Post by Mondry on Apr 20, 2018 14:23:04 GMT -6
Hey everyone! After doing the QBs earlier, I wanted to get into WRs and share my thoughts/rankings. First I should start by saying that no one in this class excites me like Deandre Hopkins did, but there are definitely some guys I like, and I'll go over what it is I like and don't like about them.
The important thing to know about my rankings is I'm literally just picking the guys I think are the most complete package and most likely to succeed right now and have the easiest path to that success. That means a raw project with immense physical upside who -could- become elite isn't going to be high on my list. We've seen guys succeed in the NFL with only two good routes, so I'm not saying it's impossible, just for me I need to see more.
I also don't care who the "consensus #1, #2, #3" is; if I don't agree with it I'm not going to go along with it for the sake of conformity.
To help get some of my points across I'll post a highlight video and time stamp some of the more impressive/notable things I want to point out. While highlight videos never paint a full picture, it'll just be easier for me than finding individual cut-ups and keeping track of everything.
Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did writing it!
#1 - Dante Pettis - So right away I suppose this is a big surprise, but I think there is PLENTY to like about this kid. He doesn't have elite speed or size so right away that knocks him down for a lot of people, but for me, he does almost every thing exceptionally well in the sense that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It also helps that there isn't a Calvin Johnson or AJ Green in this draft.
As a punt returner, he broke Desean Jackson;s record with 9 punts returned for touchdowns on his career. It is evidence to me that even though he doesn't have elite speed, he's still extremely talented with the ball in his hands, and he's "quicker than fast" which I tend to find more important.
Pettis is at the top of this class when it comes to route running and his ability to set DBs up over the course of a game and gets great separation most of the time. He high-points the ball well and catches it with proper technique routinely; combined with his excellent leaping ability, he plays a lot bigger than he actually is. He has no problems catching balls over his shoulder or balls thrown too low.
Like most of this class, Pettis will need strong QB play to make the most of his abilities. CBs with better speed will be able to recover and close the distance on Pettis if the ball is not out quickly in a timely matter after Pettis wins the initial battle.
0:31 - fights off the defender, draws pass interference but makes a ridiculous one-handed catch for the TD anyway.
0:51 - good balance to break a tackle and immediately change direction to avoid another tackle.
1:12 - good dose of his quickness and route running.
1:36 - gets great initial separation off a pretty simple move.
2:03 - stacks the DB well and shields him away from the throw then plucks it out of the air. This is great technique, even if he can't make the catch he's forcing the defensive pass interference here as a worst case scenario.
2:54 - sets the db up so well he makes it look easy.
4:03 - not his best move but you can see just how high he can get up and snatch the ball on what is otherwise okay coverage.
4:10 - shields the defender well and makes a good adjustment.
#2 - Calvin Ridley - Ridley comes off the snap aggressively and has little wasted movement which gets him on top of the DB quickly and makes his rocker step and other moves that much more effective. He shifts his weight effortlessly throughout his break and can stop/start on a dime. Like most in this class, Ridley doesn't over power DBs but instead relies on crisp technique and agility to get separation. I love technically sound guys, the ones who get open because they're doing all the little things at a high level, and that's Ridley in a nutshell. If I had to pick a guy LEAST likely to bust in the pros, it'd be Ridley, and that's because I think his game is most likely to universally work in any system.
1:35 - Doesn't do much to create separation here but just goes over the top of the DB to steal the ball.
1:46 - Elite change of direction and acceleration after coming to a full stop.
2:11 - High-points the ball with exceptional leaping ability while keeping his feet in bounds.
2:27 - Really pretty footwork to make the most of this bubble screen.
2:36 - Great concentration on a difficult over the shoulder catch.
3:47 - You can see how aggressive he is and the DB tries to match, then he just pumps the breaks and gets instant separation, no one does that better.
4:25 - more open field goodness.
5:54 - A good look at how nasty he can be in his first few steps.
6:53 - don't normally put bombs on here if you can't see the route but I love the way he runs under this ball and tracks it the whole time.
7:13 - notice the little head fake!
#3 D.J. Moore - Moore might have the most upside out of this bunch, but currently I have enough questions about his game that I can't put him any higher than #3. Moore is similar in height but has about 20 pounds on our first two WRs, and his strength shows up in the film. He's the best open-field runner and extremely dangerous with the ball in his hands. He's shifty enough to deflect blows and arm tackles and powerful enough to run through anything less then a full hit + wrap-up.
