The 2024 NFL Draft is here, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Ja'Tavion Sanders.
Ja'Tavion Sanders' 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6'4"
- Weight: 245 pounds
- 40-yard dash: 4.69
- 10-yard split: 1.59
- Vertical jump: DNP
- Broad jump: DNP
Ja'Tavion Sanders 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS
- Excellent athlete with fluidity and the athletic movement traits to stretch the seam as a three level dimension.
- Showed burst, athleticism and separation at top of route stem when aligned at boundary X to beat corners.
- Burst off LOS with free access. Stride length and play speed to challenge defensive backs and create separation.
- Outstanding play speed on movement routes like seams, crossers and overs. Ran away from coverage.
- Consistently showed good hands with the ability to make tough catches away from his frame. Wide catching radius.
- 2023 – Moved easily and fluidly as route runner. Play speed faster than timed speed showed up in run after catch situations.
- Showed game speed to run away from the defense when he caught short passes with room to run after catch.
- Showed more than enough vertical speed to run the seam and be a factor at the third level of the defense.
- Flashed the burst off the ball and play strength to work through traffic within 5-yard area to get into routes.
- Again showed the good hands to make tough catches away from his frame and seamlessly transition to runner.
- Made some tough catches in traffic, expanding his receiving window when needed. Showed excellent ball skills.
- Competed and battled as run blocker when lined up in attached TE alignment. Fought to sustain control at the point of attack.
WEAKNESSES
- Needs to get stronger throughout his body to be consistently effective as attached TE blocker in the run game.
- Must play with better leverage as run blocker, so play strength is not minimized, and he can sustain the block.
- Needs to become more refined and detailed as route runner working on separation at the top of route stem.
- Tendency to roll into his breaks rather than creating separation with vertical stem nuance and head feints.
NFL TRANSITION
Sanders projects to transition at the next level into more of a movement receiving TE than an attached blocker in the run game. It was evident he competed and battled as a blocker. In all likelihood, he will continue to improve given his willingness to give maximum effort.
Sanders has extensive experience lining up in multiple locations within the formation. What consistently stood out watching Sanders' tape was his hands. He showed the ability to make tough catches away from his frame both on the move and in traffic. Sanders can work at all three levels as a receiver. He has the overall athleticism and game speed to work the vertical seam and execute intermediate movement routes when he runs away from man coverage or works effectively into zone voids.
He also has the athleticism to line up at boundary X in multiple splits, including attached to the formation. That is a significant determining factor in transitioning tight ends to the NFL. He will need to work the nuances and details of route running before he can become a truly effective boundary X at the NFL level.
My sense is Sanders has the overall traits to develop into a No. 1 tight end, but he will begin his NFL career as a second TE until he gets a good feel for the increased speed of the game. He'll also have to account for the tight man coverage he’ll face, along with quicker zone coverage reactions by second and third-level defenders. NFL teams that deploy the TE in multiple locations within the formation and feature the position in the passing game will look to Sanders as a higher-level prospect because of his ability to work all three levels of the defense.
Other Notes
Sanders played DE and TE in high school in Texas and was seen as a top 20 overall recruit in the nation. He was recruited to Texas as a TE, and in his final two seasons, he caught 99 passes for almost 1,300 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.
In 2022, Sanders lined up in multiple locations within the Texas offensive formations, including boundary X on the back side of trips and No. 1 to trips R.
In 2023, Sanders again aligned in multiple locations in the Texas offense. He was also featured at times as the movement receiver in the offense. He was deployed creatively as a receiver, running multiple route concepts depending on his location in the formation.
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