Sidney Rice WR South Carolina
STRENGTHS
Sidney is a tall, gangly WR that has good speed and quickness for his position. He runs solid routes and has strong hands to snatch the ball out of the air. He shows balanced body control to adjust to the ball in the air and is a very smart WR. Sidney has the speed and quickness to go deep and knows how to sit down against a zone defense and help his QB out. He looks like Randy Moss out on the field, but plays like Andre’ Reed. Sidney is a complete WR. He is tall with speed and quickness, runs good routes with a burst out of his cuts, is a strong blocker and is smart. Sidney is one of the top WR’s in a draft that is loaded with good WR’s.
NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Sidney has that pipe-cleaner type body that might have trouble holding up to the pounding that a WR takes at the next level. He is strong, but lacks the bulk to protect his body from injuries when going over the middle on crossing routes.
TALENT BOARD ROUND: 1
I had to nit-pick a bit on Sidney because he is such a complete WR and should be able to help the team that drafts him right away. But, I do worry about a player with his body type being able to handle the pounding at the next level that a franchise WR has to take. This would not stop me from drafting Sidney in the first round and out of all the WR’s in this draft coming out, he is the most complete. There is not much that this kid does not do on the field; he caught on to Steve Spurrier’s offensive system very quickly, which is a hard system for many WR’s to grasp. Sidney is an excellent WR and if he can take the pounding, he should be an excellent WR for the team that drafts him.
- Drew Boylhart (thehuddlereport.com)
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Robert Meacham WR Tennessee
STRENGTHS
Robert has good size, strength and speed for his position. He has great hands, will go after the ball in the air and fight for it. Robert shows decent quickness to go along with his speed and runs fine routes. He reminds me a lot of Rod Smith (WR Denver Broncos). He has that same type of quiet efficiency, mental strength and dependability to his game. Robert is a franchise WR. He is a WR you can build your passing game around. He has the speed to get deep, the size and strength to avoid being knocked off his route, the brains to adjust his route on the fly, the soft hands to catch the ball, the quickness in and out of his breaks and the “leadership by example” qualities that you look for in a franchise WR. He is a worker with talent just like Rod Smith was.
NEEDS TO IMPROVE
More than anything else, Robert needs to build confidence in himself and his game on the field. This will come with repetitions and experience and should not be a big problem.
TALENT BOARD ROUND: 1
Robert is a hard worker and every time I saw him play this year, he improved from the game before. He improved doing the little things. He started to get lower when blocking, he was quicker off the line, he ran his routes with just a little bit more precision than the game before and he did all of this in spite of the QB position that was erratic to say the least. Robert is a franchise WR because of his talent and work ethic on the field. He is the only WR in this draft that improved from game to game and still is learning; I don’t believe he’s in for a shock at the next level. If Robert works out well at the combine, you are going to see some teams rate him above Calvin Johnson because, even though he is still learning the position, his game is more mature at this stage than Calvin’s is and he has as much athletic ability to impact as Calvin does. Personally, for me, Calvin and Robert will be in my top ten picks of this draft -- that’s how good their potential is to impact at the next level. I don’t know at what pick in this draft Robert will be drafted, but I do know this: this draft class has overall excellent talent, but a host of players coming out with character and work ethic issues. This is not the case for Robert.
- Drew Boylhart (thehuddlereport.com)
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Dwayne Bowe WR LSU
STRENGTHS
Dwayne is a very strong, powerful WR with excellent size for his position. He has good speed and great hands. He is an excellent blocker and is the “go to” WR for his college team. Dwayne is just this year discovering what fun it is to play this game when your team is counting on you to be the man. Dwayne plays the WR position with power -- not finesse. He likes being physical and catching the ball in traffic. He reminds me a lot of Eric Moulds WR Houston Texans.
NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Dwayne needs to get better in reading defenses and running routes as well as how to set up CB’s for the big play down the field. I have no doubt that he will work and improve and become one of the most consistent WR’s from this class.
TALENT BOARD ROUND: 1
I don’t know how many first downs Dwayne’s made for his team when they need one, but I can tell you this – I bet there is not another WR in college that is better than Dwayne at moving the chains for his team. Dwayne is a clutch WR that every team needs to be successful. Don’t be fooled -- he has the speed to go deep and he also has the strength to go up in the air and beat a double team. The big change for Dwayne’s game came after he had an eye operation and stopped double clutching the ball when it was thrown his way. His depth perception was askew, but the operation corrected this and now Dwayne is having fun playing the game. When push comes to shove, you need this kid on your team. You want this kid on your team and if you don’t pick him, I would rather you just go home and think about what the draft is all about. It’s about picking players that are winners. It’s not about picking players that have the best stats. Dwayne is the type of physical WR that every team needs to be successful. He blocks, he catches the ball when it’s thrown to him and he is a leader through his play on the field. I call him Dwayne (Clutch) Bowe.
- Drew Boylhart (thehuddlereport.com)