He has strong hands, body control, and hand eye coordination as well as great first step acceleration.
He has all the tools but he needs to develop more release moves and sometimes get's predictable. He can struggle against press coverage and often won't get a clean release. He also leaps for balls I'd prefer him to just raise his arms up and pluck it out of the air without making himself unbalanced in the process. If he can improve in these area's he has a shot to be the best WR in this class.
0:18 - Right off the bat you can see what makes him so special after the catch.
0:40 - Jet sweep and the defender has him dead to rights but goes for a TD.
1:03 - another short bubble screen type play he makes the most of.
1:16 - stacks the defender nicely so he's in full control of the route
1:38 - Has the strength to break 2 tackles and the acceleration to still out run every one from practically a dead stop.
1:59 - Moore has a habit of leaping up for balls he doesn't really need to leap for, essentially making that catch more difficult but he completes it so style points?!
2:10 - Another leaping catch that I don't think he needs to do but great job fighting off the corner and tracking the ball.
2:22 - Good technique here, the DB can't really do anything to stop this play.
2:38 - Leaps for days, plucking it out of the air!
2:58 - sets up the corner masterfully and as a result the DB's going the wrong way and he's wide open.
3:26 - beats his guy so bad it doesn't even matter that the ball comes out pretty late.
3:41 - the DB doesn't bite at all, has okay position, but moore just shields him out of the play.
4:17 - it's hard to tell what exactly happened on this play but Moore is so wide open I'm guessing he fooled that DB pretty hard.
#4 James Washington - A lot of people see Washington as a one-dimensional deep threat, but I think there's a bit more to his game than that. Unlike Moore just before him on this list, he has a wide array of moves he uses to deal with press coverage and get a clean release. Once he has separation he's probably the best in this class at stacking the DB which are arguably the 2 most important things a vertical threat needs. Because the vertical threat is always there it opens up shorter routes for the taking, however he needs to improve his hard breaks and polish up the non vertical routes.
Washington also has a fair share of drops and has a noticeable tendency to drop balls when contact is made during the catch.
Washington to me is an elite vertical receiver that has a chance to become decent at other routes too, and that's why I like him at #4. Even if he never improves those other aspects, he can still hang his hat on something, and if he was just a bit more polished in those other areas he'd be higher up the list.
The video I had for Washington wasn't on YouTube, so it's not showing up. Here's another one but it's mostly just deep bombs that won't tell you much else about Washington, sorry about that!
#5 Anthony Miller - This guy has a little Adam Thielen-like story that I'm a sucker for. He was a walk-on at Memphis and basically crushed it and got his shot. His coach says he's the hardest working guy in the building and sometimes that's the biggest question mark in this draft process equation. Which players have skated by on their talent alone and crumble as soon as they face adversity and which ones put in the hard work to keep improving beyond the college ranks? Even Antonio Brown wasn't Antonio Brown in college, but he never stopped working and kept getting better.
Miller plays fast and aggressive. He's dangerous with the ball in his hands, and overall, there's a lot to like.
Miller's biggest problem is that he doesn't always attack the ball with his hands, instead letting it come into his chest and trapping it with a palms up technique. That's okay in college but harder to get away with in the NFL. He also struggles with press coverage and needs to develop more moves if he wants to play outside instead of being purely a slot guy.
0:15 - stacks the DB nicely and lays out for a nice catch.
0:38 - nice play here and gets the ball over the goal line
0:57 - good technique leading to the back shoulder phade
2:04 - love how fast he turns it up and gets into the endzone after this catch.
2:49 - He starts this route at the hash and ends up in the corner of the endzone of course where he wanted to go the whole time.
4:05 - Get's the DB turned around and blows by.
4:20 - So violent and kind of goofy looking but effective!
#6 - Christian Kirk - I like Kirk quite a bit, but I think he's mostly limited to a slot role. He'll need an offensive coordinator who can "scheme him open" as he does not deal well with physical press coverage, and that's the main reason he's #6 for me. Now Kirk could end up being the most successful WR in this class and the best slot WR in the league, and no one would be sad about drafting that, it just is what it is. I think he's the most likely to bust if he lands on a team with a poor offensive coordinator who square pegs him into a round hole kind of situation.
