UCLA Football: Making the Case for Soso Jamabo as a Receiver

In this edition of “Making the Case”, I let you know why UCLA Football’s Soso Jamabo is best suited to playing outside as a wide receiver and why that isn’t a bad thing.

This UCLA Football team needs a game breaker at the receiver position. Yes there are guys that came on last year and guys who have flashed promise, I’m looking at you Jordan Lasley and Theo Howard, respectively. However there isn’t that big bodied, X receiver that can win consistently.

Eldridge Massington is a big bodied guy but has inconsistent hands. Dymond Lee is still raw in his transition and Audie Omotosho is still catching up to the speed of the game.

Alex Van Dyke has the prototypical measurables but also has trouble consistently catching the ball. I believe Jamabo has better hands, better speed and has better receiver traits overall and I’ll explain why.

Jamabo is a smooth runner. Although not as big, Jamabo’s gait and ability to gobble yards with his stride remind me of current Bengals star A.J. Green. However this is where I would see his ability to run being hampered by UCLA’s porous offensive line. Get him out in space though and he’s going to eat corners alive.

With his long legs I could see him maybe struggling early on with showing crisp routes but that is something that can be solved a little more technically than just having long legs in the backfield with little to no running room in front of you.

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The main question with someone moving to receiver is how well do they catch the ball? I believe Jamabo has above average hands and is a natural catcher of the ball. I’ve seen him display soft hands and catch the ball away from his body.

As a guy who was a very solid high school basketball player and who could dunk with ease, Jamabo possesses the ability to go up and get the ball which is something the Bruins could use in the worst way.

He is also a guy that can use his big body to devastating effect on slants and I could even see him being a deep ball threat on deep posts or slant and go routes. The idea of uber athlete Jamabo out there on an island with a smaller corner or even a bigger corner that can’t move like him makes me salivate.

I acknowledge that Jamabo is a phenomenal athlete but seems to have been miscast as a true backfield threat. Get that guy the ball in space and let him work. The Bruins could work him into some bubble screens as they attempt to get his route running up to par and he would be a viable threat outside across from Lasley.

Next: UCLA Football: 2017 Post Spring Practice 2-Deep Depth Chart

The Bruins have a number of guys in the backfield who are more suited to the traditional role of RB but that doesn’t mean Jamabo needs to be wasted back there. Get him in the slot, put him on the edge, let him come in motion but just get him out of the backfield.