#11 Dominick Blaylock – WR – Georgia
Dominick measures the same height and weight as Stefon Diggs, but misses the mark on the forty. 4.68 seconds is about two tenths slower, and is one of the slowest measured for the 2019 freshmen. Watching the video, I see a player who has great hands due to catching ducks from his high school quarterback. He did some wildcat rushing and made good moves to make defenders miss. He knows when to jump to catch jump balls and has good body control in traffic, but doesn’t run by defenders. Blaylock might be a slot receiver at the next level but will need to work on his route running to get separation from good corners and safeties.
#12 Frank Ladson Jr. – WR – Clemson
Frank will be fighting for the crown of best college reciever very soon. Not as highly recruited as Jadon but slightly faster with the same size. Unofficially listed with a 4.4 forty, he has some juice to go with being on one of the best offenses in college football. He looks very good during the spring game and had a connection with backup quarterback, Taisun Phommachanh, that seems like a preview of the future. If Ladson Jr. can add 15-20 pounds of muscle, he compares to stars like Larry Fitzgerald and Alshon Jeffery in speed and height, but needs to work on catching more with his hands and not so much with his body.
#13 Jayden Daniels – QB – Arizona State
ASU has recruited three freshmen quarterbacks, and Daniels is the highest rated of the trio. At 6’3”, he has the height to add enough muscle to the 180 pounds he already has which will help him to not get broken when he takes off on a scramble. Classified as a dual threat due to his high school’s use of the quarterback option run. However, a very impressive arm allows him to hit 30-40 yard throws while on the move. If Jayden had 30 more pounds of muscle and kept his forty time nearly the same, he would be very easily compared to Patrick Mahomes. His college coach is a wildcard and the path to starting is murky, but if he gets playing time watch out for some bombs going deep in the desert.
#14 Hudson Henry – TE – Arkansas
Hudson Henry looks a whole lot like his brother, Hunter Henry. Beyond the facial similarities, he does have the same height, but is 20 pounds lighter. He doesn’t have a listed forty time but shows good speed on film when running away from high school defensive backs and linebackers. He threw a couple of pancake blocks when lined up as a blocker and seems strong enough to push people around at the point of attack. Henry accurately set some good edge blocks and had some impressive runs during shovel pass plays. Hopefully he follows a similar developmental path as his brother, excluding the knee injuries, and becomes apart of another sibling pair in the NFL.
#15 George Pickens – WR – Georgia
Lots of good film of Pickens catching balls in traffic against high school kids who are many inches shorter than him. Sitting at 190 pounds at 6’3” means he needs 20 pounds of muscle to fit into any comparison of an NFL player. Running a 4.73 forty basically means that unless that time drops two or three tenths of a second, he will likely go undrafted akin to 2019 rookie, Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who was a big slow receiver at Texas. He is on this list due to his skills and route running along with the hope he manages to drop that forty time while adding some weight. He is certainly a skilled player and very strong. Beyond his one measurable that screams beware, he has a good shot of making noise in college football.
#16 Kyle Ford – WR – USC
Possessing elite size at 6’2” and 210 pounds while only having one concern with a 4.65 forty that puts him slower than the vast majority of NFL wide receivers, Ford looks like a straight line burner without the time to back it up. On tape, Ford runs past and jumps higher than the high school kids trying to cover him. His 35 inch vertical is on full display with multiple tough catches due to close coverage. The lack of separation could be a concern when the college and NFL quality corners can jump just as high. Hopefully Kyle uses his time in college to expand his route tree, and he can fully reach his potential. As of right now, he has the body, but just needs to work on his craft and technique to move up the list.
#17 Jeremiah Payton – WR – Miami
Miami rounded up Payton’s numbers to 6’1” and 195, and yet he is still a lithe figure on the football field. Used as a wildcat runner in high school, he set up blockers intelligently and skitters around the field making defensive players miss. As a route runner, he catches the ball with his hands and moves into open space on the field with ease. His biggest knock is the 4.74 forty time, but that time is over eighteen months old. A 32 inch vertical is also disappointing, but that measurement is just as old as the forty time. Payton has a body type and skill set that is akin to Stefon Diggs. However, reaching a similar level depends on improving his measurables and overall athleticism during his time in college.
#18 Keon Zipperer – TE – Florida
Talented, strong, and possessing great ratios for his size. Zipperer has very good speed to go with a strong vertical which makes him stand out on special teams as well as in the open field catching passes. He will likely find playing time quickly in college, but will have to show vast improvement in route running and strength to get an NFL team to overlook his 6’2” height as a tight end. As a worst case, I can see him being a force on special teams at the NFL level.
#19 Baylor Cupp – TE – Texas A&M
Cupp is probably the most physically gifted athlete on this list. He is listed at 6’6” and 240 pounds, but is likely to measure a bit smaller. Still, he shows a physicality when blocking that makes the negative marks look miniscule. Cupp regularly knocks players to the ground when blocking, and seeks out more contact after the first pancake. His pass catching ability is suspect due to his habit of catching the ball while standing still which might be a result of his quarterback not judging his speed accurately, regardless, that is something he will have to work on. Speed is no issue relative to his size as his tape shows him running away from defenders and catching up to his running back to lay a block. If his measurements are accurate, he adds muscle in college, and works on his route running, Cupp could eventually be a player taken early in the NFL draft.
#20 Noah Cain – RB – Penn State
Cain should see a 5-10 pound gain in muscle while being at the running back factory that is Penn State. If that happens, his style and body type will resemble that of Kareem Hunt and Alvin Kamara respectively. He catches passes out of the backfield and quickly turns them into huge gains. He takes a hand off up the middle and deftly finds the hole and runs through arm tackles. One defender is not enough to bring down the balanced powerful runs. His 4.65 forty time is not as fast as the top three backs in this class, but if that time drops into the 4.5 range his other measurements will be comparable to his classmates. Keep an eye out for this back, maybe stash him deep in a devy draft and hope Penn State can turn another player into a monster.