Deeper Dives Update
Deeper Dives on Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Xavier Restrepo, and Jayden Higgins can be found on this post below.
There have been Age Lists and Grade Lists so far, but we’re deep enough into the process that I am releasing the first version of the “Master Document,” which should ultimately house everything. This document has all of the write-ups through the ones included in this post, and both the updated Age List and updated Grades List can be found at the bottom of the page. I will likely create a new master document for version 2.0, but this Master Document will cover probably 60% of the full Deeper Dive list. Future versions of this document will update with official and combine measurements.
The Document has full profiles for 17 Players (Devin Neal, Luther Burden III, Kaleb Johnson, Tetairoa McMillan, Ollie Gordon II, Tre Harris, Colston Loveland, Jalen Royals, Omarion Hampton, Elic Ayomanor, Ricky White III, Brashard Smith, Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Xavier Restrepo, & Jayden Higgins) with grades for 9 more (Ashton Jeanty, Cam Skattebo, Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, Jordan James, Damien Martinez, Tez Johnson, Harold Fannin Jr., and Mason Taylor).
Feel free to Share the document with whomever you wish. The Podcast, Substack, and Donation Link (see below) should all be well represented.
The first page has contents listed by page. The full master document can be found here:
2025 Prospect Master Document version 1.0
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DONATION LINK ADDED
It’s a new year now, and the Fantasy for Real podcast and Substack have operated through 75 Episodes without funds, sponsors, or donations. This is an independent passion project, and so my first goal with this link is simple: getting money for my upcoming round of annual subscriptions (such as PFF) used to help inform the podcast, as well as paying back audio equipment purchased for sound quality. No official goal has been added, but this would be a good start. The podcast will likely be cutting back at least a bit compared to this year when it comes to in-season content, but donations can also help to make sure that any form of year-round content is sustainable. While the audio equipment and research resources cost directly, as hopefully the above Master Document shows, they are actually the smaller cost compared to time.
I expect most donations to be small ($2-$5) and I would obviously discourage anyone from donating who cannot afford it, but if you can afford it, it would be greatly appreciated. For those that can afford it, larger donations are appreciated as well.
https://buymeacoffee.com/fantasyforreal
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DEEPER DIVE #13:
Is Shedeur Sanders Still in the QB1 Discussion?
Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Age: 23.07
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 215 lbs
There are few players in any class as controversial as Shedeur Sanders. A former 3* recruit who was given far more credit after two years at Jackson State, the son of Deion Sanders may not be quite what you expect physically. While 6' 2", 215 lbs does not make Sanders a particularly small QB, he does not have the ideal build, and likewise is not graded by myself or the consensus as having a particularly strong arm (compared to a top-tier prospect) or high-tier mobility. Still, Sanders does possess perhaps the best potential starting QB profile in this class. Sanders is a tough QB with excellent ball placement and a developed sense of reading defenses, at least from what we can see so far through his Colorado tenure. Sanders' age is not really an issue in any way, but it is worth noting that he is closer to the standard for a 5th year senior than a 4th year senior, as Sanders was closer to 19.5 when he first started for Jackson State. On that note of playing for both Jackson State and Colorado, Shedeur Sanders is in the unique position of having been coached directly by his father for at least the last 8 years (4 Years in HS, 2 Years at Jackson State, 2 Years at Colorado). This is likely not a variable to make much of, but it is at the least another indicator of some uniqueness to the background and storylines surrounding Shedeur Sanders. When it comes to the direct comparison between Sanders and Ward, while Ward may be the more physically talented player, there is a reasonable assumption in my eyes that Sanders is more likely to be a long-term NFL QB.
Sanders ability as a pure passer can be displayed simply by the fact that through his Colorado career, Sanders possessed a Completion% of 71.8% with a 74% Completion% in his final year. While I may be the first to mention how Comp% can become an overrated statistic, hitting as high as 74% definitely can give some indication of a general knack for consistency and repeatability. Similarly, according to PFF, Sanders was 2nd in Adjusted Completion% and 3rd in Passing Grade, signaling more signs of potential consistency. Sanders YPA efficiency also increased from 7.5 to 8.7, and while his INTs increased from year 1 to year 2, Sanders' overall ability to limit disastrous decisions was solid throughout his career. The biggest concern with Sanders comes from his relaxed nature under pressure. Sanders is not completely without natural ability when it comes to evading the pass rush, but his decision to evade or maneuver away from the pass rush often comes far too late. He did improve his pressure-to-sack% from 2023 to 2024, but that number is still a potential red flag. Among the top 100 QBs in CFB, Shedeur Sanders was 71st in Pressure-to-Sack% and 86th in Time-To-Throw. This is the biggest concern with Sanders as it has potential to unravel the idea that Sanders is the higher floor QB between himself and Cam Ward. While I still believe this to be the case at this time, there are certainly identifiable pitfalls within Sanders' game that could lead to his ultimate demise.
