Jamaree Salyer, Georgia OT | NFL Draft Scouting Report

SEC football is consistently the best product across the national stage, and there’s a reason why. A lot of the nation’s top talent comes from the southern region, where football takes on a life of its own. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, OT Jamaree Salyer is set to be one of the next NFL Draft prospects from the heart of the SEC with his scouting report.

Jamaree Salyer NFL Draft Profile

• Position: Offensive Tackle
• School: Georgia
• Current Year: Senior
• Height: 6’2 5/8″
• Weight: 320 pounds
• Wingspan: 80″
• Length: 34″
• Hand: 9 1/2″

Jamaree Salyer Scouting Report

Georgia’s success in 2021 has been engineered primarily by a dominant defensive line. But on the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs have been just as strong in the trenches. Stocked with burly, physical blockers, Georgia’s been able to take control of games all year. One of their most imposing linemen is Salyer.

A multi-year starter for Georgia, Salyer has long been a fixture on Kirby Smart’s offensive line. The massive lineman more closely resembles a boulder than a human being. And fittingly, he has the skill set to bowl over smaller defenders as well. What does Salyer bring to the table? Can he be a starter at the NFL level?

Jamaree Salyer’s athletic profile

Standing at 6’4″, 325 pounds, Salyer is a purely imposing player. He’s hard to move with his dense frame and strong base, and he absorbs power well. He has some baseline mobility in space. With his large frame, Salyer covers ground in bounding strides. Off the line, he flashes good straight-line explosiveness. He can get to the second level and carry momentum into blocks.

Upper-body strength is a definite plus for Salyer. The Georgia OT can send players veering with single swipes. His powerful hands send shockwaves through his opponents’ torso, knocking players back with relative ease. Salyer has the capacity for violent extensions, and he can blast players off the line when he uses that full capacity.

Although Salyer isn’t a great lateral athlete, he’s flashed the ability to swing around and recover when defending stunts. His hips also flash some modest flexibility. He can flip his hips to seal off defenders, and his feet can be surprisingly nimble in short areas. The Georgia OT gets off the snap quick and with force. Additionally, he has the power to capitalize on imbalanced opponents and send them to the ground.

Especially in pass protection, Salyer’s wide frame makes it difficult for rushers to escape his reach at times. He squares up well but can also use his size to wall off lanes.

Execution beyond the physical traits

It’s always a good sign when players develop over the course of a season, and that’s exactly what Salyer did in 2021. His pad level, hands, and efficiency of motion all seemed to improve from September to December. The Georgia OT shows a lot of promise operationally.

Salyer has good knee bend capacity for his size. He doesn’t bend at the waste too much, and he’s shown to lower his pads and drive players off their spot as a run blocker. His footwork is fairly composed, and he keeps active feet, helping him to transfer weight into his punches. Salyer can gather himself fairly well with his footwork, and he shows he can handle stunts by maintaining positioning.

Salyer’s hands and feet mirror each other well. The Georgia OT can engage in hand fighting and negate attacks while keeping a steady base. His hand quickness and replacement noticeably improved down the stretch in 2021. Salyer keeps his elbows locked and loaded, letting his hands launch and attack opponents. He’s shown he can reset his anchor while matching rushers with his base. Furthermore, he does a great job of keeping his hands within his torso and doesn’t give up surface area often.

The Bulldogs product doesn’t quite have the dominant grip strength you’d expect. Nevertheless, when he does anchor successfully, his heavy arms and hands can be hard to bat down.

Areas for improvement

For Salyer, the main knocks stem from his physical profile. He has a tubular, high-cut frame, which prevents him from lowering his pads at times. Salyer can be stiff laterally, and he lacks elite recovery athleticism. His inability to consistently lower his pads impacts his leverage and power generation. It allows opponents to get under his pads and wrench him off-balance.

Although he got better at bending his knees over the course of the 2021 season, Salyer sometimes has trouble lowering himself without losing his balance. Explosive, bendy edge rushers can sneak under his frame and force him to lurch. Furthermore, more agile defenders can manipulate him into over-committing one way. In those situations, he can lose his balance and be late to recover.

