NFL Draft
11/24/24
6 min read
Jimmy Horn Jr. 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Colorado Buffaloes WR
Height: 5100 (unofficial)
Weight: 170 (unofficial)
Year: Senior
Pro Comparison: Derius Davis
Scouting Overview
Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. projects as a potential return specialist in the NFL. He can also serve as a depth piece in an NFL wide receiver room. Teams will certainly like his open-field speed.
Horn Jr. has the ability to explode in the open field for big-time run after catch opportunities or as a vertical field stretcher. But the speed lacks a complementary skill, which leaves Horn Jr. as a bit one-dimensional and in need of notable development before warranting meaningful volume as an NFL pass catcher.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Electric open field speed with plenty to spare as a vertical plane receiver
- Has showcased good ball-tracking ability to adjust late to ball flight
- Slippery releases at the line of scrimmage to ensure on-time routes
Negatives
- Functional play strength is minimal and limits his role on run-downs
- Will struggle to convert targets to receptions in contested catch opportunities
- Has been nearly a slot-exclusive player throughout his career with a lot of schemed/gimmick touch opportunities
Background
Jimmy Horn Jr. is from Sanford, FL, and played his high school football at Seminole HS. He was an accomplished all-around athlete at Seminole. Horn Jr. participated in track & field in addition to football. Horn Jr. won four medals at the 2021 Florida State Class 8A Championships, including the long jump (23-0.75) and the 4x100 relay. The track speed helped Horn Jr. pop on the gridiron, too — he earned a 3-star recruiting ranking (247 Sports). He garnered some notable interest as a recruit from SEC programs before ultimately enrolling at South Florida and playing the first two years of his college career with the Bulls.
Horn Jr. played in 23 games in two years for USF as a productive underclassman. He was named First-Team All-AAC in 2022 as a sophomore for his efforts before entering the transfer portal as a rated 4-star transfer. Offers from programs like Penn State and Texas A&M were there, but Horn Jr. decided not to pass up on Deion Sanders a second time — he passed on an offer from Jackson State when coming out of Seminole HS.
Horn Jr. has been a productive talent for the Buffaloes, although a lower-body injury did interrupt his senior season in 2024.
Tale Of The Tape
Horn Jr. has plenty of speed to burn, and you can tell the Colorado coaching staff has prioritized finding ways to get his hands on the football quickly in an effort to capitalize on his explosiveness. Having been charged with a lot of screens, jet touch passes, shallow crosses on mesh, and other concepts, Horn Jr.’s average depth of target isn’t necessarily in line with where you’d expect to see it.
Both years at Colorado saw an ADoT under 9 yards, with significant targets and touches coming within just a few yards of the line of scrimmage.
These reps are a useful peek at his athleticism but aren’t necessarily where Horn Jr. figures to be most impactful at the NFL level. He’s posted great numbers down the middle of the field on 20+ yard targets, a testament to his ball-tracking skills and ability to run to space.
In these opportunities, Horn Jr. shows good stress on the integrity of the back end and will force secondaries to make a decision to lift and carry him or concede a potential explosive play. He shows good ball adjustments in these circumstances, bending his track late and showing the ability to keep his eye on the football with speed as he looks back to align his hands for the catch.
However, Horn Jr. will need to build out an NFL workload in the other areas to make the most of this element of his game. He’s a diminutive player whose work in shallow spaces has exposed him to many big collisions, and his consistency at the catch point in these high-traffic areas leaves something to be desired. He’s not a player who prospers in congested areas, and he lacks the frame and functional strength to survive those big hits while still snaring the football.
This conflicts with his role as an exclusive slot player, and I do not foresee a physicality and release combination that would allow him to play on the perimeter at the next level. As a result, he is likely not a full-time 11p presence as a slot player due to how he will struggle to provide value from that position in the run game.
What you’re left with is a thin line to walk when it comes to vertical optimization without making major concessions in the position's ancillary roles.
Horn Jr. has a role to play on an NFL roster. He’s shown viable skills as a vertical receiver and is obviously super-explosive as an athlete. However, managing expectations is important, and he will not be a plug-and-play talent.
I would avoid timing-oriented offenses that require in-breaking patterns due to his track record in traffic and how he’s struggled with some concentration drops in addition to the catch-point woes.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Horn Jr. projects best in the immediate sense as a return specialist with the ability to fulfill some schemed touches and field-spacing routes. He will struggle with the physicality of the NFL, but as a schemed touch target, you can quickly get the ball into his hands and call upon his speed to test tackling and pursuit angles.
Horn Jr. will be best served in a spread offense as a slot target, where he will be given more space to work to limit his catch-point limitations in underneath voids. Likely an NFL role player more than a potential starter.
Grade: 69.00/100.00, Sixth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
