Prospect Profile: Javon Baker, WR, UCF

Context

Plays mostly outside as the X receiver, doesn’t run some routes all that much.

Before the Catch

He is good in the release portion of the route, mostly due to his technique and therefore play strength when facing physical CBs who will jam him at the line of scrimmage. When he is jammed he shows excellent patience and waits for the DB to over-commit before timing his own work with his hands perfectly, with an accurate swipe to clear his hands and get into the route. He closes the space well to soft press and attacks leverage both in press, off and bail. In all of these releases though he could attack leverage deeper, especially in bail or off, to better set up his break. His footwork in his release is solid, with his double move being effective in getting the DB off-balance, but he doesn’t consistently sell his single move and his speed release doesn’t have enough juice to put the defender in trail immediately. When he does get out into the route, he uses processing, technique and play strength to separate. On hard angle breaks like hitches and comebacks he’s able to snap off his acceleration, drop his weight and turn with excellent hip mobility, allowing him to stop in a very short distance, and his consistent stem means he doesn’t give advance warning of the break to the defender.

On vertical cuts, it’s a mixed bag; when running slants he can bow his route on the exit from the break, coming out at an angle that isn’t acute enough for the route, which allows the DB back into the rep if he has managed to gain some separation going into the break. His approach to the break on vertical cuts for slants or posts is technically good; he uses an elbow jam to help him turn his hips and he attacks leverage deep enough into the DB to cause issues. On corner routes, he does this too but his stem can drift a little in the direction the route is going to take. On square cuts for deep outs or digs, he still has an excellent brake step but he also adds an elite drive step which allows him to very quickly get perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. When he runs go routes, he has enough speed and savvy to get separation deep against CBs with solid athleticism but needs to turn his head earlier to locate the football. He shows a great ability to manipulate DBs’ hips prior to the break, getting them turned the wrong way. He also sets up DBs for different types of breaks, for instance running a dig after running a hitch the previous play and making the break for the dig look like the hitch.

The Catch and after the Catch

He has very good hands and adjusts his hands into position well for all types of catch. He catches the ball away from his body at all times and has a good size catch radius. The only times you can see inconsistency are in his adjustment to balls he needs to leap for, as he can jump too early or too late – he does often seem to come down with the ball so it doesn’t affect him too much but it can scupper his excellent hand positioning at times. He also won’t always catch the ball over his shoulder, diving forwards for it, but these are all high degree of difficulty catches. He adjusts his body well on the whole, especially on the sideline. Wins YAC with angles and can shake some tackles but not prolific.

SUMMARY
Play strength to release and get open at top of his routes, wins with processing and technique in route running. Enough athleticism and very good hands, some technical aspects need work.

PRODUCTION
SR: 84 Tgts, 52 Recs, 1139 Rec Yards (21.9 Ave), 7 Rec TDs
JR: 100 Tgts, 56 Recs, 796 Rec Yards (14.2 Ave), 5 Rec TDs
INJURY: None

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 3
Intelligence 5
Versatility 4
Grit 4
Scheme 4