Salyer is not an adept lateral mover, nor is he exceptionally nimble in space. He sometimes struggles to maintain blocking angles in the open field and sustain blocks at the second level. Despite his power, his extensions can be more violent at times, and he sometimes struggles to latch on with his hands. He got better at latching later in the year, but his grip strength is not infallible.

Among other things, Salyer’s hand placement, while solid, can still be more precise at times. The Georgia OT occasionally gets tunnel vision and allows free rushers to sneak by in pass protection. Meanwhile, as a run blocker, he can overshoot blocks in space and doesn’t change directions well when recovering.

Jamaree Salyer’s 2022 NFL Draft scouting report overview

Salyer is an interesting evaluation. He’s a strong, powerful blocker whose physicality and power capacity draw the most attention. Beyond that, he flashes good explosiveness, as well as functional mobility and footwork. He bends his knees fairly well for his size and has shown to use violent, calculated hands to negate rushes.

For Salyer, unfortunately, his projection to the NFL isn’t perfect as a tackle. His lateral stiffness and inconsistent pad level can make him vulnerable to more athletic edge rushers. He was able to combat this somewhat in 2021 with his footwork, wide base, hand usage, and looming wingspan. But NFL edge rushers may be able to better exploit his athletic limitations.

Luckily for Salyer, his traits translate very well to guard. He can be a powerful people mover on the interior and has legitimate starting upside there. There’s a scenario where Salyer stays at tackle, but he may be more scheme-dependent if he remains on the bookend.

Nevertheless, especially in power-gap and inside-zone schemes, Salyer’s straight-line explosiveness, power, and physicality make him an appealing match. In the middle rounds, he profiles well as a potential starter at guard. But his experience at both tackle and guard makes him an appealing, versatile depth lineman right away.

Jamaree Salyer’s Player Profile

Offensive linemen are experts at making people feel small. Salyer had this down to a science in high school. By his senior season, the future Georgia OT was listed at a massive 6’4″, 342 pounds. It comes as no surprise that Salyer was a highly coveted recruit. In the 2018 class, he was listed as a four-star prospect, ranked 23rd overall on ESPN’s board.

Salyer fielded offers from some of the most prestigious schools in the nation. Alabama, Florida, Auburn, Clemson, and LSU all submitted bids for the behemoth blocker. But being from Atlanta, Georgia, Salyer ended up staying in-state to pursue his NFL dream.

Salyer’s career at Georgia and NFL Draft ascension

With his frame, the Georgia native was able to hit the field right away for the Bulldogs. Since his true freshman season in 2018, he’s accumulated a great deal of experience all across the line. Overall, Salyer has played in 46 total games. He’s been a full-time starter since 2020 and has logged snaps at left tackle, left guard, right guard, and right tackle.

Already, Salyer’s versatility should earn him some immediate appeal from NFL teams. His 2021 film — the best film yet from his collegiate career — will only drive his stock up.

The Senior Bowl and NFL Combine will be the deciding events for how far Salyer rises. His lateral mobility and recovery athleticism will be under the microscope. If he can show improvements with his efficiency of motion, perhaps he rises into the top half of the draft.

Nevertheless, with his experience, versatility, and eye-popping power, Salyer should have fans as a future starter at guard or a developmental player at tackle in certain schemes. The Bulldogs OT is set to have a long career, and he’ll get his chance to rise atop a depth chart down the road.

Tony Pauline’s scouting report for Jamaree Salyer

Positives: Tough, competitive college left tackle who projects to guard in the NFL. Sets with a wide base, stays square, and effectively uses his hands. Patient in pass protection, keeps his feet moving, and makes excellent use of angles as well as body positioning. Strong, turns defenders off the line, and opens running lanes. Keeps his head on a swivel, shows great awareness, and plays through the whistle.

Negatives: Lacks quick, fluid footwork off the edge. Struggles handling quick, nimble pass rushers.

Analysis: Salyer did a terrific job at left tackle for Georgia but has the style and build for guard in the NFL. He’s more of a power-gap lineman, though he has enough ability to occasionally be used in motion. Salyer possesses the tools necessary to break into a starting lineup by the end of his rookie season.