Dynasty Draftnik

All-Star Games: Shrine Game.

Positives: Adequate height  and above-average bulk for the position. Runs with above-average speed and acceleration. Runs pretty good routes and is crisp and balanced in his cuts. Though his hands are inconsistent, they are mostly adequate. He tracks passes pretty well over his inside shoulder. Keeps legs churning after contact for extra yards. Fair downfield blocker.

Negatives: Has small hands. His hands are inconsistent, and passes consistently gets to his body. He has questionable body control and hand-eye coordination, and he is not as effective when he has to extend or adjust to passes thrown behind him. May be contact shy. Below-average concentration in traffic.

Projection: Round 7.

All-Star Games: Senior Bowl.

Positives: A versatile athlete who was effective at both wide receiver and cornerback in college. Has good height and adequate bulk and hand size for the position. He runs with above-average speed and is fairly quick off of the line to get off press coverage. Runs above-average routes and is quick into his breaks – gaining separation on comeback routes. Can snag fast passes away from frame. Okay hand-eye coordination and body control and can adjust to passes thrown behind him. Fair downfield blocker. Fair field sense, and knows when to reach out for extra yards. Patient in the open field.

Negatives: Seems a little contact shy. Has inconsistent hands and has occasional trouble extending for passes – letting more passes get to his body than he should. Not very explosive in the open field. Consistently runs out of balance and will slip after his breaks. Consistently telegraphs when he is going to make a cut.

Projection: Round 5.

All-Star Games: Senior Bowl.

Positives: Adequate height for the position. At times, he is able to extend for passes away from his body or come down with difficult catches. He also tracks passes pretty well over his inside shoulder. Shifty after the catch.

Negatives: Slightly below-average bulk. Despite his quickness, he has below-average speed for the position. Seems to lack effort in a lot of ways, and even during drills at the Combine. Consistently gets tangled up with defenders, and needs to get better positioning. Needs to get better separation on comeback routes. Needs to complete comeback routes more to create separation. Looks like he may be contact shy over the middle, and he will take his eyes off of the ball to look for defenders. Below-average hands in general, and will body catch at times. Needs to give more effort on contested passes and consistently has passes taken away from him. Poor outside blocker who sometimes doesn’t even make contact with the defender. Below-average hand size.

Projection: UDFA.

All-Star Games: Senior Bowl.

Positives: Good bulk for the position, and built more like a running back. Great hand size. Runs with above-average speed and acceleration for the position. Gets crisp angles on his routes, though he isn’t quick into his cuts. Though his hands are below average, he can extend at times for passes away from his body. Fair concentration on contested passes. Is pretty quick and elusive after the catch, and gives very good effort for yards after contact. He has quick feet that allow for deceptiveness after the catch. Is a patient kick returner who makes consistently smart decisions.

Negatives: Slightly below-average height for the position. Isn’t very quick into or out of his breaks. Doesn’t get great separation on comeback or deep routes. Below-average tracking over his inside shoulder. Below-average hands, and has too many drops. Questionable ball-security, and he has had fumbling problems. Suspect vision on kick returns and will run into his own blockers. Had right shoulder injury most of 2013 season and had surgery in February 2014. Also sprained shoulder in December 2014 kept him out of 2014 bowl game.

Projection: Round 5.

Was a redshirt senior.

All-Star Games: Shrine Game.

Positives: Great height and above-average bulk for the position. Runs pretty good, crisp routes for his size – is fairly quick out of his breaks on intermediate in routes. Above-average speed and gets pretty good separation on deep routes. Has quick feet that allow for deceptive cuts. Very good change-of-direction quickness for his size. In addition to his height, he has long arms that extend his catch radius. Consistently good body control and adjusts very well to off-target passes. Good effort and goes to the ground to bring in errant passes. Fights for the ball in traffic. Though his hands are inconsistent, he can extend at times for passes away from his body. Willing to lower his shoulder for extra yards and churns well through contact. Not afraid to go over the middle. Protects the ball with both hands through traffic. Adequate hand size.

Negatives: Has inconsistent hands despite his effort. Is a long strider with below-average acceleration off of the line, and takes a while to build up to top speed. Weak upper body and has a hard time getting off of defenders.

Projection: Round 5.

Junior who has declared for the 2015 NFL draft.

