{"id":66275,"date":"2024-08-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=66275"},"modified":"2024-08-17T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T16:00:00","slug":"with-a-year-under-his-belt-jaylen-lloyd-doesnt-feel-like-a-young-guy-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/with-a-year-under-his-belt-jaylen-lloyd-doesnt-feel-like-a-young-guy-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"With a year under his belt, Jaylen Lloyd doesn\u2019t feel like a \u2018young guy\u2019 anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaylen Lloyd<\/a><\/strong> only caught six passes in 2023. He didn\u2019t have a single multi-reception game. But in mere seconds with the ball in his hands, Lloyd gave Nebraska\u2019s offense something it was desperately searching for all season:<\/p>\n

A glimmer of hope. He looked like a superstar in the making.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Omaha Westside product turned those six catches into 237 yards and three touchdowns, good for top-3 among Nebraska\u2019s receiving corps in both categories. Seven players caught more passes than Lloyd. None came close to his efficiency.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a mind-boggling depiction of just how anemic the passing attack was last season. A true freshman, thrown into the fire, was one of the lone bright spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nebraska expects to be much improved through the air in 2024. The QB and receiver rooms have seen major upgrades. With a full season of experience under his belt, Lloyd should be one of the main beneficiaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes this year a lot easier for me,\u201d Lloyd said of playing as a freshman. \u201cA lot of things are slowing down and they\u2019re not as fast. I know the playbook a lot better than I did last year. I just think it\u2019s smooth out here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lloyd certainly looked smooth during the spring game. A 64-yard touchdown connection with Dylan Raiola<\/a><\/strong> had shades of three memorable deep balls against Purdue<\/a>, Wisconsin and Iowa<\/a>. Those bombs won\u2019t come as a surprise this year. Lloyd is no longer just a promising rookie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Malachi [Coleman]<\/a><\/strong>, getting in was big for us,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing at first. It\u2019s now like, we\u2019ve been there before. We feel like we\u2019re vets. We don\u2019t want to be treated like the young guys anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\n

HOUSE CALL @RaiolaDylan<\/a> @LloydJaylen<\/a> <\/p>\n

and yes, bro was triple jumping in the end zone #GBR<\/a> | @BigTenNetwork<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8ehr5lPVoA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) April 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Lloyd bulked up but maintaining speed<\/h2>\n

At 5-foot-10, Lloyd came to Nebraska at 158 pounds. One of his main priorities this offseason was to put on size, and he did just that. Lloyd is up to 179 and still working to add another five pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s huge confidence when you look in the mirror and see a bigger man,\u201d wide receivers coach Garret McGuire<\/a><\/strong> said of Lloyd bulking up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The additional weight hasn\u2019t slowed him down though. On Tuesday, Lloyd hit 22 mph, even while recovering from a minor hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdding size in the Big Ten is going to be important, along with my speed,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cIt gives me a lot more I can do. I can go out on the perimeter and block which is going to be key this year. Beating second-level defenders is also a big thing we\u2019re working on.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Lloyd becomes a significant factor in the run block, watch out.<\/p>\n

\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Outlook at wide receiver with new weapons<\/h2>\n

Transfer wide receivers Jahmal Banks<\/a><\/strong> and Isaiah Neyor<\/a><\/strong> add a veteran presence that Nebraska severely lacked last season. Lloyd is a big fan of both.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJahmal and Isaiah are great additions,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cThey bring in a lot of wisdom and experience of the game. They\u2019ve been in these types of big games that we\u2019ll be playing in this year. They just tell us little things that we can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks and Lloyd are both currently working at the Z receiver spot. Lloyd said the two get competitive and have enjoyed learning from each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJahmal is very good at being patient,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cHe\u2019s teaching the younger guys like, we don\u2019t have to go 1,000 miles per hour every single moment of the route. But when you need to go, you can turn that back on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding two experienced veterans could mean fewer targets for Lloyd. There\u2019s only so many to go around. But he\u2019s never viewed it that way. Winning is the No. 1 priority. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just took it as a chip on my shoulder,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be mad at it, you\u2019ve just got to work with it. I think it\u2019s actually good for us. We\u2019ve got some older guys in a young group that can lead the way for us and help us win.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for who\u2019s the fastest of the bunch?<\/p>\n

Lloyd says he\u2019ll have to race Neyor and Jacory Barney<\/a><\/strong> for that title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Never miss breaking news or another HuskerOnline article again. Click HERE to sign up for our Daily and Breaking News Newsletters.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The post With a year under his belt, Jaylen Lloyd doesn\u2019t feel like a \u2018young guy\u2019 anymore<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaylen Lloyd only caught six passes in 2023. He didn\u2019t have a single multi-reception game….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66299,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66275\/revisions\/66299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}