Jaelyn Duncan 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Maryland OT

Penn State vs. Maryland

Jaelyn Duncan, a four-star recruit in 2018, redshirted his first year on campus before taking over the starting gig at left tackle from the second game on in Year Two. He started all five contests of the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and played in all 13 of the following year (11 starts) before starting all 12 contests he was available for this season. He earned honorable mention All-Big 10 notice in each of those three years.

Jaelyn Duncan, Maryland

6-foot-6, 305 pounds; Redshirt senior

Positives

+ Reliably lands his outside hand on the near pec of edge defenders and drives his legs through contact on drive blocks as well as getting underneath the armpit of interior guys when they try to crash through the B-gap on the backside

+ Shoots his hips and runs his feet through contact on the front side of zone schemes, allowing the back to press extensively

+ Displays the agility to reach-block defensive ends on the front side of wide zone runs and allow the ball-carrier to get around the corner

+ Keeps churning his feet to move bodies in the run game, and you see him create good space double-teaming three-techniques along with his guard

+ Does a nice job of taking a little shuffle step to make sure D-tackles can’t work over the top of blocks by his guard, but not committing his shoulders and still being able to cut off the angle for linebackers as he climbs up

+ Looks comfortable and does a good job of coming to balance working up to second-level defenders

+ Shows the speed to lead the way on sweep plays and screens, getting his hands on defensive backs to great effect

+ His mobility was regularly utilized on pin-and-pull concepts out to the edge or wrapping around from the backside on GT power

+ Really jumps out of his stance and has the foot agility to deal with speedy rushers in his passing sets

+ You routinely see him cut off angles for guys trying to turn the corner on him and easily guide them past the quarterback if they overshoot it

+ Even when it seems that they have a beat on the snap from wide alignments, Duncan stays true to his vertical sets and only flips at the last second, in order to just do enough for the QB to stay unaffected

+ Watching Duncan mirror rushers who try to give him a shake or just find a way to get to one of side of him, it looks like he’s doing a practice drill, showcasing his tremendous lateral agility

+ With those long arms he has, he can land one-handed stabs against rushers to square them up and stunt their charge

+ Has the hip mobility to recover when he’s been attached to the end slanting inside to still get back and guide loopers around the edge

+ Had a tremendous showcase against the Michigan edge duo of Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo in 2021, displaying the ability to match speed, but also hunker down and reanchor after getting hit in his chest; I don’t believe he surrendered a single pressure all day

+ Put on a great display during Senior Bowl week: Showed the foot quickness to cut off the angle for edge rushers and force them on a wider loop and was able to anchor against speed-to-power moves with better hand usage to stymie their force, plus he did so working on both ends of the line

+ Backed that up with an excellent combine performance – 5.1 flat in the 40 (79th percentile), 31½-inch vert (86th percentile) and 9-5 broad jump (92nd percentile)

Minuses

– Not a true enforcer on gap schemes and pauses off the ball at times, where I’d like to see him attack and dictate reps more

– There’s too much chest-to-chest blocking in the run game with Duncan in tight quarters and when he tries to land his hands on guys with a run-way, there’s way too much of a windup/punch, rather than snatching the target

– His hands clamp down from the outside and are often too high in pass-pro, with rushers being able to knock them away or dip underneath, regularly opening up the inside door

– I thought this season, whether it was getting his weight too far over his toes in the run game or relying heavily on two-handed punches in pass-pro, you saw Duncan lose his balance at a much higher frequency

– His PFF grade went from over 71 each of the previous two seasons down to 61.7, allowing seven sacks and double the pressures (28) compared to 2021

Overview

I was so excited to see how much growth Duncan could show this season and legitimately thought we could see him end up being a first-round pick. Unfortunately, he went the exact opposite direction, as his hand placement and weight distribution put him in unfavorable positions, and his pressure numbers in pass-pro went way up.

Even so, he’s another guy I’ve already seen technical improvement during Senior Bowl week, and he reminded us of his athleticism at the combine. There are certainly things he needs to correct in order to be more consistent on game days, which is a bit concerning since he has plenty of game reps, but his feet are special and his issues are more correctable than his 2022 tape may suggest.

Grade: Early third round

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