Reel Talk: Penn State receiver Jeff Exinor sets a high floor with room to improve
Penn State held off Maryland to secure its second wide receiver in the Class of 2025 when McDonogh pass catcher Jeff Exinor committed to the program. The Penn State pipeline from the Maryland school continues with Exinor joining the program, and so many McDonogh-centric traits come with that. Exinor is a mature, focused prospect who has progressively gotten better. In fact, his physical development took a leap this spring, and he performed excellently on the camp circuit. We’ll break all of that down and discuss what Exinor presents in his full-game film.
Strengths
Size/Build: Exinor gives edge defender commit Max Granville a run for his crown as the most sculpted commit in the Class of 2025. Exinor is well-built from head to toe and, at 6-2 217, presents an imposing figure on the high school football field. He’s also a basketball commit who shows great body control in the red zone and on the sidelines to shield defenders and high-point the football through contact.
Exinor has a good burst off the line of scrimmage that he confirmed this spring, posting a 4.33 shuttle and a ten-foot-one-inch broad jump. Those numbers show great explosiveness, especially given his size. He’s a college-ready athlete for Penn State when you fold in his vertical, which is just shy of 34 inches.
Hands: Exinor is an excellent receiver with strong hands. He doesn’t catch everything, but he has no bad drops on the three-plus full games we viewed for his evaluation. He’s a player you feel will make the easy plays routine at Penn State.
Versatility: Exinor lines up as the boundary X receiver, slot receiver, and even in the backfield for McDonogh. In fact, he scored a touchdown as the lead back in one game. The team used him as a slash player, getting him some jet sweeps and routes from the backfield.
Exinor is so versatile that he even saw some snaps at defensive end in one game. He won’t do that at Penn State, but it does speak to his physical build and his team’s trust in him.
Areas of Development
Route running: While Exinor is a high-floor athlete for Penn State, there’s significant room for development as a receiver. He seems to have a fundamental understanding of leverage and knows how to set up defensive backs when trying to secure an outside release on fades in the red zone.
However, Exinor doesn’t display much nuance in his routes. He doesn’t have as many moves in his toolbelt to generate separation and wide windows for the quarterback to throw him the ball.
Now in his defense, he doesn’t have a varied route tree in the McDonogh offense, running mostly vertical routes and comebacks. But he doesn’t use that short-area explosiveness he displayed in his testing to threaten defensive backs the way you’d expect. There’s a chance he could develop into an extremely well-rounded receiver, given his room to grow in this area.
Tackle-breaking/Physicality: If there’s one curious quirk in Exinor’s film that I wasn’t expecting, it’s his lack of physical dominance. From blocking to tackle-breaking, there’s not as much dominance as you’d expect from such an imposing figure.
The good news is that this is an area he can improve. The downside is that it’s partially a mentality trait that Exinor needs to develop. If his profile develops the way we expect, he’ll need to block with more tenacity on screens and be more dominant at the point of contact.
Speed: The reason that Exinor needs to be a physical football player is because he lacks the speed necessary to threaten defensive backs downfield. He can certainly get faster than his 4.6 profile, but he’ll likely never be a low 4.4s speed merchant. Maximizing his efficiency, route running, and yards after the catch are all ways to make up the difference as a receiver.
Projection to Penn State
Outside Reciever: Exinor moves really well for a receiver with his muscle density. Players who develop that early run the risk of becoming stiff and muscle-bound. Despite his lack of elite speed, Exinor moves very well.
All of this is to say he can play all over the formation, but it’s hard to move past his 6-2 frame when projecting him to Penn State. He should be a player who starts at the X or Z position and then learns the rest of the offense.
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