Jaylon Carlies
Football - S
College
University of Missouri
Jaylon Carlies attended West Orange High School in Orlando, Florida, and was a consensus 3-star prospect who set the West Orange High School single game receiving record. He also starred on the 4X100M relay team for West Orange High. He had several scholarship offers and eventually committed to Missouri.
Carlies played in all 10 games in 2020, earning 3 starts. He totaled 8 tackles in his limited playing time and became the starter in 2021, putting up solid numbers, collecting 67 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 4 interceptions. He continued to impress in 2022 for the Tigers and started all 13 games at safety, leading the team with 81 tackles. His solid season included 3 interceptions, 4 pass-breakups and 1 sack.
In 2023, Carlies started 12 out of 13 games butmissed the opener against South Dakota with an injury. He was once again very productive and saw his name rising up on draft boards. He finished 2023 by racking up 64 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 interceptions.
Carlies has the length and size that the NFL loves in their safeties. With his size he plays a physical brand of football and is not afraid to get up under a receivers chin. He takes on blockers aggressively and sheds blocks well, using his hands and vision to chase down ball carriers.
Carlies is a playmaker on the back end and tracks the ball efficiently. He has reliable hands and high points the passes before the receivers get a chance to. Once the pick is made, he turns into a runner and gets the most yards out of his returns. He loves to hit and is a valuable run stopper who has the strength and speed to attack the ball carrier. When the ball is in the air, Carlies does a good job of wrapping up and tackling receivers.
On the downside, he plays a more aggressive style in man to man but in zone coverage he is slow to react to the play. He needs to do a better job of recognizing routes and is victimized at times by over aggressively reading the quarterback's eyes. He has good speed but not the type of speed to protect the backend against the faster receivers. In pursuit he needs to tighten up his angles and stop taking roundabout paths to the ball. He can be sent off balance with pump fakes, or play action/ misdirections.
A good comparison to Jaylon Carlies is Kamren Curl. Curl was a 7th round draft pick out of Arkansas in 2020 by the Washington Commanders. Both players are aggressive in the run game and have playmaking ability in the secondary. Curl has improved every season and finished the 2023 season with 115 tackles for Washington. Carlies has similar mental makeup as Curl and could follow his path in becoming a starting safety in the NFL.