Jalen Reeves-Maybin isn’t ‘undersized’, he’s the latest in a trend

Newly drafted Detroit Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin often gets labeled as undersized, but that may not be an accurate depiction.

There is a narrative surrounding Jalen Reeves-Maybin that he’s an undersized linebacker. It’s hard to find a scouting report that doesn’t note a “lack of size” or call him “undersized” (I couldn’t, actually), despite the fact that he and Reuben Foster measured in at the NFL Combine with the same height and within one pound of each other – with Reeves-Maybin holding the one pound advantage.

Scouting reports for CBS Sports notes that Foster “offers prototypical size for an inside linebacker role” while the equally-sized Reeves-Maybin’s “size does limit his fits at the next level.”

While it may be true that Reeves-Maybin’s frame is maxed out while Foster has the ability to carry another ten or 15 pounds, that doesn’t mean Reeves-Maybin’s size is a negative. In fact, he looks to be perfectly in line with the evolution of the game and the position.

At 230 pounds, Reeves-Maybin’s weight is below average for NFL linebackers but is similar to or greater than other young linebackers like Deone Bucannon, Shaq Thompson, Su’a Cravens and Lavonte David. And it’s not like such players were initially overlooked but have found roles in the NFL despite their size. These players came into the NFL as desired players. Thompson and Bucannon were drafted in the first round while David and Cravens were second round picks.

Cravens spent his rookie season with the Redskins as a hybrid linebacker/safety. Bucannon was drafted as a safety but has found a home at linebacker after being pressed into duty due to injury. The lines between strong safety and linebacker are increasingly blurring, brushing away concerns over size.

Noting the possibility that Cravens could play some linebacker in the NFL, a former NFL general manger dropped the following nugget as part of Cravens’ prospect profile on NFL.com:

"I’ve never really cared about the size at the WILL, I just want to know if they have instincts and can run and make plays."

Interestingly, linebacker size was something Bob Quinn touched on during his press conference after making Jarrad Davis his first pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. He mentioned liking that Davis has NFL size, and specifically mentioned a weight range he considers undersized:

"I think he stood out amongst the linebacker crew this year. Linebacker is a position that you normally don’t have a large number of them on your draftable board just because in college football a lot of linebackers are undersized. They’re playing at 215, 220 pounds. So to get NFL-size linebackers with the speed and athleticism and all the stuff that goes into evaluating linebackers, he stood out."

Next: What Lions' draft means, what we learned, what's next

Is Reeves-Maybin really undersized, or is he just the latest linebacker to join an NFL team based on an evaluation of skills and traits that minimizes the importance of size? Look at Bob Quinn’s words and actions, Lions free agent signee Paul Worrilow is also 230 pounds, and a look at what is going on around the league and it looks a lot more like the latter than the former. If Jalen Reeves-Maybin is undersized, maybe undersized is the new normal.