players for a shot.  If you are trying out for your local team, there is a greater chance of you being a fan of that team, so you might work harder.  Don’t get me wrong, if you want to give this guy a shot as an undrafted free agent, that is fine.  I wouldn’t use a draft pick on him in a couple of weeks.  He just isn’t good enough.