2015 NFL Draft: Are “fast” wide receivers worse?
By Will Lomas
Looking down at the top-10 receivers in the 2015 NFL Draft, it is easy to salivate at mid round prospects like Philip Dorsett, Chris Conley, Kenny Bell, and DeAndre Smelter and think they could be potential steals because they all run a sub-4.4 40-time. However, that may be a bad sign based on something Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus posted on an insider post on Friday.
Mike Renner says:
“Everyone loves speed at the receiver position because it is so hard to find, but consider the following: 38 receivers have run sub-4.4 40-yard dashes since the 2009 combine, and only six are now a top-two receiver on their respective teams. The main takeaway is that speed can help, but one needs to do so many other things well to be a complete receiver in the NFL.”
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Now, there is a lot of good information here. He is correct, the main thing to watch with a receiver is how smoothly he can run a route and if he can create separation against every kind of coverage. Speed is a great quality to have and it can help you have a bigger margin of error with those two issues, but it isn’t the end all be all as Jarvis Landry showed everyone last year.
“The main takeaway is that speed can help, but one needs to do so many other things well to be a complete receiver in the NFL.”- Mike Renner
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However, this stat is also a little misleading. For instance, I don’t know if he counted John Brown of the Arizona Cardinals as a top two wide receiver, because of how many positions he played on the field. Despite what you call him, he had nearly 700 yards receiving last year and was a key part of their offense.
Speed is great in a receiver, but all this does is remind us that maybe players like Kevin White and Breshad Perriman shouldn’t be favored over polished route runners Alabama receiver Amari Cooper. Having said that, Kevin White does have a lot of other tools and is the best high-pointing wide receiver in the 2015 NFL Draft.
If the Tennessee Titans trade back in the 2015 NFL Draft, fans shouldn’t be afraid of drafting a player like Kevin White, but it may be time to be wary of a pure speed-demon like Breshad Perriman.