I was doing to do a series of posts in the draft forum on WRs, but then grad school laughed at me for thinking I'd have that much free time.
Anyways, the one player I got to actually writing about was DK. This (except for the last paragraph) was done when most mocks had DK in the top-10.
Note: Combine Information taken from this awesome Google Doc:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... /htmlview#
D.K. Metcalf, Ole Miss
6’3 3/8 228lbs 9 7/8 H
Kent Lee Platte's RAS Combine Scores
40-yard dash: 4.33 seconds 9.90 (TWR3 of 37)
Bench Press: 27 reps 9.97 (TWR1 of 42)
Vertical Jump: 40.5 inches 9.69 (TWR3 of 42)
Broad Jump: 134 inches 9.92 (WR5 of 42)
3-cone drill: 7.38 seconds 1.04 (WR27 of 29)
20-yard shuttle: 4.50 seconds 1.00 (WR30 of 33)
After putting on a ridiculous (that’s really the correct word for being 90th percentile in every explosive drill and 10th percentile in the fluidity drills) combine, Metcalf is generally considered the top WR in most mock drafts. He’s also the first WR I sat down to evaluate. He left school after his rSo season, having suffered a broken foot in his freshman season (cost him 10 games) and a neck injury in 2018 (cost him 5 games).
Pros: He’s one of the SPARQ-iest WRs you’ll ever see (a ridiculous 139.7 rating). Huge, both tall and in bulk, looks like you could sneak him into the linebackers meeting room and nobody would notice. Great wingspan and solid hand size. Pretty explosive off the line (elite for his size) with elite deep speed. Eats up cushion and gets behind cornerbacks. Tracks the deep ball well and can make tough catches (sometimes). Several releases to get open vs press. Has some creativity in his deep routes – sells the threat of the comeback or post when getting vertical. Basically, he’s really good at getting open deep. Willing to fight for jump balls and wins there, good timing to high point and can move defenders with his strength. Can use his speed to set up comebacks and curls.
Cons: Probably the least variety I’ve seen in a route tree - very rarely ran an inside breaking route against man coverage. The 3-cone drill is so off-the-charts terrible that I wonder if the Ole Miss coaching staff just said “don’t let D.K. run inside routes”. Multiple drops in 4 games, some body catching but not great hands in general. He’s solid at deep balls, but with his size you’d expect him to win more often. Disinterested blocker in most circumstances, has a habit of watching the run rather than blocking for the runner. Not a great RAC guy – speed will get him some chunk plays, but doesn’t show a ton of wiggle or creativity.
Fit with the Seahawks: Seattle loves to throw deep and Metcalf should be elite at that part of the game. He’s going to create space for underneath routes because you can’t expect a corner to run with him all game, demanding safety help. He didn’t show a lot of consistency on scramble drills, but there were a couple times when his man got out of position and Metcalf just exploded to leave him in the dust. With his build, he should be a great blocker, but it appears to be an effort/willingness issue.
Overall view: The combination of injuries, lack of evidence to suggest he can run short routes, hands, and mediocre blocking/YAC worry me a lot when some project superstardom for Metcalf. He seems like he will be a very useful starter, but it’s really hard to be a star WR based purely on prowess running vertical routes, especially since Metcalf doesn’t have Randy Moss level hands. I’m also having David Boston flashbacks (Boston basically body-built himself out of the league), Metcalf has already had injuries to two areas (feet/neck) that make me wonder how his body feels about supporting that kind of size. Still, his ability to get open deep will be valuable even if he can't put everything together.
Now that he’s a Seahawk: There’s a lot to like, and if Baldwin is really approaching the end of his career, selecting Metcalf enables Lockett to take over a lot of Doug’s slot snaps while Metcalf plays the “go deep” role to clear up space. At 64, it’s a lot easier to focus on what he can do (run deep and scare the piss out of DBs) than what he may never be able to do (develop into a well-rounded WR that can handle 130 targets a season).
uke:
