Player Dossier

2018-2021

Michigan State

Jalen Nailor

WR • 6'0" • 185 lbs • Palmdale, CA, USA

Alpha targetExplosive finisher

Jalen Nailor reads as a alpha target based on recent role and receiving efficiency.

Usage / Role

22%

Rotational offensive role

lowfeatured

Impact Production

75

High-end production for a receiver

lowelite

Reliability

71

Reliable weekly contributor

lowhigh

Star Power

82

High-upside career profile

limitedstar

Career Arc

Value trend by season

Best season by Season Value: 2021 Postseason · Michigan State

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Snapshot

Career Teams
1
Unique Seasons
4
Program Path
Michigan State
Peak Game
Peak game by takeover score: Rutgers

Player Story

Jalen Nailor built his college career from 2018 through 2021 as a wide receiver from Palmdale, CA wearing No. 8, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Jalen Nailor's career was his receiving role:...

Read the story
3★

Recruit Profile

Class 2018 · Rating 0.8635

Bishop Gorman · Las Vegas, NV

Committed To
Michigan State
Commit Date
Jan 1, 2018

NFL Draft

Draft Year
2022
Selection
Round 6 · Pick 12
Overall
No. 191
NFL Team
Minnesota Vikings

Jalen Nailor, WR. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2021 Postseason · Michigan State. Jalen Nailor reads as a alpha target based on recent role and receiving efficiency.

Stat Footprint

Career production snapshot

Receiving yards
1,454
Receptions
86
Touchdowns
13

Quick Answers

Jalen Nailor quick answers

Latest team and position
Michigan State · WR
Career Receiving Yards
1,454
Tracked sample
4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 26 games
Best season
2021 Postseason · Michigan State
Top game
Rutgers
Recruit profile
3-star · Bishop Gorman · Michigan State
High school pipeline
Bishop Gorman · 116 FBS recruits · 10 drafted players
NFL Draft
2022 · Round 6 · Pick 12 · Minnesota Vikings
Latest roster
No. 8 · Sophomore
2021 Receiving yards rank
695 receiving yards · WR 102nd (top 10%) · Big Ten 11th (top 5%) · National 111th (top 6%)

Season Ledger

Crawlable season-by-season stats

SeasonTeamGamesRecRec YdsTDOverall
2018 PostseasonMichigan State6126038.8
2018 Regular SeasonMichigan State67112338.8
2019 PostseasonMichigan State4560040.3
2019 Regular SeasonMichigan State41046040.3
2020 Regular SeasonMichigan State726515475.2
2021 PostseasonMichigan State96108080.3
2021 Regular SeasonMichigan State931587680.3

Related Context

Jalen Nailor played WR for Michigan State. Across 4 tracked seasons, Jalen Nailor recorded 161 rushing yards, 1,454 receiving yards, and 6 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2021 with Michigan State.

Player insights

Lead takeaway

Best season by value score: 2021 Postseason

Michigan State paired 695 primary output with 83.6 efficiency.

Supporting note

2020 Regular Season role shape

target-driven usage with 87.6 efficiency.

Supporting note

Career value stayed steady

2021 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.

Supporting note

Peak game by takeover score: Iowa

Loss with an explosive receiving profile. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.

Analysis workspace

Season Workbench

Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.

Season Explorer

Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.

2020 Regular Season · Michigan State

Games

7

Receiving Yards / G

73.6

Efficiency

87.6

Usage

19.4

Consistency

74.1

Best Game by takeover score

Iowa

Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.

Active game

Hover over a point

Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.

Game-by-Game Trend

Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.

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Chronological game order.

Game by game trend chart. Rutgers: 84. Michigan: 68. Iowa: 119. Indiana: 9. Northwestern: 99. Ohio State: 36. Penn State: 100

Volume vs Efficiency

Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.

Low volumeHigh quality

High volumeHigh quality

Low volumeLower quality

High volumeLower quality

Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.

Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Rutgers: 6 by 93.3. Michigan: 2 by 100. Iowa: 4 by 100. Indiana: 1 by 60. Northwestern: 3 by 100. Ohio State: 4 by 60. Penn State: 6 by 100

Split Comparison

Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.

Wins83.5 · Games = 2 · +13.9 vs Losses
Losses69.6 · Games = 5 · -13.9 vs Wins

Game Log

Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.

7 games

Featured metric

Receiving Yards

Top game by takeover score

Iowa

Best efficiency game

100 vs Penn State

Result
Sat 12/12@ Penn State100 receiving yards · 2+ TDL 24-39610016.716.70245
Sat 12/5vs Ohio StateL 12-5243699017
Sat 11/28vs NorthwesternW 29-203993333175
Sat 11/14vs IndianaL 0-24199909
Sat 11/7@ Iowa100 receiving yardsL 7-49411929.829.80057
Sat 10/31@ MichiganW 27-2426819.834053
Sat 10/24vs RutgersL 27-386841414130

Player Story

Jalen Nailor story

Jalen Nailor built his college career from 2018 through 2021 as a wide receiver from Palmdale, CA wearing No. 8, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Jalen Nailor's career was his receiving role: 86 catches, 1,454 receiving yards, 12 touchdowns, and 161 rushing yards across 26 career games in the available record. His career also includes 161 rushing yards, 6 tackles, and 228 return yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. That gives Jalen Nailor's career enough real context without stretching the story beyond the available production.

Career Arc

Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.

  1. 1

    Michigan State

    2018-2021

    Opening stop

Season Value Progression

2018201820192019202020212021
SeasonTeamPrimaryEfficiencyUsageDelta
2018 PostseasonMichigan State13878.96.7
2018 Regular SeasonMichigan State13878.96.70
2019 PostseasonMichigan State10643.415.8-32
2019 Regular SeasonMichigan State10643.415.80
2020 Regular SeasonMichigan State51587.619.4409
2021 PostseasonMichigan State69583.624.4180
2021 Regular SeasonMichigan State69583.624.40

Signature Performances

Top Games

#1 Featured game

@ Rutgers

Week 6 · W 31-13 · Conference game

Win with an explosive receiving profile.

221

Receiving Yards

100 takeover

221 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.

#2

@ Iowa

Week 10 · L 7-49 · Conference game

119

Receiving Yards

92.8 takeover

Loss with an explosive receiving profile.

119 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.

#3

@ Penn State

Week 15 · L 24-39 · Conference game

100

Receiving Yards

91.7 takeover

Loss with an explosive receiving profile.

100 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.

#4

vs Northwestern

Week 13 · W 29-20 · Conference game

99

Receiving Yards

91.4 takeover

Win with an explosive receiving profile.

99 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.

#5

vs Western Kentucky

Week 5 · W 48-31

128

Receiving Yards

86 takeover

Win with an explosive receiving profile.

128 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.

Top Seasons

#1 Season by Season Value

2021 Postseason · Michigan State

695 primary output · 83.6 efficiency · 24.4 usage

80.3

#2

2021 Regular Season · Michigan State

80.3

695 primary · 83.6 efficiency · 24.4 usage

#3

2020 Regular Season · Michigan State

75.2

515 primary · 87.6 efficiency · 19.4 usage

Milestones

5

100+ receiving yards

1

8+ catch outings

3

2+ TD games