4. JALEN PITRE | Baylor 5110 | 198 lbs. | rSR. Stafford, Texas (Stafford) 6/3/1999 (age 22.90) #8 BACKGROUND: Jalen Pitre (PEE-tree), who has an older brother, grew up in Stafford (20 miles southwest of Houston) and played multiple sports through middle and high school. He was a four-sport letterman (basketball, football, soccer, track) at Stafford High, starting three seasons on varsity in football. As a sophomore, Pitre posted 78 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and six interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) as a free safety, adding 133 rushing yards and three touchdowns on offense. His junior season was cut short by an ACL injury, finishing with 41 tackles in 2015. As a senior linebacker, Pitre returned from his knee injury and earned District MVP honors with 83 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, six interceptions and four forced fumbles. A three-star recruit out of high school, Pitre was the No. 76 safety in the 2017 recruiting class and the No. 137 recruit in the state of Texas. He committed to Baylor over SMU the summer before his junior season. After Art Briles was fired in May 2016, most 2017 Baylor commits (such as QB Kellen Mond and LB Baron Browning) flipped to other schools, but Pitre was the lone Briles recruit to stay committed to Baylor, citing academics and religious reasons. After three seasons at linebacker, he switched to a hybrid safety role under head coach Dave Aranda. His older brother (Jerick) played defensive back at Blinn Community College (2016-17) and FCS Incarnate Word (2018-2020). Pitre graduated with his degree in business (August 2020) and recently completed his master’s in educational psychology (December 2021). He accepted his invitation to the 2022 Senior Bowl. STRENGTHS: Versatile, hyper-competitive athlete ... instinctive edge rusher and one of the better blitzers in the draft class ... slithers around blocks with quickness and bend to make plays ... physical tackler and enjoys getting busy downhill ... innate feel for spacing and football geometry ... composed footwork in man coverage ... closes on underneath routes with short-area burst ... does an excellent job ball-searching at the catch point and playing through the hands of receivers ... makes plays on the ball without interfering (zero penalties in 431 coverage snaps in 2021) ... academics are important to him, earning two degrees and 2021 CoSIDA Academic All- American honors ... senior captain and earned a single-digit jersey number his final two seasons ... his coaches routinely single him out for his film study habits translating to the field ... logged 451 career special teams snaps, seeing action on every coverage unit as a senior ... had an All-American senior year, leading the Big 12 in tackles for loss and forced fumbles. WEAKNESSES: Adequate cover range, but his limitations will show when he tries to recover after a false step ... susceptible to route fakes, and tends to bite on a receiver’s initial movements ... can be late to turn and locate the ball ... inconsistent in his break down and finish on the move ... often finds himself out of control when closing on the ball in the flat ... average functional strength and struggles to easily disengage contact, especially in traffic at the line of scrimmage ... redshirted in 2019 because of a lingering shoulder injury, which required surgery. SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Baylor, Pitre was an ideal fit at the hybrid “Star” role in head coach Dave Aranda’s 3-3-5 base defense after three years at linebacker for former head coach Matt Rhule. He split his time in the box, on the edge and vs. the slot and earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior, showing off his versatility in the stat sheet (only FBS player with at least three fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and two interceptions in 2021). Pitre has the cover skills to challenge pass-catchers man-to-man and the downhill instincts to make stops at or behind the line of scrimmage (31 tackles for loss in 23 games the past two seasons). He has a natural feel for proximity and angles but needs to clean up his break down skills on the move. Overall, Pitre has only average speed but projects best as a “big nickel” in a role that takes advantage of his athletic versatility, spatial awareness and competitive urgency. He will be an immediate special teamer and has NFL starting potential. GRADE: 2nd Round (No. 38 overall)
I like it. Two immediate starters in the secondary. Now let’s get some pass rush, receivers, backs and TE
I don’t know much of him but seems to have amazing instincts and field awareness just by the highlights
Watched his highlights. Man, he looks really f'ing quick at the line of scrimmage. He should be around the LOS of a scrimmage alot (if he's used properly).