Washington Football Team: Way-too-early 7-round 2022 mock draft
By Ian Cummings
Round 3, Pick 75 – Alabama TE Jahleel Billingsley
As good as Logan Thomas was in 2020, and as good as he might be in 2021, he’s 30 years old, and he’s due to be a free agent in 2022. The emergence of Thomas as a legitimate tight end threat has been a pleasant development for the Washington Football Team, but just as quickly as he emerged, his stint with the burgundy and gold may end.
If Thomas ends up walking in free agency, the Washington Football Team will need to fill the void left at tight end once again. Ideally, they’ll have enough weapons elsewhere to make the implications relatively minor. Even so, however, adding a versatile threat at the position could do wonders for Scott Turner’s offense. Jahleel Billingsley fits the bill.
On the surface, Billingsley isn’t quite your traditional tight end. He stands at 6’4″, 230 pounds, so he’s a little undersized for the prototypical mold. Even so, Billingsley brings a lot of the desired traits to the table, and then some.
Billingsley is a borderline elite athlete, with some impressive explosiveness and vertical ability. He also has a fairly developed route tree to this point. He can be a run-after-catch threat in the short range, or gain separation down the field. On top of that, he’s also an exceptional blocker, who’s not afraid to do the dirty work.
With Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith heading to the NFL, Billingsley could break out in 2021.