6’0” – 196 lbs. – 4.60
Redshirted in 2015, then caught 18-250-1 the following year. Led the team in receptions the following year, finishing with 56-549-3 (9.8). Enjoyed his best year as a junior, a 70-885-6 (12.6) campaign and then followed it up with a 57-636-10 (11.2) line. Also returned some punts, mostly in his sophomore (28) and junior (14) years. Lined up in the slot for the Buckeyes. Has an adequate combination of height and bulk for a slot receiver, although his hand and arm measurements were disappointing and he looks smaller on tape. Despite running poorly at the Combine, his play speed looks impressive; was asked to run deep patterns from the slot, and used the threat of going deep to create opportunities for deep curls and other patterns of that sort. Additionally, runs your typical tree of outs, crosses, hitches, screens, and so on. Route-running craft is a little bit inconsistent, but there’s a lot to like there as well. Clearly has impressive quickness, and does a nice job of working in head-fakes and nuance to freeze defensive backs on double-moves; uses his hands well to slip by defenders sitting in shorter zones. Flashes the ability to snap off his routes and pull away from opposing defenders. Able to improvise and create opportunities when the play breaks down. However, can lapse into rounding things off without sinking his hips, so more consistent attention to detail would be nice. Also didn’t work against physical bump-and-run coverage much at the college level and may have trouble releasing at the line against size given his relatively small frame and lack of length. Tracks the ball well over his shoulder when targeted downfield. Doesn’t offer the widest catch radius and double-catches some targets, but looked relatively reliable within his frame when targeted, being able to adjust to some passes behind or away from him. Awareness and body control when working near the sideline is good. A pretty dangerous player in the open field, with good acceleration after the catch and the ability to weave through the open field, making defenders miss in one-on-one situations; the type of receiver you want to get the ball to in space. Surprisingly competitive as a blocker, giving good effort to stalk and sustain against opposing defensive backs in the run game. Experience as a return man may help his stock, although he wasn’t particularly productive in that role. A player who probably didn’t help himself too much at the Combine, but who looks like a pretty good creator out of the slot who should still come off the board early on the third day of the draft.
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