The Elevator Pitch: Polk sits with his teammate Jalen McMillan atop the RSP’s third tier of receiver prospects because he has elements of his game that he executes like a top starter, but not often enough to solidify that role in an offense immediately. There are also unknowns about his game due to his role in Washington’s offense that may mean he lacks certain skills to become an every-down option.
Polk has the speed to start as a slant-flanker hybrid. Because he spent a lot of time as an inside receiver at Washington and against off-coverage at Texas Tech, Polk’s repertoire of releases is too small to project an immediate starting role as a flanker.
Polk also doesn’t execute the releases that knows with the every-play artistry to bait veteran defensive backs. The switch goes on and off with the nuance and detail required to become a skilled starter when facing tight man-to-man coverage.
Polk has the acceleration and speed to run by off-coverage safeties and earn 3-5 steps on them in the deep game. He can beat some cornerbacks man-to-man at the line up the boundary in the deep game when not jammed and earn 2-3 steps, but he’s at his best when matched up against slower defenders and aligned inside before working outside. He lacks the explosion to stack defenders giving him a cushion, but on the occasion when he’s facing tight man or a shallow cushion, Polk can stack defenders mid-route. He should do it more when given clear opportunities to do so.
Polk is good at using his stems to manipulate opponents playing off him. He can turn them around with the way he works a stem. When facing tight coverage in the vertical game that’s trailing him, Polk uses his hands effectively to reinforce his separation without pushing off. This makes him a good back-shoulder receiver.
He must develop greater confidence to attack defenders at full speed with stems that lead into hard breaks back to the quarterback. He has a good three-step break with sudden weight drop, but he isn’t maximizing the separation because he’s not attacking the stem hard enough. Although Polk works back to the quarterback out of his breaks in open zones, he doesn’t do it immediately or with the urgency needed for man-to-man routes.
His speed breaks can be sudden. He uses a swat at the top of the stem and snaps the break with a flat drive and line step immediately after the break step. He snaps the turn and gets his head around to the quarterback as he runs out the break. He should make an immediate impact as an inside receiver against zone coverage as long as he learns his assignments and route adjustments that will be more demanding at the NFL level.
The strength of Polk’s game is his pass-catching. He high-points and pulls the ball away from the reach of a defender in his chest. He’s an adept worker at the boundary who has the awareness and technique to get in bounds multiple ways.
Polk has no issues as a ball tracker. He only leaves his feet for high targets when necessary. He can extend and turn through high targets on the move across the field without leaving his feet.
He also has late hands on back-shoulder high-points against tight coverage. It’s one of the best things about Polk’s receiving game because he can make late turns on back-shoulder targets even against trailing defenders and earn the ball before the defender registers what happened.
Polk has impressive range to leap behind his break path for an errant throw and fully extend for the ball with overhand position. He retracts the ball quickly in tight coverage. He uses tight overhand and underhand position with his attacks.
He allows targets into his chest with underhand position where overhand position at the earliest point would be optimal. When he’s squaring the target, Polk can attack the ball at its earliest point. He doesn’t do this enough but he’s capable.
Contested targets at the boundary and flats are targets where Polk could earn his opportunity to see the field early. He can take hard contact to his back as he catches targets.
Once Polk earns the ball, he gets downhill with good catch-and-pierce principles and obeys the trajectory of the ball with his turns. He’s effective at avoiding contact when reacting to defenders with angles as well as setting up defenders to eliminate their angles.
He’s a good decision-maker after the catch, turning down the learn transition opportunity to get downfield late in the half to make sure he exits the boundary. Polk pulls through reaches to his frame and legs, he can win head-on with a cornerback when his pads are low into the collision, and bounce off glancing shots to his arms, including substantial hits from a safety.
Polk is a playmaker from the slot who might develop the technical acumen to be the same as a flanker. The question is whether his game can continue to grow, or will he never leaves that zone where he’s a rotational contributor with occasionally meaningful statistical production based on matchups.
