WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, Michigan*

6’2” – 208 lbs.

Five-star recruit who has been a contributor at Michigan for each of the last three seasons. Went 22-277-0 (12.6) as a freshman, then followed that up with a 47-612-8 (13.0) campaign and a junior year in which he posted 34-438-6 (12.9) before declaring for the draft; also served as the team’s punt returner for the past three seasons, having scored two touchdowns in that capacity while averaging 8.3 yards per return over 89 touches. Pretty solidly-built receiver who takes snaps both split out wide and from the slot, lining up on the left and right sides of the offense; a lot of his production in the games reviewed came from the inside. A long-strider and good athlete who gets up to speed pretty quickly and is capable of threatening defenses down the field. Looks smooth and flexible through his routes, running a lot of posts, flag patterns, and routes of that nature. Does a good job of using his hands to slip by cornerbacks trying to jam him. Was often playing against off coverage during the games reviewed, doing a pretty good job of eating up cushions and getting opposing cornerbacks in his hip pocket.  Overall body control and flexibility impressive. Capable of tracking throws over his shoulder and adjusting to poorly-thrown balls away from his frame. Red zone weapon who’s difficult to cover on back-shoulder throws. The combination of his size, length, and body control gives him a wide catch radius, and appears to have soft hands as well, making him an easy target for quarterbacks. Accelerates quickly and has the agility to make defenders miss in the open field. Would like to see him show a little bit more effort in reaching/engaging opponents as a stalk blocker, but his overall technique looks pretty good at times; gets his arms extended, bends at the knees, and is capable of holding his ground and walling off opposing cornerbacks. Could be a little bit more consistent though, as he can slip into throwing his body at opponents instead of engaging with technique. It may seem a little bit curious that a prospect who ranked just third on his team in receiving this past season would decide to forego his senior season and declare for the draft, and it would be hard to argue with those who consider his collegiate career to have been a disappointment, but his combination of size, athleticism, and body control is so impressive that it wouldn’t be surprising if a team decided to roll the dice on him as early as the second day.

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