Kirk is great against either off coverage or zone coverage where he's schemed into a mismatch. He high-points the ball well when he is forced to but tends to "default" into a palms up/body trapping technique and has more drops than he should. If he can correct this bad habit quickly he'd be slightly higher up the list.
Despite being dangerous in the open field with the ball in his hands, he tends to go down to the first defender who can make solid contact with him. In the upcoming highlight video watch how many big plays no one actually touches him and you can argue that that's his ability doing that, and I wouldn't disagree, but in the NFL those defenders will be faster and getting actual wraps and tackles on him. They don't show guys getting dumpstered after a 3-yard catch in the highlight reels.
3:02 - You can see how much of a mismatch he can be, DB has no chance to stop this simple pitch and catch and he cruises for the TD.
3:20 - little bit of what I'm talking about here, he lets the ball come into his body and traps it. A NFL caliber defender would have a chance to break up this pass either in the air or throughout the catch process.
3:28 - Then on this one he has perfect catching technique, I wish he did this every time. Good run after the catch.
3:41 - Nice little route here, good play design by the OC and Kirk makes the most of it.
5:10 - Lets the ball come into his body. Would like to see him more aggressive and attack the ball with proper catching technique. That's just not a completion against Patrick Patterson or any good NFL corner.
6:10 - Kirk is the man in motion and this helps him get a clean release and the DB just can't keep up with him. In the right offense we could see a lot of this.
6:50 - Kirks coming in motion again and this is another great play design to get him into space where he can do what he does best and run away from everyone.
7:20 - Does a nice job stacking the CB here, see how casual he looks in this play?
9:04 - Does a good job giving his scrambling QB a target and makes a pretty nice catch.
#7 - Richie James - Okay he's not really my #7, but this is taking forever, and I want to wrap it up and start looking at some RBs. I have to put my sleeper on the list, so here he is!
Out of all the guys who match Antonio Brown's physical height/weight in this draft, James might be the one to deserve the comparison to Brown the most.
Love his hand-eye coordination, body control, change of direction, acceleration, cuts, and vertical leap. He's near the top of this class as a catcher.
But there are a lot of little things James could do better. Still, something about him passes the "eye test" for me.
The important thing to know about my rankings is I'm literally just picking the guys I think are the most complete package and most likely to succeed right now and have the easiest path to that success. That means a raw project with immense physical upside who -could- become elite isn't going to be high on my list. We've seen guys succeed in the NFL with only two good routes, so I'm not saying it's impossible, just for me I need to see more.
I also don't care who the "consensus #1, #2, #3" is; if I don't agree with it I'm not going to go along with it for the sake of conformity.
To help get some of my points across I'll post a highlight video and time stamp some of the more impressive/notable things I want to point out. While highlight videos never paint a full picture, it'll just be easier for me than finding individual cut-ups and keeping track of everything.
Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did writing it!
#1 - Dante Pettis - So right away I suppose this is a big surprise, but I think there is PLENTY to like about this kid. He doesn't have elite speed or size so right away that knocks him down for a lot of people, but for me, he does almost every thing exceptionally well in the sense that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It also helps that there isn't a Calvin Johnson or AJ Green in this draft.
As a punt returner, he broke Desean Jackson;s record with 9 punts returned for touchdowns on his career. It is evidence to me that even though he doesn't have elite speed, he's still extremely talented with the ball in his hands, and he's "quicker than fast" which I tend to find more important.
Pettis is at the top of this class when it comes to route running and his ability to set DBs up over the course of a game and gets great separation most of the time. He high-points the ball well and catches it with proper technique routinely; combined with his excellent leaping ability, he plays a lot bigger than he actually is. He has no problems catching balls over his shoulder or balls thrown too low.
Like most of this class, Pettis will need strong QB play to make the most of his abilities. CBs with better speed will be able to recover and close the distance on Pettis if the ball is not out quickly in a timely matter after Pettis wins the initial battle.
0:31 - fights off the defender, draws pass interference but makes a ridiculous one-handed catch for the TD anyway.
0:51 - good balance to break a tackle and immediately change direction to avoid another tackle.
1:12 - good dose of his quickness and route running.
