2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Oregon Safety Jevon Holland
As is often the case with the NFL Draft, teams are very interested in bringing in talent, regardless of where they originate from.
Oregon Ducks safety Jevon Holland is originally from Canada, but that won’t stop franchises from reviewing his fitness to play America’s most popular sport right now.
As we head closer to the NFL draft, let’s zoom in on the resume Jevon Holland brings to the table.
2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Jevon Holland
--Height: 6' 1".
--Weight: 201 pounds.
--Position: Safety.
--School: Oregon.
2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Jevon Holland’s Strengths
Having Jevon Holland roam in the back end of a defense could allow teams to have someone with offensive ball skills try and force takeaways.
Having played wide receiver in high school, he’s no stranger to high pointing a football in mid-air and trying to wrestle it away from a defender. His interception rates in college support his ability to make plays that change games. He could be a tough guy to pass up on early on in the second round.
For all the explosiveness Jevon Holland brings to the table as a ball-hawking defender, he’s also got the wiggle and juice to provide a spark in special teams.
He had the opportunity to serve as a punt returner for the Ducks in 2019, opening up some eyes in that role. He averaged over 15 yards per return as a sophomore and could have a chance to contribute in that role in the NFL as well.
2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Jevon Holland’s Weaknesses
What’s interesting about Jevon Holland is that despite his ability to make plays in space in special teams, there’s a knock on him that he’s not able to display recovery speed on pass routes when he falls behind.
That may manifest itself in Holland being more of a strictly back end safety rather than one who comes up to match up in man coverage against a wide receiver. Teams might also try to exploit his perceived lack of speed by sending fast receivers in his direction to see if he can compete.
Another possible weakness of Jevon Holland could be his layoff from the game and whether that pause could affect his unique instincts. Holland decided to opt out of the 2020 college football season to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
So he has been in the midst of live competition for quite a while. It will be interesting to see whether he can pick up from where he left off in 2019.
2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Jevon Holland’s career at Oregon
Holland did not waste any time putting his name on the map as a future NFL prospect.
In his freshman year with Oregon, he proved to the Pac-12 and the rest of the country that he could be a force to be reckoned with as a playmaker. He picked off five passes in his first year in college football to go along with six passes defended.
Jevon Holland picked up from where he left in year 2 with the Ducks, intercepting four passes and bringing one back all the way for a touchdown. His best game arguably came against Auburn in Week 1 of the 2019 season, where he recorded an interception and 131 yards in the punt return column as well.
2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Jevon Holland’s Career Defensive Stats
--Combined Tackles: 108.
--Passes Defended: 10
--Interceptions: 9.