Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State
Size:
Height: 5102
Weight: 194
Arm: 29 ½”
Hand: 8 ¾”
Accomplishments:
Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Year (2024) • First Team All-Big 12 KR/PR (2024) • Second-Team All-Big 12 (2023) • All-Big 12 KR/PR & Offensive POY Honorable Mention (2023)
“Jaylin Noel is an explosive short-area winner who consistently sparks Iowa State's offense through his versatility.”
Strengths:
Quick twitch
Zone beating
Versatility
Route tree
Concerns:
Drops
Contact through route
Run blocking
Film Analysis:
A former three-star recruit, Jaylin Noel was an all-state selection as a senior at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Missouri. In his final grade school season, he caught 68 passes for 1,005 yards and ten touchdowns before committing to Iowa State and improving every season he played in college. He went out with his best season in 2024 and compiled 80 catches for 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns. The four-year Cyclone showed out as a special team player, earning multiple Big-12 awards, and was one of the best punt return men in the country.
He builds his game through quick footwork and his ability to stack receivers quickly, from his releases against press coverage on the outside to eating up space from the slot and his varied route tree. He’s shown a vast release package, with the split release being his most effective tool. He does an excellent job angling his body out of the way of contact against zone-dropping defenders, which allows him to find space in his stem efficiently. He eats up space when given a cushion to put defenders on their heels to break in or out and create separation. He’s flashed moments of route intention to move defenders away from where he wants to go, but he could use more in his overall game. Noel is quick to stack defenders, break or clear zone defenders, and turn to locate the football, making him an available target early in the play. His catch-to-attack progression gets him downhill quickly to gain the most yards possible and he sees the field easily to access space.
He isn’t the biggest receiver in stature, but he was given plenty of opportunities to showcase his toughness as a receiver at the catch point in 2024. He plays with great timing to get the football, has strong hands at the apex, and the strength to play through contact when in the air. He won’t catch everything, but he’ll give you his best effort every time the ball comes his way.
Concentration drops are littered throughout his years at Iowa State, but that can be corrected and he showed improvement in that area throughout his senior season. His technique as a run blocker needs work, and even though he’s a strong guy, he gets outworked in the run game too often. Improving his technique and hand usage as a run blocker will help his overall game. When presented with physical press coverage, he struggles to shed the jam or contact, and defenders can throw off his timing or push him off his route path. With the ball in his hands, he goes down on first contact too often and cannot string moves together to make defenders miss.
Noel is a quick Swiss army knife receiver who offers immediate impact as a special teams player on an NFL roster with legit WR2 upside to his game. Cleaning up some of his concentration drops and adding some “make-you-miss” sauce to his game could see this guy explode at the next level.
Prospect Projection: Day 2 — Winning Starter
Written By: Daniel Harms
Exposures: Iowa (2024), Miami (2024), Kansas (2024), Texas Tech (2024), Texas (2023), Iowa (2023), Oklahoma State (2023), Texas (2022), Baylor (2022)
