Keelan Cole May Have Made The Catch Of The Year Against The Patriots

The NFL season is young, but even though it’s Week 2, we may already have the catch of the year, courtesy of Keelan Cole of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Cole isn’t the most heralded receiver in the Jaguars’ wide receiving corps, but he showed he’s got some incredibly strong hands and impressive concentration on Sunday. Blake Bortles threw one up to Cole, who was covered well, and Cole had to turn to get to the ball thrown a bit behind him, reaching up with his right hand and snagging the pass clean.

The combination of hand strength, body control, and ball control as he brings it in over the defender is rather insane.

The Jaguars offense in general was running on all cylinders early against the Pats, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on the defending AFC champs. That said, they were out to an early lead the last time they faced New England in the AFC Championship game, only to see Tom Brady and company reel them in late.

This time, maybe Jacksonville will trust Bortles and the passing game more late rather than getting wildly conservative. With Cole making catches like this, it gets easier to believe they’ll reward you for letting them turn it loose.