Jalen Thompson's lack of size likely hurts him with Cleveland Browns
The NFL's Supplemental Draft takes place Wednesday and the top prospect is Washington State safety Jalen Thompson. The lack of clarity on why he lost the last season of eligibility and was put in a position to declare for the supplemental draft is fishy, but he at least publicly hasn't protested the point too much.
Thompson performed his athletic testing on Monday and put up some pretty decent results given what appears to be little prep time. As reported by Tony Pauline, Thompson ran a pair of 40s at 4.47 and 4.56. He recorded a broad jump of 124" and had a vertical of 33.5". His agility is really promising with a 6.98 3-cone and a 4.16 short shuttle. He also put up 11 reps on the bench press.
The biggest issue for Thompson is the fact he's just 5'10 3/8" and 186 pounds. That's very small and that was one of the issues he was hopefully going to be able to address with another year in college as well as improving some of the numbers.
Thompson could go for a day 3 pick, but as far as the Cleveland Browns are concerned, it's likely to be no more than a late pick in the sixth or seventh round, if they bid at all.
Thompson's production isn't bad, but he never put together one great year; another detail a good senior year would've likely addressed.
Thompson's lack of size hurts him, but his agility and the fact it could enable him to contribute in the slot as well as a free safety could help him with a number of teams.
Putting him side by side against Sheldrick Redwine, whom the Browns selected in the fourth round, the nod goes to Redwine, based on his track record in the slot, his added size of an inch and 10 pounds and his explosion and raw speed.
There's little to suggest that Redwine will be more than a role player, which is all the more reason for the Browns to pass on Thompson.
Combine that with the fact the Browns have a bunch of safeties, defensive backs in general they need to find reps for and it seems likely their interest will not be as high as other teams and if they bid, it's a virtual lock other teams will beat them.
Especially as it relates to his timing on when the Browns might be interested in him, another year would've been better for Thompson. As it is, the Browns likely don't do anything in the supplemental draft and the four most notable prospects go elsewhere.
