Chiefs Draft Science 2016 part 2 – Wide Receivers
By Ryan Tracy
Welcome back to the 2016 edition of Draft Science.
As NFL general managers and personnel executives burrow into the evaluations of the draft-eligible receivers, there is a more to consider than nearly any other position group on a roster. It is particularly true of wide receivers, who have a wider variety of capabilities than responsibilities in many cases.
The offensive scheme is a factor that leads to considerable amount of questions for wide receiver prospects. Corey Coleman ran four routes at Baylor, does that mean he can’t adapt to an NFL offense? Sterling Shepard ran out of the slot on two-thirds of his routes. Is he an option to split out? When receivers aren’t asked to run a full or even average route tree, an apples-to-apples projection of their NFL role becomes very tricky.
The limitations of a players offensive scheme makes the physical traits of receivers a critical to evaluate how they can play at the next level. Is this player strong enough to beat press and explosive enough to get behind the defense? Can he be an effective X in this team’s offense? Does a second receiver have enough to short area quickness and explosion to get separation on routes from the slot?
Detailed film review can tell us more than just how productive a receiver was. We talk this week about impressions from NFL.com’s Matt Harmon on this wide receiver class in his “Reception Perception.” Here is the show.
There is no replacement for game film, but these aspects need to be assessed in order to make solid evaluations.
Next: Looking at the metrics