Jalen Travis, Iowa State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Travis was a three-star recruit from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, Minn. in the class of 2020

Iowa State left tackle Jalen Travis crushed the NFL Combine, displaying the explosiveness that frequently popped on his college tape. Travis is a developmental but extremely physically gifted prospect who projects as a borderline Day 2 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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Jalen Travis, LT Iowa State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Fifth-year left tackle from Minneapolis, Minn.

Background: Travis was a three-star recruit from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, Minn. in the class of 2020. He was the No. 2,636 recruit according to 247Sports (three-star) and was an unranked two-star recruit for Rivals. Travis didn’t receive a national rating from On3.com or ESPN. He transferred from Princeton to Iowa State for the 2024 season. He was a two-time team captain in high school and earned First Team All-State and Minnesota All-Star honors as a senior. That year, Travis was DeLaSalle’s Male Athlete of the Year in football and basketball. He was the District Red Lineman of the Year as a junior. Academically, Travis was a National Honor and Art Societies member, a LaSallians for Equity and Peace member, and served as the Student Body Co-President. His brother, Reid, scored 1,786 points in his college basketball career with Stanford and Kentucky and played overseas. Travis’ other brother, Jonah, played basketball at Harvard. The brothers also have a cousin, Ross, who played basketball at Penn State and played tight end in the NFL.

Injuries & Off-Field: Missed 2022 Dartmouth game, missed four games in 2023 with an injury that contributed to him missing the first two games of 2024

Awards: 2022 Second Team All-Ivy League, 2023 Second Team All-Ivy League, 2024 Honorable Mention All-Big 12

Pros: Experience playing right and left tackle, rarely penalized, excellent size and mass, filled out frame, arm length, nice explosiveness in his kick step for a lineman with his size, range to drive linemen up and around the pocket, tempo to match the rusher’s speed and plan, redirects to close B-gap, spots and redirects for delayed blitzes, frame is difficult for defenders to rush through, full stopping power, powerful jump sets erase defenders from plays, hand strength to latch and arrest rushers, heavy hands, keeps hands close to frame until firing, some jarring power in punches, attacks and disrupts long-arm moves, snatch-traps and swipe counters, replaces hands quickly, quickness and long initial step to reach block, displaces 5-techs horizontally, big time mover on down blocks, good angles to the second level, straight line speed on pulls, some powerful finishes

Cons: Heavy reliance on size and strength advantage, not winning any leverage battles, oversets vs. spin moves, some heel-clicking and foot crossing in pass pro, struggles to revive footspeed once he slows down, threatened around outside track by wide-alignment speedsters, occasionally late to redirect for stunts, balance threatened by some twitchy rushers, forward lean and balance concerns near top of the rush arc, vulnerable to swims, chest extends over knees in pass pro, needs to drop anchor earlier, hands land wide and expose chest, needs to tighten hand placement, hand counters must improve, instances of being late to counter long-arms, doesn’t play to his size as consistently as ideal in the run game, open field movement is lacking on outside zone concepts, some poor pulls on gap runs

Overview: Travis has experience starting at left and right tackle. He’s a hulking 6'7 3/4", 339 lb. force with 34 7/8" arms and 10 1/2" hands. Unlike Kentucky defensive lineman Deone Walker, who possesses similar size, Travis has a filled out frame. Despite his build, Travis displays impressive explosiveness in his kick step to gain the width and depth to drive rushers up and around the pocket. He adjusts the tempo of his footwork to match the pass rusher’s speed and redirects to block B-gap counters. Travis is a smart player who identifies and cuts off delayed blitzes. He occasionally oversets and loses through the B-gap against spin moves. The Princeton transfer suffers from some heel-clicking in his pass set. His foot speed checks the box early in plays, but he struggles to gear up again once he slows down. Explosive wide-alignment rushers test his outside shoulder. Travis sometimes finds himself late to redirect for stunts. He extends his chest over his knees toward the top of the arc in pass protection, which threatens his balance and makes him more vulnerable to swims and spins. The Minnesota native is a brick wall against power rushes. He possesses the anchor to kill any bull rush and maximizes his size on aggressive jump sets that take defenders out of plays. Travis’ large, powerful hands latch and arrest defenders where they stand. Defenders struggle to escape his heavy hands. Travis loads and holds his hands close to his frame before unleashing some jarring punches. He replaces his hands quickly and uses snatch-traps and swipe counters to negate pass rush moves. The former All-Ivy League selection relies heavily on his size and strength advantage. This sometimes leads to sloppy play. He’s late to drop his anchor at times, which is also a side effect of his tall frame costing him the leverage battle. His hands frequently land wide and expose his own chest. Travis must continue refining his hand counters and deploy them earlier in plays. In the run game, he’s quick enough with his long strides to reach block. He drives 5-techs toward the sideline and caves in 3 and 4-techs on down blocks. Travis takes good angles to the second level but lacks the speed and agility to consistently find his marks. He isn’t fit for a wide zone scheme because he struggles to mirror defenders in space. There are some nice pancakes on tape, but Travis fails to generate consistent displacement. He often plays smaller and weaker than his size in the run game and defaults to stalemated reps rather than taking control of plays.

Overall, Travis is a massive left tackle with excellent strength and surprising range in pass protection. His frame limits his agility and suddenness, but he frequently overcomes these concerns. Travis needs to refine his hand usage and placement and maximize his size in the run game more often. He has the tools to eventually become a starter.

Role & Scheme Fit: Left tackle in an inside zone or gap scheme

Round Projection: Fourth Round

Size: 6'7 3/4", 339 lbs. (NFL combine)

Submitted: 01-07-25

Updated: 03-05-25