The 2018 NFL Draft Prospect series breaks down draft-eligible players, highlighting their college production as well as their NFL potential. It’s important for daily fantasy players to know about NFL rookies before they’ve played a down of professional football because they are among the most misvalued assets in all of DFS. People who know NFL rookies have a significant DFS edge. The draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, from April 26-28.
This piece is on Texas Tech wide receiver Jordan Lasley, who has declared early for the draft. For the total list of all players leaving school early, see our underclassmen tracker.
For more on all the other receivers in the class, see our 2018 NFL draft wide receiver rankings.
Updated as of Mar. 6.
Redshirt Junior | 6’1″ and 203 Pounds | Born November 13, 1996 (Age: 21) | Projection: Rounds 3-4
Combine numbers: 40-yard: 4.5 sec | bench reps: 8 | 3-cone: DNP | 20-yard shuttle: 4.19 sec | vertical: 34.5 in | broad: 112 in
Lasley is a controversial player. A three-star recruit out of Compton, Lasley played at Serra High School and decided to stay local to play college ball. A political science major, Lasley appears to have an iconoclastic ethos that at times got him into trouble. During his time at UCLA he was suspended multiple times and arrested twice. Even so, when he was on the field he played like a star and off the field his arrests were for relatively minor misdemeanors. Even with his baggage, he might warrant a selection on Day 2.
After redshirting in his first year and playing as a depth receiver in his second year, Lasley emerged as a starter in his sophomore campaign, finishing first on the team with five touchdowns and second with 41 receptions and 620 receiving yards. As a junior he had to deal with suspensions and injuries to quarterback Josh Rosen, but even then he was a star, catching 69 passes for 1,264 yards and nine touchdowns in just nine games. Catching 32.2 and 45 percent of the UCLA’s receiving yards and touchdowns in the games in which he appeared, Lasley flashed legitimate play-making ability thanks to his smooth route running. He missed more than a quarter of the season, and he also dropped a frustratingly high 12.5 percent of his targets last year, but his combine performance (though not great) was passable. With his size, production, and expected draft position, he’s fairly similar to Terrance Williams.
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Matthew Freedman is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyLabs. He has a dog and sometimes a British accent. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he’s known only as The Labyrinthian.
Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
