Why Jalen Royals Is the Smartest Pick in the 2025 Draft

While most rookies get attention for speed, size, or vertical leap, Jalen Royals stands out for something rarer—his mind. Scouts say he doesn’t just run routes; he reads them like a quarterback.

At Utah State, he wasn’t gifted a clean pocket or perfect spiral. He had to adjust on the fly, read coverages mid-play, and improvise when quarterbacks couldn’t deliver. That’s not luck—that’s football intelligence.

“He’s always two steps ahead,” one Pac-12 defensive back coach said. “He sees blitzes, zones, and leverage better than some quarterbacks I’ve coached.”

Royals knows when to bend a route, sit in soft spots, or break off for a scrambling QB. His awareness of down and distance? NFL-caliber. His ability to adjust to coverage in real time? Elite.

What makes it more impressive is that he did all this without elite teammates or flashy systems. He thrived in chaos, and that required smarts. Not the kind you measure with a stopwatch—the kind you see on tape.

Patrick Mahomes now gets a receiver who won’t just run fast, but run smart. For Andy Reid, that’s gold. It’s why Kansas City fans may be witnessing the rise of the next great slot technician—one who wins with his head as much as his feet.