1:36 - gets great initial separation off a pretty simple move.
2:03 - stacks the DB well and shields him away from the throw then plucks it out of the air. This is great technique, even if he can't make the catch he's forcing the defensive pass interference here as a worst case scenario.
2:54 - sets the db up so well he makes it look easy.
4:03 - not his best move but you can see just how high he can get up and snatch the ball on what is otherwise okay coverage.
4:10 - shields the defender well and makes a good adjustment.
#2 - Calvin Ridley - Ridley comes off the snap aggressively and has little wasted movement which gets him on top of the DB quickly and makes his rocker step and other moves that much more effective. He shifts his weight effortlessly throughout his break and can stop/start on a dime. Like most in this class, Ridley doesn't over power DBs but instead relies on crisp technique and agility to get separation. I love technically sound guys, the ones who get open because they're doing all the little things at a high level, and that's Ridley in a nutshell. If I had to pick a guy LEAST likely to bust in the pros, it'd be Ridley, and that's because I think his game is most likely to universally work in any system.
1:35 - Doesn't do much to create separation here but just goes over the top of the DB to steal the ball.
1:46 - Elite change of direction and acceleration after coming to a full stop.
2:11 - High-points the ball with exceptional leaping ability while keeping his feet in bounds.
2:27 - Really pretty footwork to make the most of this bubble screen.
2:36 - Great concentration on a difficult over the shoulder catch.
3:47 - You can see how aggressive he is and the DB tries to match, then he just pumps the breaks and gets instant separation, no one does that better.
4:25 - more open field goodness.
5:54 - A good look at how nasty he can be in his first few steps.
6:53 - don't normally put bombs on here if you can't see the route but I love the way he runs under this ball and tracks it the whole time.
7:13 - notice the little head fake!
#3 D.J. Moore - Moore might have the most upside out of this bunch, but currently I have enough questions about his game that I can't put him any higher than #3. Moore is similar in height but has about 20 pounds on our first two WRs, and his strength shows up in the film. He's the best open-field runner and extremely dangerous with the ball in his hands. He's shifty enough to deflect blows and arm tackles and powerful enough to run through anything less then a full hit + wrap-up.
He has strong hands, body control, and hand eye coordination as well as great first step acceleration.
He has all the tools but he needs to develop more release moves and sometimes get's predictable. He can struggle against press coverage and often won't get a clean release. He also leaps for balls I'd prefer him to just raise his arms up and pluck it out of the air without making himself unbalanced in the process. If he can improve in these area's he has a shot to be the best WR in this class.
0:18 - Right off the bat you can see what makes him so special after the catch.
0:40 - Jet sweep and the defender has him dead to rights but goes for a TD.
1:03 - another short bubble screen type play he makes the most of.
1:16 - stacks the defender nicely so he's in full control of the route
1:38 - Has the strength to break 2 tackles and the acceleration to still out run every one from practically a dead stop.
1:59 - Moore has a habit of leaping up for balls he doesn't really need to leap for, essentially making that catch more difficult but he completes it so style points?!
2:10 - Another leaping catch that I don't think he needs to do but great job fighting off the corner and tracking the ball.
2:22 - Good technique here, the DB can't really do anything to stop this play.
2:38 - Leaps for days, plucking it out of the air!
2:58 - sets up the corner masterfully and as a result the DB's going the wrong way and he's wide open.
3:26 - beats his guy so bad it doesn't even matter that the ball comes out pretty late.
3:41 - the DB doesn't bite at all, has okay position, but moore just shields him out of the play.
4:17 - it's hard to tell what exactly happened on this play but Moore is so wide open I'm guessing he fooled that DB pretty hard.
#4 James Washington - A lot of people see Washington as a one-dimensional deep threat, but I think there's a bit more to his game than that. Unlike Moore just before him on this list, he has a wide array of moves he uses to deal with press coverage and get a clean release. Once he has separation he's probably the best in this class at stacking the DB which are arguably the 2 most important things a vertical threat needs. Because the vertical threat is always there it opens up shorter routes for the taking, however he needs to improve his hard breaks and polish up the non vertical routes.
Washington also has a fair share of drops and has a noticeable tendency to drop balls when contact is made during the catch.
