Dynasty Draftnik

Was a redshirt senior.

All-Star Games: Shrine Game.

Positives: Good height for the position with above-average bulk – solid lower body. Runs with adequate speed and above-average acceleration. He is quick off the line and runs adequate routes. His hands are very good and soft, and he accepts passes without fighting them. He also has very good body control and hand-eye coordination, and can reach behind him to pluck the ball out of the air on the move. He also shows good effort and concentration on contested passes, and good effort on off-target passes. He is deceptively athletic, with adequate lateral quickness but good quickness when changing directions. Nimble in the open field and can leapfrog defenders. He also runs with good balance – which was evident at Shrine Game practices in slippery conditions. Above-average upper-body strength. Adequate hand size.

Negatives: He tore his ACL in spring 2013 and missed the entire 2013 season. As a run blocker – either in-line or downfield – he doesn’t look willing to get physical with defenders, and will wait for defenders to come to him instead of attacking. And though he is quick off of the line and can get open that way, he has some trouble getting off physical coverage – surprising with his strong body, and he needs to get more physical with cornerbacks.

Projection: Round 3. Before his ACL tear, he looks like he would have been a first round wide receiver. He has never quite reached those heights again, but should be an effective complementary receiver in the pros. But a lot of teams will be very concerned about his recovery and will probably be scared off until later.

All-Star Games: Senior Bowl.

Positives: Though he has below-average height for the position, he has a solid, running back-like build with above-average bulk for the position. He also has a running back running style after the catch. Above-average speed and quickness, and makes quick cuts when he is running routes. Is sudden in his routes and can stop on a dime, keep moving, and complete his routes to get good separation. He also has above-average hands and can extend to bring in passes on the move and enough body control to adjust for passes low and away. Like a running back, he keeps his balance well after contact and shows fair vision in the open field. Very hard to bring down – runs strong after the catch and will stiff arm for extra yards. Willing to get physical with cornerbacks. Tracks passes well over inside shoulder. Will come down with the occasional circus catch. Adequate hand size.

Negatives: Below-average height for the position. Inconsistent concentration on passes in traffic, and generally won’t come down with the ball. Inconsistent hand-eye coordination and let a pass hit him in the face mask and bobbled another easy one in 2014 bowl game. When running routes, he will consistently break them off short of the first-down marker. Also, though he showed speed and quickness on film, his Pro Day measures showed a complete lack of explosiveness and quickness. Injured right quad in first game of 2014 and missed a few games.

Projection: Round 6. His propensity for dropping easier passes will knock him back a few rounds. Otherwise, he’s a solid complementary receiver and returner in the pros.

All-Star Games: College Gridiron Showcase.

Positives: Though he tends to let too many passes get to his body, he actually has adequate hands. He maintains his balance pretty well after contact, and is effective after the catch, which also helps him as a punt returner. Has fairly strong hands and can hold the ball while defenders are trying to strip it. Runs with OK speed and quickness. Smart punt return fielding decisions and generally fields kicks and punts very cleanly – even on the run. Adequate height, bulk, and hand size for the position.

Negatives: He tends to body catch. Runs below-average routes and consistently rounds them off, limiting his separation ability. Doesn’t keep squared while making big moves and lets his legs get out of control – will slip at times making cuts. Has to dial down a lot to change directions and lacks explosiveness out of his cuts. He also looks like he is slow to accelerate after fielding punts. Injured wrist in October 2014 and missed unknown amount of time, but was back for the bowl game.

Projection:  Round 5. He will probably land on a roster as a special teamer and part-time contributor on offense.

Redshirt junior who has declared for the 2015 NFL draft. Junior college transfer in 2013.

Positives: Good height and bulk for the position. Uses strength and surprising lateral quickness to get off coverage at the line. Adequate speed and lateral quickness for the position, but above-average for the size. Tracks pretty well over his outside shoulder. Good, strong hands and can extend well to snag fast passes. Fairly nimble on the sidelines. Runs pretty crisp routes – especially for his size and especially on short and intermediate crossing routes. He demonstrates consistent ability to bring in the back-shoulder pass. Pretty good open field vision for yards after the catch.

