CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Jalen Coker was setting records and making meme-worthy touchdown catches in college, the Holy Cross receiver had an NFL body with a middle school face.
“He’s got no facial hair. He’s got this little baby voice,” Holy Cross receivers coach Rich Gunnell said. “He’s still growing. He’s not like a full, mature grown man, I feel like. He’s still just Jalen to me.”
Coker laughed when told of his former position coach’s comment — and said he wasn’t wrong.
“That is true,” Coker said. “I’ve been growing this mustache for 22 years and I’ve still got no (facial) hair.”
Coker might have a baby face, but he has a skill set that could keep him in the NFL for a while.
Signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent, promoted from the practice squad to the active roster when Adam Thielen injured his hamstring, Coker was one of the few bright spots in last week’s 36-10 loss at Chicago.
Coker pulled in a 31-yard pass from Andy Dalton just before halftime for his first career reception and the longest catch by a Panthers receiver all game. The rookie caught another ball from Dalton in the second half, then two more from Bryce Young in garbage time for four receptions and a team-high 68 yards.
With Thielen still on injured reserve and the Panthers not getting a lot of production from Jonathan Mingo or David Moore, Coker could see his role increase. That’s according to Dalton, who said the small-school wideout with the big frame (6-3, 213) showed flashes at training camp and with the scout team before his call-up.
“It was kind of like the beginning of his development, when he’s showing flashes there. As soon as he’s getting opportunity, he’s making the most of it,” Dalton said. “A guy that I think’s going to get more involved in the offense and will be asked to do a little bit more than what he’s done. I’m excited for him because he’s got all the talent in the world.”
Coker has always looked the part of a big-time receiver, although college coaches and NFL scouts were leery of his speed.
Coker was lightly recruited out of Potomac Falls High in Sterling, Va., despite starring as both a receiver (89 career receptions for 1,622 yards and 18 touchdowns) and safety (12 interceptions). He didn’t have a Rivals page and none of the Virginia schools recruited him. Coker’s only scholarship offers came from the likes of Holy Cross, Howard, New Hampshire and Youngstown State.
“I was 6-1, 185, long arms. That’s the receiver you want, the build you want,” he said. “But speed, I think, was my big thing.”
Coker’s college career was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Patriot League canceled the fall season, then played a condensed schedule in the spring. Maybe it was the weird spring season, but Coker gave off something of an indifferent vibe as a freshman.
“We say this all the time: If you knew Coker freshman year, you would have never thought he would be in this position today. It’s crazy to think,” said Holy Cross receiver Byron Shipman, who played with Coker for four years.
“After freshman year, he kind of locked in and knew what it took to get to the next level,” Shipman added. “Coker’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen.”
That athleticism started showing up nearly every week the following year. Coker had a flair for the dynamic. As a sophomore, Coker hauled in the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of a 13-10 victory over Sacred Heart for the first FCS playoff win in Holy Cross history.
He followed as a junior in 2022 by coming down with a Hail Mary pass from Matthew Sluka for a 46-yard touchdown to stun Buffalo 37-31 on the final play of regulation. Four Buffalo defenders were in position — including a couple of big-school transfers — but Coker went up and plucked the ball away from them.
“That was my moment of like, wow, this kid’s really, really special,” said Gunnell, who played and coached at Boston College before arriving at Holy Cross before the 2022 season. “To be able to track the ball, jump over guys — these weren’t short DBs, either. They were all 6-2, 6-3, just as tall as he was. He jumped over everybody to bring that ball down.”
Coker was part of four Patriot League championship teams at Holy Cross under Bob Chesney, now in his first year as James Madison’s coach. The Crusaders’ quarterback was Sluka, who transferred to UNLV before leaving the Rebels last month over alleged unfulfilled name, image and likeness promises.
Coker led FCS and set a school record with 15 touchdown receptions last fall, when he was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the top FCS player. After making a diving, one-handed touchdown catch in the Hula Bowl, Coker pulled his hamstring during a Shrine Bowl practice in Dallas.
WHAT A CATCH BY JALEN COKER @HCrossFB pic.twitter.com/CH2NnBcEGP
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) January 13, 2024
The injury came a month before the combine and prompted a frantic few weeks of rehab for Holy Cross’ all-time leader in receiving yards (2,715) and TD receptions (31).
“An FCS guy who has the combine invite, my mind’s just rollin’ (like), I’ve gotta do this,” Coker said. “Because that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to the combine no matter where you go to college, and especially doing it from a smaller school.”
Coker measured 6-1 at the combine (2 inches shorter than his current listed height) and posted a 42.5-inch vertical jump, which tied for the best mark among all players. His 4.57-second clocking in the 40 was 28th among the receivers — a couple of ticks faster than the 4.61 for Keon Coleman, drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the first pick of the second round.
“For having a pulled hamstring at the combine, I think I performed pretty well,” Coker said.
It wasn’t quite good enough for Coker to get drafted, owing mostly to his lack of top-end speed and small-school background. But several teams were interested in Coker before he signed with the Panthers, whose first-year coach played at a Division II school in California.
“The cool part is any more, nothing’s hidden. It’s all out there. All the film on all these schools, it’s available to pro teams,” said Dave Canales, a wide receiver at Azusa Pacific from 1999 to 2003.
“So I think that’s why you’re seeing more and more guys make an impact or make practice squads or end up in camps at different places. Because if you have talent, especially if you’re big and have the ability to get open — which (Coker) has shown — it’s not hidden from us.”
Coker was the Panthers’ leading receiver and caught a touchdown in their final preseason game at Buffalo and grabbed a spot on the initial 53-man roster. He was cut the following day when the Panthers made six waiver claims, but he returned a day later on the practice squad.
He has a locker stall between Dalton and Young near the front of the room — and at least two more weeks to continue making an impression while the veteran Thielen is on IR.
“I do think this is an opportunity for me to show what I can do on the field,” he said. “I want to have Adam out there with me. I don’t want to replace or take his spot or whatever like that. He’s a great player. I can learn so much more from him, and I know he’s dying to get back out here. All I can do with this time is just make the plays when they come to me, and I’ve just gotta worry about today.”
While Coker was making plays against the Bears, his former Holy Cross teammates back in Worcester, Mass., were holding meetings the day after the Crusaders’ 38-7 win at Colgate. Several players were following the Panthers game on their cell phones and would hold them up for teammates and coaches to see whenever Coker made a catch.
“I honestly expected Coker to get drafted. But it’s obviously not the end of the world,” said Shipman, the fifth-year receiver. “You see him going undrafted free agent and now he’s playing meaningful snaps with the Panthers. I had full confidence in his ability regardless of what happened. It’s cool to see that an undrafted free agent can go and is playing well right now.”
(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