Positives: Has adequate height and bulk for the position. Runs with above-average speed and lateral quickness for the position. Shows above average routes, and will get separation on his comeback routes. Has generally good, quick hands, and can extend well to snag fast passes. Above-average hands in traffic. Above-average body control to be able to adjust for difficult catches. Is nimble on the sidelines to comes down with both feet. Gets upfield quickly after the catch with nice acceleration. Good vision in the open field and has the quickness to be able to pick his way for extra yards. Sets up his blockers well downfield. Quick enough to change directions and reverse field on end-around runs.

Negatives: Below-average upper-body strength and isn’t very physical with cornerbacks. Not much of a downfield blocker. Looks a little contact shy over the middle of the field. Broke left fibula in October 2013 and missed rest of season. Suspended by team for one game in November 2014 for bumping an umpire. Lacerated kidney in November 2014 and missed rest of regular season but was back for the bowl game.

Projection: Round 5.

Junior who has declared for the 2015 NFL draft.

Positives: Has above-average height and bulk for the position. Runs with above average speed, quickness, and acceleration. Good hands and concentration when a hit is coming, and is able to make some tough catches – though inconsistently. He has above-average body control and hand-eye coordination – adjusting fairly well to off-target passes and tracking passes well over his inside shoulder. Can twist to give himself an opportunity to catch off-target passes. He is also fairly nimble, and is able to get both feet down on sideline catches. Protects the ball pretty well on contested passes. Good upper-body strength.

Negatives: Though his hands and concentration are good enough, they’re inconsistent overall – he will bring down the tough catches and drop easy ones. Runs below-average routes and rounds off too many of them. He also is not a good downfield blocker. At his Pro Day, he showed surprisingly poor quickness and overall explosiveness – though I didn’t see evidence of that in games.

Projection: Round 3. In the beginning of draft season, there was a little talk of him sneaking into the first round, but that’s died down. His inconsistency will knock him back a bit.

Positives: Runs with above-average speed and very good quickness and acceleration. Runs nice, crisp routes that are very difficult to cover, and he gets good separation. Generally good hands –and can extend well and catch with hands. Consistently good effort on off-target passes. Can hold the ball with a hit and is effective over the middle. Is able to get both feet down on the sidelines. Smart punt return fielding decisions and confident hands, letting him field punts effortlessly and fair catch in traffic fearlessly. His quickness and vision make him hard to get a hold of in the open field. Plays bigger than his size and is a willing blocker who works at it.

Negatives: Short height and below-average bulk for the position. Though his hands are generally good, there is some inconsistency – he will let some passes get to his body and drop some easy passes. Has trouble coming down with contested passes, too. Will jump for passes at times for no reason, when it would be better to stay on his feet for yards after the catch. May be contact shy with the ball in traffic, and he will slide to the ground rather than challenge defenders. Not very strong and is easy to bring down once you get a hold of him.

Projection: Round 7. His size will limit teams’ expectations of him, but his Wes Welker-like quickness and his special teams ability will make him valuable in the NFL as a slot receiver and punt returner.

Was a redshirt senior. Former junior college transfer.

All-Star Games: Medal of Honor Bowl.

Positives: Has good height and bulk for the position. Pretty good route runner who completes his routes and finishes his comeback routes well to get good separation. He also adjusts his routes well to adjust to underthrown passes. Good hand-eye coordination and tracks passes very well over his outside shoulder. Adjusts very well to back-shoulder passes and passes thrown accidentally behind him, and has a great vertical leap to win consistently in jump-ball situations. Very good concentration on contested and difficult passes. Has generally very good hands – though he will body catch at times. Good effort for off-target passes and he will go to the ground to bring them in. Fairly effective after the catch. Great hand size and long arms. Is also a former quarterback – which should help him understand his offense better.

Negatives: Doesn’t give much effort as a downfield blocker. Though a great leaper, he will sometimes mistime his jumps. Will occasionally let passes get to his body. Below-average upper-body strength. Broke his foot in Medal of Honor Bowl practices and didn’t play in the game and also had broken bone in other foot discovered in Combine checks. Foot surgery kept him out of pre-draft workouts. Suspended by team for two games in 2014 for team rule violation.

Projection: Round 4. Putting these notes together, he sounds to me like a Round 2 WR, but I have heard very little talk about him since the end of the season. Maybe it’s because of the foot injuries. Maybe it’s because East Carolina receivers tend to look more impressive in college than in the pros. Or maybe I’m an idiot. But I expect him to have some surprising success in the pros as a WR2 or even a low-end WR1.