Negatives: Shows below-average burst out of his cuts, and doesn’t change directions very quickly. Other than planned back-shoulder passes, he doesn’t adjust well to passes thrown off target and behind him. To me, it looks like a lot of his issues have to do with effort. On contested passes, where he should be more dominant with his size, he probably comes down with less than half of the passes he should. He also needs to attack the ball better in the air. Sometimes, he is late to get his hands up, like he does not expect the ball. Consistently gives below-average effort as a downfield blocker. Though his routes are usually pretty crisp, he doesn’t get a lot of separation on comeback routes or on the back shoulder passes, and makes routine catches a little bit harder. He is less effective on deep routes than he is on short and intermediate routes. Suspect balance after contact. Merely adequate acceleration. Has a fractured bone in his wrist that will eventually require surgery.

Projection: Round 2. His size and hands should make him an effective WR2 in the pros. But his inconsistencies and lack of effort definitely won’t earn a quarterback’s (or coach’s) trust. To me, he has a lot of the issues Alshon Jeffrey had coming out of college. Only time will tell if that’s a good or bad thing.

Junior who has declared for the 2015 NFL draft.

Positives: He has a pretty good build for the position – with above-average height and bulk. Runs with above-average speed, quickly, and acceleration and can quickly eat up whatever cushion the cornerback tries to give him. Shows above-average lateral and directional quickness, and also has the vision to be very elusive after the catch. He also uses his quickness well to get past coverage at the line. His route running is generally above-average. Though his hands are slightly inconsistent, they are usually good enough. He has a strong body and runs balanced after the catch – as a result, he is not easy to bring down. His good open-field vision gets him a lot of yards after the catch. Fairly nimble feet for sideline catches. Above-average concentration on contested passes.

Negatives: Tends to round off his out routes, but, since he is a good route runner otherwise, that should be easily corrected. Though his hands are good enough, he sometimes has trouble adjusting to off-target passes or extending for passes, and he body catches more often than he should. He seems to locate the ball better when he is not on the move, which may mean he will be more effective in a system that doesn’t expect him to catch the ball on the run. Has had some trouble with injuries during his college career – struggling through a nagging toe injury in 2013 and bruising his knee in November 2014. Concentration sometimes lapses on easy passes. Looks a little lost as a downfield blocker. To me, he has a bit of a question mark concerning his willingness to get physical in either his route running or his blocking.

Projection: Early round 1, and possibly the first wide receiver taken. To me, though he has excellent athleticism, is a good route runner, and has pretty good hands, his inconsistency would push him down the first round a little bit farther, and possibly close to the second round. But all indications predraft are that he could go in the top 10 picks.

Transferred from junior college to West Virginia in 2013.

Positives: Very good height and good bulk for the position. He is a size-speed anomaly – has elite speed for his size, and just very good speed in general. He accelerates quickly off the line and uses his hands and strength well to get off of press coverage. Runs very balanced and under control. Good concentration on contested passes and while he is falling, and can come down with difficult catches. Shows good body control and adjusts very well to passes in the air. Tracks passes well over his inside shoulder. Very good hands and can extend for passes away from his frame – high-pointing passes well. Adjusts well to passes behind him. After the catch, he fights hard for extra yards and isn’t easy to bring down. Adequate downfield blocker who has strength to stay with his defender.

Negatives: While he is physical running routes, he needs some work in that area. Below-average ball security when he’s fighting for extra yards, and he will hold the ball away from his body while taking on defenders. Though he is an adequate downfield blocker, he can be pushed back when he uses inadequate leverage.

Projection: Early round 1, and possibly the first wide receiver taken. He has all the physicality, athleticism, and ball skills to be a dominant wide receiver in the league for years. Though he only performed at the major college level for one year, he showed enough in that year to give teams confidence that he will carry that over to the pros.