Sources: Utah State WR Royals out for season

• Pete Thamel, ESPNOct 26, 2024, 02:52 PM ET

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  College Football Senior Author for ESPN. Expert for College Gameday.Utah State star large

receiver Jalen Royals, one of the nation’s top players outside college football’s power conferences, will miss out on the remainder of the season, sources verified to ESPN on Saturday.Sources told ESPN that Royals is handling a foot injury,

which is expected to end his college career. Royals has become a potential top-150 NFL draft prospect, as he has been among the country’s most efficient receivers this year, catching 55 balls for 834 lawns and 6 touchdowns.Royals’foot injury isn’t extreme enough that it’s anticipated to substantially affect his pre-draft procedure, as

he has actually been on the NFL’s radar all season.Royals made All-Mountain honors in 2023 and helped his draft stock with a flurry of high-end efficiencies the past month, consisting of four straight 100-plus-yard receiving games. He had at least 9 catches in all those games. That included his efficiencies against the top teams in the Mountain West– 211 backyards and 2 touchdowns against Boise State, and 155 lawns and one touchdown against UNLV.Royals, who comes from Powder Springs, Georgia, had a chance this offseason to dip into numerous power conference schools. He stuck to Utah State in the wake of a 2023 season that saw him catch 15 touchdown passes, overall 1,080 getting yards and typical 15.2 yards per catch.In his 3 seasons at Utah State after transferring from junior college, Royals amounted to 1,914 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.Royals is a 6-foot, 205-pound receiver who had scouts participating in Utah State practices and games in droves.

His characteristics and efficiency will make him a mainstream draft prospect this spring.Utah State(1-6) plays at Wyoming(1-6)on Saturday night.KSL.com first reported that Royals is anticipated to miss out on the remainder of the season.