2023 NFL Draft visits: Seahawks met with former Purdue star coming off 110-catch season

With the NFL Draft fast approaching, news of player visits have come pouring in, and here’s one for the Seattle Seahawks on the wide receiver front.

On Tuesday the Seahawks met with ex-Purdue standout Charlie Jones, who earned an All-American spot in the 2022 season in addition to his second straight All-Big Ten First-Team choice (once as a receiver, one as a returner).

Jones is going to be 25 years old this October and was in college for six years. He redshirted his freshman year at Buffalo before eventually transferring to Iowa, where he had to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules. After two seasons on the field as primarily a return specialist, he transferred to Purdue for his final year of eligibility and had a breakthrough season as a receiver. In 13 games played, Jones caught 110 passes for a school-record 1,361 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Lance Zierlein scouting report on NFL.com:

Exceptionally productive in his season at Purdue after transferring from Iowa, Jones will have trouble shedding tight, press-man coverage due to his lack of suddenness and blow-by speed. He possesses above average ball skills and has a feel for positioning and focus that creates a solid win rate on his contested catches. He can play zone-beater all day long and has the route savvy to keep improving his short-area separation. Jones is unlikely to work the deepest portions of the field but might find work in a possession-based passing game as a Day 3 draft pick.

He can return kicks and punts and sounds like a reliable possession receiver without being much of a deep threat, and at 5’11 and 175 lbs he’s not exactly a jump ball target. I don’t think the Seahawks need to just stack deep threats if they can just get chain-movers outside of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, so Jones may be worth a closer look as a Day 3 option.

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