The 2020 draft has been described as one of the richest ever for WR prospects, and so it seems. A half dozen, or so, who may go in the first round, and other WR picks who likely would have gone in the 1st in other drafts.
This isn’t a ranking of WR’s, but rather a sampling of some with promise, along with a video of their play. For years the Giants have lacked a larger quality receiver. We all remember what Plax’s combination of size and speed could do. Shepard is a quality WR, but not very big. Tate is rugged, but also smaller. Slayton surprised, but isn’t really big. Latimer was supposed to be a more physical presence, and he is, but hasn’t been terribly productive. Core and Sills are bigger, but as WR’s I don’t know much about them. PS player Reggie White sort of fit the bill, but came from low level competition. Whether the new coaching staff can develop him into a full time roster spots is yet to be seen.
So in looking at some of 2020’s prospects, I focused on WR’s 6’2” or more. And was delighted to find this draft seemingly made to order for what I’d like for the Giants; I.e., a larger, physical WR with great hands. Some also have speed, while others aren’t burners, but what they all have in common is the ability to come away with the ball on contested catches.
Sure, we’d all like WR’s with breakaway speed who leave defenders in their dust, but in the NFL games I watch most catches ARE contested catches. (Unless they’re playing the Giants!) There most often is just not a lot of separation, so would the ability to box out defenders, high point the ball and physically dominate the defender be just as valuable as pure speed?
These are the traits I looked for among some of the WR prospects. I’m not suggesting these are all of the WR prospects with them, or even the best among them, they’re just a sampling. And I also deliberately excluded a couple who fit those criteria because they’re already well known. Among such are CeeDee Lamb and Laviska Shenault, both of whom have the potential to possibly be a top 5 pick. And off course, there are other fine WR’s who fall outside these criteria that will go early, and likely before many which I mention; guys like Ruggs, Aiyuk and Reagor for example.
The Combine will affect the status of many of the picks. For obvious reasons, speed is valued more among WR’s than possibly any other position, so top performing 40’s and agility tests will raise some prospects, as much as poorer ones will lower others. I think some of the guys I mention will do OK. Then there are others who likely will skid. But frankly, since I’m not looking primarily for speed, I’m not sure that the Combine will really be determinative of whether they can play, and may actually be an aid if it drops them further down the ladder.
ANTONIO GANDY-GOLDEN – 6’4”, 222 – Liberty University. And the last shall be first – from football powerhouse Liberty comes a mid-round sleeper! (Except everybody knows about him!) With all the warts you’d expect from a small school, but with a lot of raw talent. Gandy is dandy and makes his living abusing double teams! Big, super physical with flypaper hands and a ridiculous catch radius. Did I say he was physical!?
Gandy-Golden - (
New Window )
Higgins Video - ( New Window )
Jefferson - ( New Window )
Mims - ( New Window )
Pittman - ( New Window )
Edwards - ( New Window )
Davis is big and physical with very good hands and body placement. So-so speed. A big deal in lower competition with some valuable tools to work with.
Davis - ( New Window )
Claypool - ( New Window )
Top 2 rounds should target stud defensive and OLmen
Beez's son's friend from Ithaca is 6'2" ... just sayin'.
Tee is a good example of your preference for someone to grab the contested balls. He is one of the latest in the long line of Clemson WRs who fit Dabo's strategy of throwing 50-50 balls to tough tall WRs (e.g. Watson to Nuke Hopkins), in part because there was a good chance Venable's defense would get him the ball back. It also explained the above average # of INTs for his QBs. (Tee's replacements are already on board.)
Personally I think the depth at WR is strong enough to pass on Tee and still get someone to fill the need of someone to stretch the field.
You’re crazy. Unless you’re staring at Calvin Johnson, under no circumstance should they take one of these guys at 4 given our other needs and the value that will be there at pick 100+.
Not gonna happen. If the Giants go WR with their 1st round pick, Gettleman might be tossed out a window
Right now it looks like Edwards could be there for either the comp pick, or the 4th rounder, but you can't know until it happens. Would be a sweet pick, and good use of a draft spot IMO.
As a 4/5 round pick I'd find Quintez Cephus quite the steal.
He had a short interview with Draft Wire and I thought came off well during it. He's a very serious young man who's been through a lot.
Quintez Cephus 2019 highlights - ( New Window )
Quote:
Teams knew they had to stop him and generally couldn't. He'd be a great value pick with either our comp 3rd/early 4th rounder.
Right now it looks like Edwards could be there for either the comp pick, or the 4th rounder, but you can't know until it happens. Would be a sweet pick, and good use of a draft spot IMO.
Read and heard a few very positive notes about Edwards too. If he lasts to our 3rd round comp pick, he'd be an attractive get pending his health.
The questions would be physical skills...speed and elevation. Catches are Catches--- HANDS Appplies at any level of competition.
The questions would be about separation and reading defenses at a higher level.
Looked a little smaller than the 6-4/220
I think so too. To the extent a given team thinks a particular prospect has question marks, that prospect may slip further than he otherwise might. But those who are universally valued will go early, irrespective of the size of the talent pool.
The questions would be physical skills...speed and elevation. Catches are Catches--- HANDS Appplies at any level of competition.
The questions would be about separation and reading defenses at a higher level.
Looked a little smaller than the 6-4/220
There's definitely some awkwardness about Gandy-Golden's play. And he may well not be as big as listed. Every year at the Combine when prospects get weighed and measured there are often differences between where they're listed in school, and what they actually are; sometimes wildly so. But at the end of the day, he is big, and has some authentic skills that MAY allow him to develop into a better NFL WR. However he's not a plug and play prospect, and will need development.I see him as going no earlier than the mid rounds, but more likely the late ones.
Where did you get "serious injury" from? And "injury prone" seems like a highly exagerated claim too.
From CBS sports like 20 minutes ago, and they DON'T claim to have details of the injury:
The news comes by way of Edwards' personal Twitter account, halting momentum on the 21-year-old's fast-rising draft stock. It's unclear what foot Edwards broke, or how severe the break might be, but given when the injury occurred, it's possible the senior could still participate in South Carolina's pro day. Edwards missed the final two games of his collegiate career with a knee injury, but otherwise was a reliable force, never missing a game in his previous three collegiate seasons. While he never totaled over 1,000 receiving yards in a given campaign, he was still regarded as one of the premiere wide receivers in the SEC and would have been a lock to be selected no later than Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft had the injury not occurred.
It's a "serious" injury apparently so far as missing the combine NEXT WEEK. Beyond that, there's no info. Dude didn't miss a single game for almost 3 years prior to missing his last 2 games in 2019 "with a knee."
Heck I'd need more info than that to take him off my board - though it's likely NOW he slips into round 3, or maybe 4.