Jalen McMillan has an interesting physique on paper; he is lanky but lacks muscular power. He is a very intriguing athlete as he has developed a lot of quickness, explosiveness, and very good speed even at the third level (deep). He has very good agility as well as excellent body control. His lack of power is a major weakness; he has plenty of room to add some muscle mass, which would allow him to enhance his game and potentially broaden his versatility on the field as he has primarily been used in the slot and occasionally in the backfield.

Jalen has a good release repertoire, but most notably, he possesses light and explosive footwork, which he manages tempo well, suggesting further improvement in his repertoire. The fact that he has very fluid hips and is agile allows him to create much more uncertainty at the line of scrimmage. He hasn't had a lot of reps against press coverage, but his lack of power is evident. He doesn't have violent hands or enough strength to consistently create separation.

McMillan is a significant threat against off-man coverage and zone coverage. When given time to build up his speed, he's a real danger and knows how to create separation. His IQ and ability to change directions with very pronounced angles have created a lot of stress for opposing defenses. He executes in and out breaks very well, smoothly and quite sharply, his ability to manipulate DBs with head and shoulders fakes is monstrous, especially on long routes. He is a threat on all three levels of the field (short/intermediate/deep) and has a fairly well-developed route tree, but it could be even more diverse thanks to his precise and technical route-running abilities. He is not just a simple "stretch fielder" in the slot but a constant threat who has the athleticism to beat safeties even on deep routes.

Jalen McMillan has good ball skills, with a strong ability to track the ball, solid hands with proper technique, an interesting catch radius, and good eye-hand-foot coordination. However, in traffic, he struggles to assert himself physically and gets beaten due to his lack of power and aggressiveness. He has had a few drops due to lack of concentration, and his transition from receiver to runner is inconsistent. He is a legitimate threat with the ball in his hands because he has good vision and evasion abilities thanks to his upper and lower body flexibility, but he tends to go down easily on first contact.

His run blocking is average due to his lack of power and average size, but he doesn't shy away from the task and has more than decent knowledge of technique and how to redirect his block.

Jalen McMillan is a very intriguing prospect due to his athleticism and route-running abilities. In the slot, Jalen can pose a threat on all three levels of the field and is capable of creating a lot of stress against defenses that heavily utilize zone coverage. Although he possesses good technical qualities to be a wide receiver, it's hard to envision a role on the outside until he improves his power and "play strength." He suffered repeated injuries in 2023 and only played in 7 games.
I evaluate Jalen McMillan as a Day 2 prospect, between the end of the 2nd and the 3rd round.