That's funny coming from a guy that now looks like a marshmallow.
For me, the things that have pleasantly surprised me about Jalen are...
1.) His toughness. The guy runs angry and I've seen on many occasions where the person who tackled him looked like they were hurting afterwards. He's also shown remarkable durability in spite of the fact that our offense has leaned on him so much this year.
2.) His pass blocking ability. This is usually the biggest development area with a freshman running back. However Hurd is doing a very solid job pass blocking for a freshman.
3.) His grasp of the offense. You don't see very many missed assignments on Jalen's part aside from that end zone fumble he had early in the year.
4.) His maturity. He seem like a good leader in that offense and I believe he's earned the respect of his team mates.
Now the things that have disappointed me....
1.) His lack of break away speed. I guess my expectations were too high but I somehow thought Jalen would end up being more explosive/dynamic. I thought he had the kind of skill set that would bring some long breakaway runs but it turns out he's not that kind of back at all.
2.) His lack of being able to break a lot of tackles. I know early in the year they told a stat on Jalen the said he went down on first contact a high percentage of the time. I don't know if that stat has changed much since then but given Jalen's size and strength, that surprised somewhat.
Come on man, really? The guys helps us win a NC and this is what he gets? He said one thing about a recruit and all of sudden he goes from VFL to the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man?
And let's be honest here - being a Vol is one thing, but being employed by someone else (who in turn feeds, clothes, and houses your family via paycheck) is another loyalty dynamic altogether. Can we stop being so soft ourselves?
As for Jalen - dude is solid in every way possible.