Malachi Corley is making an impression on New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, with the talented rookie appearing to have shown flashes in training camp.
And now Saleh wants the Jets rookie to show that potential in game action.
Corley was a third-round pick of the Jets. At 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, he is built more like a running back than a wide receiver. Last year for Western Kentucky, he had 79 catches for 984 receiving yards with 11 touchdowns.
He topped 70 receptions in each of his last three seasons of college football (with 101 catches for 1,293 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022).
With the Jets, he comes into a wide receivers room that is talented but where there is the potential to get significant reps as a rookie.
“He’s heavy, in terms of, you can feel him when he’s getting up there and he’s running with the football, and you’re trying to tag off on him, or in the run game when he gets his hands on you and he’s blocking,” Saleh told reporters on Wednesday.
“He’s going to be a fun player. Obviously, you can’t see it all. We can see it; we can see the violence that which he runs when he does get the ball in his hands. I think I speak for everyone that we’re looking forward to seeing him in game action to see how it translates.”
During the pre-draft process, Corley was compared to as a “Budget Golden Tate.”