When watching practices at the Senior Bowl a month ago, it was pretty easy to pick out Iowa State OT Jalen Travis from the crowd. After all, the 6076, 339-pound offensive tackle towers over most on the football field, having the height and size paired with the nearly 35-inch arms to make him an ideal prototype tackle at the next level.
I spoke with Travis at the NFL Combine and asked him how teams view him as a prospect heading into the league, to which he said his last season with the Cyclones at left tackle won’t preclude him from playing both sides at the next level.
“I can play right or left,” Travis said at the NFL Combine. “I have a season at right under my belt at Princeton. Obviously, playing left at Iowa State last year, so I feel comfortable with either as I head to the league.”
Jalen Travis has the size of a power forward on the hardwood, and he actually starred there as a prep athlete, playing both football and basketball in high school, coming from a family where skipping out on basketball wasn’t really an option.
“I played basketball in high school as well as football,” Travis said. “I had two brothers that played basketball at the Division I level as well as a sister that played basketball at the D-II level, so we were a big basketball family growing up.”
Travis grew up in a family of hoopers. His brother Reid played at Stanford and Kentucky, while his other brother, Jonah, played basketball at Harvard. Jalen’s sister, Olivia, is currently an assistant women’s basketball coach at Western Illinois, while his other sister, Grace, plays beach volleyball at Saint Mary’s, rounding out an athletic family.
Travis’ basketball background shows up on tape. He is a fluid mover in space, standing nearly 6-8 and 340 pounds. He is an effective run blocker who is comfortable pulling and making blocks in the open field. He has decent speed (5.14 40) and good explosiveness for his size (35.0 vertical jump).
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I asked Jalen Travis what separates him from other tackles in this draft class. He responded that his growth as a player while overcoming adversity shows that he can continue to develop into an NFL-caliber offensive lineman.
“I think if you look at my tape, even from the first two years at Princeton, there were a lot of questions coming in. We were coming off a COVID year where we were one of the only leagues in the country to completely cancel our season my freshman year,” Travis said. “Every single year, I made that jump in my play. Last year at Iowa State, I made another jump in my play, going against tougher competition, showcasing that I can make that jump again going from college to the pros.”
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Jalen Travis started at Princeton, missing his true freshman season due to the COVID pandemic. After seeing time as a reserve in 2021, Travis became a full-time starter in 2022, starting at both left and right tackle before transferring to Iowa State ahead of his senior season.
I asked Travis if teams were bringing up his Ivy League background in interviews, and he said coming from a renowned institution like Princeton is a feather in his cap as he goes through this process.
“Absolutely, teams are asking about my background as a former Ivy League player and how that has helped me grow and develop and I do consider that a strength of mine going through this process,” Travis said.
Jalen Travis is considered a Day 3 prospect during this process. Still, following a strong week at the Senior Bowl and a good week in Indianapolis, more fans and media outlets alike are starting to get familiar with his name as he rises up draft boards. Seeing as the Pittsburgh Steelers need to add more depth at tackle behind Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu, Travis could be a name to watch. He has experience on both sides and also met with Pittsburgh informally at the Combine.
We will have a scouting report of Jalen Travis soon on the site.