Jordan Lasley, UCLA football shut out of second, third rounds of NFL draft

People call about Jordan Lasley. Scouts want to ask Scott Altenberg, who coached Lasley at Serra High, what kind of character they’re dealing with in the former UCLA receiver who led the Pac-12 in receiving yards in a suspension-marred nine-game season.

Altenberg offers a story.

“I say, “When I need a guy to come to my youth camp or need a guy to work with a receiver, I make one call to Jordan and he’s always there,’” the longtime Serra coach said Friday as he was waiting to see if Lasley’s name would be called in the third round of the NFL draft.

It was not called, as UCLA was shut out of the second and third rounds following its two-pick first round Thursday.

After being projected by some pundits as a second- or third-round pick, Lasley must now wait until Saturday, the final day of the NFL draft, to see if a team will gamble on the talented redshirt junior with off-field baggage.

“He’s made it hard on himself at times, but in a lot of ways, he’s still growing,” Altenberg said. “I’m just excited for when he gets picked because I know it’s going to happen soon. He just needs to get there and I think he’ll do well.”

The Lasley who was suspended for three games last season and missed another for undisclosed reasons is far from the one Altenberg knows, the coach said. Not only does Lasley eagerly show up for youth camps at his alma mater, but he puts in extra time with young players. When he returned in February, he worked personally with receivers for three hours before the camp started.

After falling out of the third round, Lasley sent a short tweet to record what would be the latest slight against the former three-star prospect.

“Noted…” he wrote on Twitter with an emoji of a pencil writing on paper.

Noted…

— Jodie Jo (@LegendaryLasley) April 28, 2018

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Lasley led the Pac-12 with 1,264 receiving yards on 69 catches. After returning from a three-game suspension in November, he finished the year with four straight 100-yard receiving games, including back-to-back 200-yard efforts, the first time a UCLA receiver has done so.

But he struggled to control his emotions throughout his career, missing his first week of training camp as a true freshman for a violation of team rules and getting kicked out of a spring practice the following year for fighting. He was arrested twice in 2016 for possession of alcohol and presenting a fake ID at a club.

His size at 6 foot 1 and 203 pounds seems well suited for the NFL, but he had 11 drops on 92 targets last year, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He reminds me of an NFL type receiver because in the NFL, those receivers get bumped around a lot,” Altenberg said. “They get pushed around a lot, they get physicaled up, and he’s a hard guy to do that (to). I think his game is built for the NFL.”

Ten receivers were selected in the first three rounds of the draft. Lasley was ESPN’s sixth-best remaining receiver entering the fourth round. ESPN analysts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay had Lasley pegged as the No. 70 overall pick in their final mock draft.

Lasley, center Scott Quessenberry, linebacker Kenny Young and defensive lineman Matt Dickerson received NFL Combine invitations, but are still waiting to hear their names.

Quessenberry was projected as a fourth- or fifth-round pick by NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. After missing his junior season with surgery on both shoulders, the La Costa native returned to play every meaningful snap at center for the Bruins during the past two years. He was named first-team All-Pac-12 in 2016 and honorable mention in 2017.

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