Jaylen Prater Feature

Jaylen Prater is a 2012 linebacker from Wellston, Ohio. Prater was brought to our attention from our partner, Kevin Fitzgerald, of EAE Combines. Coach Fitz has been a strength and conditioning coach at Florida State, Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt. Prater immediately reminded him of some of the great players he has coached at the Division I level. Further, Prater is a top performer in the classroom and a hard worker. Below, we have both video and written versions of our interview with him, video of him training, his combine numbers, and his combine video. 

***Our interview with Prater***                                                                                                                                                    

PNL: How’s your summer training going?

Prater: My summer training has been going great. I have it pretty much five days a week, sometimes on the weekends. I get a little bit of everything in – go out and lift with the team on Mondays-Thursdays. We do all of our Olympic lifts: Clean, snatch, jerk, all of our power lifts, squat bench, so that pretty much gets me where I need to be strength wise. I do some agility days and I do a little MMA training – mixed martial arts, maybe some kickboxing on the weekends. It’s been going really well and I believe it’s helped me and it’s paid off. It’s showed at the camps and at combines and everything I’ve been to. 

***Video of Prater Training***

PNL: You work very hard, where does that come from?

Prater: Whatever it is, I go 110%: every play, every rep in the weight room, in the classroom. I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded my whole life with people that pushed me and wanted me to do well for myself and I expect it of myself to do well in everything also. It really works out to be in the situation that I am because I’m always working to get better – getting pushed. You have to work everyday like there’s someone better than you.

PNL: What other positions do you play?

Prater: Tailback, fullback, wingback, right now I play quarterback and inside linebacker on defense. I play outside linebacker. I’ve played just about every position there is to play. I believe I adjust rather well to what I need to do.

PNL: What other sports do you play?

Prater: Basketball and run track, along with football. This past track season, I made it to the regional finals and I did really well, finished in the Top 30 in the state in the 100-meter-dash. I’m pretty proud of that. There aren’t many guys that run the 100-meter-dash that are 220 plus pounds, so I give myself a little credit there. In basketball, I was first team all-district and first team all-league. Hopefully I can go back out and make a run at state this year in track.

PNL: You mentioned MMA, and Boxing, how do those help with football?

Prater: Boxing is a lot of hands-on. For linebackers, it’s really important to get engaged with your blocker and use your hands and fight off blocks and such things. I believe that’s just one of the ways that it has helped me. Footwork is also a big tool in boxing – footwork and hands – that’s pretty much any sport you can come in contact with.

PNL: Can you talk about competing in grappling?

Prater: I’ve competed in many submission grappling tournaments – NAGA Arnold Classic at Columbus, Ohio, numerous times in various categories. I’ve won a couple and placed high in another in some novice classes and submission grappling. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is what I study, it teaches you a will to not break under pressure, to just breathe through some things. You’ve got to have patience, but at the same time, when the time is right, you have to strike and be violent. I believe that plays into football as well as it plays into anything else in life.

PNL: Have you attended any camps?

Prater: I’ve had a summer full of campus. I started out at Vanderbilt in Nashville. I’ve been to a lot of places – Ohio State; we went to Toledo, Northwestern, and a couple of them turned out great. I got a couple offers – Indiana and Northwestern. Those really helped my situation -- the recruiting process continued to build and continued progress for me, so those were really two big offers that helped me out this summer.

PNL: We discovered you at EAE Combine with Kevin Fitzgerald. Tell us about your experience with EAE?

Prater: Coach Fitzgerald with EAE has done tremendous help with me. With the combine videos and the contacts he has and has made for myself, and other guys at the combine his combines are totally legit -- all the timing, you do all the right drills, getting out of your drops, and all the things that are necessary for the next level College coaches to look at. Him, himself, has been the collegiate coaching experience. He knows that it takes and what is needed to prepare athletes for the next level.

Prater's Combine Numbers at the 2011 EAE Combine in Cincinnatti

Height: 6’0

Weight: 221

Vertical Jump: 36 ½ inches

Broad Jump: 9 feet 9 inches

Pro Agility: 4.40

L-Drill: 7.10

40 yd. Dash: 4.53

Bench Press (185 lbs.): 22 reps

***Praters' Combine Video***