WATCH: Former Alabama receiver Slade Bolden lays out for eye-opening catch in Ravens camp
Former Alabama receiver Slade Bolden went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft. The former Crimson Tide receiver has been working hard to impress his new team that signed him as an undrafted free agent, the Baltimore Ravens. On Saturday, Bolden made an impressive catch in camp where he fully extended for the football.
With the loss of Marquise Brown for the Ravens, the team will be looking for receivers to replace his production, outside of star receiver Rashod Bateman and tight end Mark Andrews. Perhaps the former Alabama star could be one of the beneficiaries.
Bolden had the best season of his college career in 2021, finishing with 42 catches for 408 yards and a touchdown. He saw an increased role in the College Football Playoff Championship against Georgia after Jameson Williams went down with injury, finishing with 44 yards on a team-high seven catches.
A three-star prospect in the 2018 class, Bolden ranked as the No. 94 receiver and No. 502 overall player according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. He chose to attend Alabama over offers form LSU, Tennessee, and TCU among others.
While Slade Bolden had a successful career at Alabama, his next chapter in the National Football League could be even better, if he keeps making catches like that one.
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As good of a route runner as he is, Bolden doesn’t have the speed or athleticism to make the plays as some of the other receiver prospects in his draft class— at least that’s what plenty of draft analysts thought earlier this year. NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein noted this in his analysis of the Alabama product, and it’s likely the reason Bolden went undrafted in the first place.
“Slot target who will catch and gain what is available but is unlikely to do much beyond that,” Zierlein wrote. “Bolden has adequate quickness for the Alabama scheme but isn’t an explosive separator. He has the hands and toughness to work in the middle of the field but will see diminishing catch windows the further he gets from the line of scrimmage.
“He doesn’t have the speed or catch radius to help inaccurate passers and he doesn’t appear to have enough talent to shine outside of the Alabama juggernaut.”
Time will tell if Bolden can prove pundits like Zierlein and others wrong.
On3’s Chandler Vessels and Stephen Samra also contributed to this article.