Washington to me is an elite vertical receiver that has a chance to become decent at other routes too, and that's why I like him at #4. Even if he never improves those other aspects, he can still hang his hat on something, and if he was just a bit more polished in those other areas he'd be higher up the list.
The video I had for Washington wasn't on YouTube, so it's not showing up. Here's another one but it's mostly just deep bombs that won't tell you much else about Washington, sorry about that!
#5 Anthony Miller - This guy has a little Adam Thielen-like story that I'm a sucker for. He was a walk-on at Memphis and basically crushed it and got his shot. His coach says he's the hardest working guy in the building and sometimes that's the biggest question mark in this draft process equation. Which players have skated by on their talent alone and crumble as soon as they face adversity and which ones put in the hard work to keep improving beyond the college ranks? Even Antonio Brown wasn't Antonio Brown in college, but he never stopped working and kept getting better.
Miller plays fast and aggressive. He's dangerous with the ball in his hands, and overall, there's a lot to like.
Miller's biggest problem is that he doesn't always attack the ball with his hands, instead letting it come into his chest and trapping it with a palms up technique. That's okay in college but harder to get away with in the NFL. He also struggles with press coverage and needs to develop more moves if he wants to play outside instead of being purely a slot guy.
0:15 - stacks the DB nicely and lays out for a nice catch.
0:38 - nice play here and gets the ball over the goal line
0:57 - good technique leading to the back shoulder phade
2:04 - love how fast he turns it up and gets into the endzone after this catch.
2:49 - He starts this route at the hash and ends up in the corner of the endzone of course where he wanted to go the whole time.
4:05 - Get's the DB turned around and blows by.
4:20 - So violent and kind of goofy looking but effective!
#6 - Christian Kirk - I like Kirk quite a bit, but I think he's mostly limited to a slot role. He'll need an offensive coordinator who can "scheme him open" as he does not deal well with physical press coverage, and that's the main reason he's #6 for me. Now Kirk could end up being the most successful WR in this class and the best slot WR in the league, and no one would be sad about drafting that, it just is what it is. I think he's the most likely to bust if he lands on a team with a poor offensive coordinator who square pegs him into a round hole kind of situation.
Kirk is great against either off coverage or zone coverage where he's schemed into a mismatch. He high-points the ball well when he is forced to but tends to "default" into a palms up/body trapping technique and has more drops than he should. If he can correct this bad habit quickly he'd be slightly higher up the list.
Despite being dangerous in the open field with the ball in his hands, he tends to go down to the first defender who can make solid contact with him. In the upcoming highlight video watch how many big plays no one actually touches him and you can argue that that's his ability doing that, and I wouldn't disagree, but in the NFL those defenders will be faster and getting actual wraps and tackles on him. They don't show guys getting dumpstered after a 3-yard catch in the highlight reels.
3:02 - You can see how much of a mismatch he can be, DB has no chance to stop this simple pitch and catch and he cruises for the TD.
3:20 - little bit of what I'm talking about here, he lets the ball come into his body and traps it. A NFL caliber defender would have a chance to break up this pass either in the air or throughout the catch process.
3:28 - Then on this one he has perfect catching technique, I wish he did this every time. Good run after the catch.
3:41 - Nice little route here, good play design by the OC and Kirk makes the most of it.
5:10 - Lets the ball come into his body. Would like to see him more aggressive and attack the ball with proper catching technique. That's just not a completion against Patrick Patterson or any good NFL corner.
6:10 - Kirk is the man in motion and this helps him get a clean release and the DB just can't keep up with him. In the right offense we could see a lot of this.
6:50 - Kirks coming in motion again and this is another great play design to get him into space where he can do what he does best and run away from everyone.
7:20 - Does a nice job stacking the CB here, see how casual he looks in this play?
9:04 - Does a good job giving his scrambling QB a target and makes a pretty nice catch.
#7 - Richie James - Okay he's not really my #7, but this is taking forever, and I want to wrap it up and start looking at some RBs. I have to put my sleeper on the list, so here he is!
Out of all the guys who match Antonio Brown's physical height/weight in this draft, James might be the one to deserve the comparison to Brown the most.
Love his hand-eye coordination, body control, change of direction, acceleration, cuts, and vertical leap. He's near the top of this class as a catcher.
But there are a lot of little things James could do better. Still, something about him passes the "eye test" for me.
... and neither is this Chris guy.