2022 Season Countdown: #31 Jaylen Harrell

2022 Season Countdown: #31 Jaylen Harrell


August 12, 2022
Jaylen Harrell (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Jaylen Harrell
Height:
6’4″
Weight:
246 lbs.
High school:
Tampa (FL) Berkeley
Position:
Edge
Class:
Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number:
#32
Last year:
I ranked Harrell #47 and said he would be a backup outside linebacker (LINK). He started four games and made 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1 quarterback hurry.
TTB Rating:
84

Harrell may not have had a true breakout season in 2021, but he at least started to crack his shell. Not only did he start for one-third of the season, but he also made some nice plays, including holding the edge against the run pretty well. His starts seemed to be mostly situational, as all four of them were spread across the season, from September 18 against Northern Illinois to December 4 against Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.

One would think that a part-time starter with Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo in the fold would be almost a lock to be a full-time starter with Hutchinson and Ojabo gone, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Word out of camp right now is that if the season were to start today, Harrell would be a backup edge player. While Harrell hasn’t really shown next-level pass rush ability yet, David Ojabo had 1 career tackle after two seasons, and we all saw how he turned out. Generally, what we’ve seen with Harbaugh is that the edge players always seem to be pretty darn good – from Taco Charlton to Chase Winovich to Rashan Gary to Aidan Hutchinson to David Ojabo.

Even if Harrell isn’t a full-time starter, he should be a key part of the rotation throughout the season.

Prediction: Part-time starting edge

You must belogged in to post a comment.