Jakeem Grant Should be in the NFL Next Year

Saturday's performance by Jakeem Grant was one of the most electrifying displays I've ever seen by one player in quite some time. Let's start by just looking at the raw numbers. 13 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown, three kickoff returns for 146 yards and a touchdown. Good gracious I need to sit down for a second and fan myself after looking at that because it made me flush in the face. As beautiful as these numbers are, the plays themselves were more impressive. Here is the 90 yard catch that I will be watching on a loop for the next 20 years. 



And here is the kickoff return touchdown, his second of the season and fourth of his Texas Tech career.

Good gravy look at those moves! Why would people say that dude won't fit in the NFL? One of the main reasons Jakeem Grant isn't as talked about as other dudes like Corey Coleman or Josh Doctson is because of his height. Grant is listed at 5'7" and being 5'9" myself I feel your pain Jakeem. But being talked about by media types isn't what gets you drafted to the NFL, it's being talked about by scouts and front office NFL executives. NFL scouts are much more in tune with what type of players will work out in the NFL than media types.

While at first glance it may appear that Grant being vertically challenged might hurt his on field performance, I believe it actually helps him. By having shorter legs, Jakeem has shorter strides and can change direction on a dime much more effectively than some 6'5" behemoth of a receiver. This shiftiness makes him deadly in the open field and makes him a dangerous offensive weapon at any level.

This air raid offense isn't set up to focus on any one receiver, yet Grant is dominating Texas Tech in receiving stats this year because good things happen when the ball gets in his hands. Grant ranks ninth among FBS receivers with 952 yards, and sixth in the nation with 69 catches (22 ahead of Baylor's Corey Coleman).

Not only does Jakeem possess the shiftiness of a crooked politician, he's also ridiculously fast. On that kickoff return TD I clocked him running 100 yards in 9.8 seconds. For some context the fastest 40 yard dash time ever recorded at the NFL combine was Bo Jackson's 4.12. This is some eye opening stuff.

The Oklahoma State game was the pinnacle moment of Grant's Texas Tech career up to this point. He's had all of these elements to his game but finally had one day where he put them all together to show how dangerous of a player he can be.

While he may not win as many jump balls as some other wide receivers, Jakeem Grant knows his strengths and plays them well. He may not be tall but he knows how to ball, and there is no reason why Grant should be catching passes and breaking ankles on Sundays next year.