Jamari Staples is 6-foot-4, long and lean with quick burst speed. He has a 41-inch vertical leap, and when the ball is in the air, his strong hands ensure that, by all rights, it belongs to him. He’s a quick study in the playbook, too, running precise routes again and again. He’s the epitome of a leader by example, his coach said.
It’s the total package, a receiver with size and strength and speed and maturity, a player with a future running routes on Sundays. And yet, when Staples wrapped up his high school career in Lineville, Alabama, in 2013, only two FBS schools had offered a scholarship to play receiver: Western Kentucky and UAB.