Jaelyn Duncan (OT) – Maryland / Redshirt Senior
6 ‘4-½”, 304.0 Lbs. (Senior Bowl)
2022 Stats:
Awards:
Measurables: Senior Bowl – Arm: 33-½; Hand: 9-⅜; Wing: 80-⅝
Games Watched: 2022 @ Michigan; 2022 vs. Purdue, 2022 vs. Ohio St.
PRO’S
Jaelyn Duncan’s nickname should be “Quick” as he has quick feet, is quick off the snap, and is an athletic big man who quickly seals off gaps. His excellent athleticism is apparent with his burst off the line and lateral movement as a pulling blocker sealing off gaps and getting up field to the second level. Strong player shows up easily in run blocking as he often moves an Edge/DE off the line and plows through linebackers; always moving his legs. Good knee bend and squaring off against the pass rush, but the pass rush is the aspect of his game that needs coaching up. When he does latch on first (which I address below in “Con’s”), it’s “game over” because he is very strong, with strong hands, and you’re not getting away from him.
CON’S
Duncan needs to work on his pass protection as Edges often get their hands on him first due to his “meh” arm length (for an OT), but Duncan is often very good at getting his feet reset, absorbing the full power of the bull rush, and giving his QB time – although this could be a problem in the NFL against bigger, stronger, faster, and more experienced competition (but that’s what coaching is for). Due to his less than ideal arm length he is often leaning forward too much and too often, he can too often be off-balance which gives his opponent leverage against him. If Duncan slips to the 2nd round, it’ll be because of concerns over his arm length and pass protection. As quick as he and his nice lateral agility, I think he’s sloppy against speed Edge’s – he’s fast enough, but does not have good technique. However, I believe this is coachable. I’m also concerned about his weight – he was between 315 – 320 lbs during his final year at Maryland, and then weighed in at 298 lbs at the Senior Bowl. If accurate and not a typo, that weight concerns me for an offensive lineman.
OVERALL
“Availability is the best ability” and Jaelyn Duncan will not be entering the NFL as an injury prone player because he seemingly never missed a game throughout his five year career at Maryland (but he did not play his true freshman year, so it was a four year playing career). As of this posting (02/25/23), Duncan is kinda all over Big Boards from the mid-1st to back-end-of-2nd round, but not any lower than that. Although he’s more raw than some of the other big names out there, his ceiling may be higher than the rest (except for Paris Johnson, in my opinion). The athleticism is there and given how important OT is, I suspect he’ll go somewhere in picks 20 – 32 (unless his combine performance undermines him), especially since he can probably transition to Guard in the NFL and act as a swing Tackle (and we all know that positional versatility is highly valued these days). If you can grab him in the 2nd round, be happy because you got at least fair value, if not a possible steal.
Completed by: Joe Knows (@JoeJ_Clark), 02/25/23
