Finally healthy, speedy Gorman alum seeks NFL opportunity

It took a full year, but Jalen Nailor’s nickname finally stuck.

“Speedy.”

Fitting for the fastest 5-year-old on the football field.

“When you got the ball, and you’re the fastest one out there, ain’t nobody going to catch you,” said Nailor, who earned the moniker during his first year playing tackle football. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

No description necessary.

“Speedy” is 23 now. And he’s still fast, running the 40-yard dash last month in 4.5 seconds at the NFL scouting combine. The former Bishop Gorman and Michigan State wideout returned to Las Vegas to put the finishing touches on his professional preparations.

Prognosticators expect him to be selected on the third day of the NFL draft, which begins April 28 and concludes April 30.

Injuries limited Nailor to 28 games during his four-year tenure with the Spartans, but he said he feels “1oo percent” healthy now and is eager to showcase his abilities at the next level.

“It’s a blessing,” Nailor said. “To finally be able to have my dreams within my reach, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Nailor’s father, Jay, noticed his son’s speed right away. His baby son wouldn’t crawl, per se. He would scoot “off one leg” instead, determined to move as fast as possible.

“Then it was him running around the yard,” he said. “I’m like ‘Damn, he looks fast. That isn’t normal speed right now.’ He walked at a really, really, really, really early age. I guess it means something looking back on it.”

Nailor grew up in Southern California and actually fancied baseball first before switching his focus to football at the age of 5. He earned his nickname by winning a series of sprints, but didn’t embrace it until the following year.

He still goes by “Speedy” today.

Football was fun for Nailor, who doubled as a sprinter until he graduated from Gorman. He played football in the fall and ran track the rest of the year, traveling the country as a Junior Olympian and refining his running mechanics so he would be faster on the football field.

He’d earn gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 400-meter relay. But he wanted not to become an Olympian, but to play in the NFL instead.

“It was just something that was always on my mind,” Nailor said — and something that became increasingly realistic as he matured.

Nailor moved from California to Las Vegas before his freshman year of high school and enrolled at Gorman, then the preeminent prep program in the country. He earned his first scholarship offer from Colorado at the beginning of his junior season, eventually committing to Arizona State before a senior season in which he had 41 receptions for 807 yards and 12 touchdowns.

A change in coaching staffs prompted a decommitment though and an eventual commitment to Michigan State, the only program that really re-recruited Nailor.

“I just took what they had to offer,” he said. “Because it was tough. Not many schools were reaching out.”

Nailor hadn’t been seriously injured before college. But he’s far too familiar now with the bumps and bruises that football features. He sprained a posterior cruciate ligament and missed seven games during his freshman year. A broken foot cost him all but four games as a sophomore.

A hand injury cost him four games during his senior year.

“The hardest part,” he said, “was just sitting out, not being able to do what you love.”

But when he played, he produced — tallying 1,210 yards and 10 touchdowns during 16 games in his final two seasons for the Spartans. He flashed his big-play potential Oct. 9 during a five-reception, 221-yard, three-touchdown outing against Rutgers.

He exceeded 100 receiving yards in three of his final games, concluding his career as an All-Big Ten honorable mention before forgoing his final year of eligibility to declare for the draft.

“I just felt like I was ready. I felt like I have good enough film,” he added. “I just felt ready with my body. I feel like I can go out and compete with some of the top guys in the world.”

Nailor trained in San Diego for the combine, adding a 38-inch vertical jump and 7.03-second three-cone shuttle to his 40-yard dash time. His 40 time was 19th among the 40 receivers who were invited, though his vertical and shuttle were both in the top 10.

He said he’s heard from 28 of the 32 NFL teams, with the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs among those most interested. Teams, he said, are impressed with his speed and tempo as route runner. Strength and his release are among the weaknesses they identified.

Weaknesses, he says, that he’s already addressing.

“I didn’t expect anything else … because I know his talents,” his father said. “He feels like it’s his time.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.