For this Deeper Dive, we will be using this Every Throw & Run video against Baylor:
While there is plenty of positive to be found in this video, if we start right off the top, we see Sanders taking consecutive sacks in the first two plays. Now the second sack will be called back on an offsides, but from a pure-reactions perspective, you would still like Sanders to be able to get rid of that ball and potentially take advantage of the penalty. What's perhaps most notable about this game is that against Baylor, Sanders had his best rushing performance of his CFB Career. This is not a particular strength of his game, but at 1:45, 2:20, 6:30, 11:20, and 18:10, we see what the mobility potential is with Shedeur Sanders. In particular, the play at 6:30 shows some of the toughness and ability to slip through at least some potential tacklers in the backfield. The more impressive feats from most of Sanders' tape though will be his passing plays. For example, at 3:10 Sanders ropes a deep throw down the left sideline with excellent placement to give his WR a legitimate fighting shot. And while Sanders' play at 6:30 ended in rushing yards, there are a few good examples on this tape where Sanders' ability to escape translates into potential downfield passing success. While the play at 3:40 is not a particularly large gain, it is an impressive throw and decision moving to his left. And at 8:00, Sanders escapes to make an excellent down field throw. Some traits are easy to see in singular plays, but throughout the video it is also easy to see the toughness consistently on display with Shedeur Sanders.
Ultimately, on the Athletic Football Show, they have liked to play a game before of "Star, Starter, Bust," which is essentially looking at prospects by those three outcomes. While we haven't dug into Cam Ward yet (up next), the biggest dynamic between these two may be how they rank differently in those categories. Cam Ward is clearly the player who I would grade more highly as a prospect in the "Star" category. He has more traits that align with past MVPs and superstars. However, despite having some issues with pressure and speeding up his timing, Sanders in my eyes is clearly the more likely player to avoid being a bust and have success as a long term starter. It is curious that since the Titans received the #1 Overall pick that Ward has been gaining steam as the 1.01. Perhaps there is something about the Titans owner that makes people think it will be Ward, but I wonder if it is just the case that Sanders is more difficult to take with the #1 Overall pick now that we're finally in the place where theory becomes reality. In a draft like 2024 where both QBs would be pushed down, maybe we see a greater chance of Sanders going over Ward. But in an arena where one has to be the #1 Overall pick, I can see the "Star" potential with Ward winning out for the Titans. QB grades can be a bit difficult to translate, but I would have Sanders closer to a top 10 to top 15 Overall Pick Grade compared to the top 3 grade of the top 3 prospects last year, though in this starved environment, that may be worth even the #1 Overall Pick.
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DEEPER DIVE #14:
Cam Ward, QB, Miami (FL)
Age: 23.03
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 223 lbs
Coming out of HS, Cam Ward was a complete unknown to pretty much anyone in the scouting community. He received zero offers from top division schools, and only one offer to play FCS Football at Incarnate Word. In HS, he ran a throw-back, rush-heavy offense which failed to showcase his abilities as a passer, but one spring 2020 season later, and Cam Ward would be a Jerry Rice Award Winner (FCS Freshman of the Year) being discussed as a potential future NFL Draft Pick. After two years with Incarnate Word, Ward transferred to Washington State (Wazzu), and then to Miami (FL) after another two years. Across his five years of starting, Ward has made continual progress. When Ward first burst onto the scene, I described him first as a player that I wanted to love, but in earnest felt that I could not love because there were too many things holding him back. Over the course of the last two years, Ward has become a player that I am finally starting to truly love, and not just want to love when it comes to the skillset. At 6' 2", 233 lbs, Ward has very good size, solid mobility, and a great arm for the position. On top of this, while he is a fifth year senior, he is at least a bit young for that distinction. He is younger than Shedeur Sanders despite graduating HS one year sooner.
Cam Ward was tremendous in 2024, compiling almost 40 Passing TDs, over 4,000 yards, and completing 67% of his passes alongside an elite PFF Passing Grade. In short, on the surface, it is everything you want to see in a peak season. The biggest leaps for Cam Ward come primarily from the Big Time Throw category on PFF. While Ward has always had a theoretically high-upside arm, at least by the statistics and observations that I see, Ward did not access that arm through higher-end throws very often in his first year and even in his first two years. In his two years with Wazzu, Ward had 34 Big Time Throws against 42 Turnover Worthy Plays. Whether directly or indirectly, this BTT:TWP number is likely a driving reason why Ward was not seemingly sought after by the NFL this time last season. In his final season, Ward still had more TWPs than you would like to see, but his overall comparison between the two finally started looking fairly positive. However, it is that Turnover Worthy Play number we have to continue to monitor. Going into the comparison between the two QBs here, while Sanders threw for more INTs in 2024, PFF at the least suggests that this was more of a matter of fortune. Sanders had 7 TWPs (1.2%) in 2024 compared to 17 (3.1%) for Ward. Ward has also had a fumbling problem throughout his career, though this was less of an issue in 2024. One final bit of context between Sanders and Ward is that I see many claiming Sanders' hype comes from social media awareness or popularity, but ultimately the biggest "social media" misconception about these teams I see is that Travis Hunter being a high-profile WR makes people fundamentally believe that Sanders had more to work with. This is faulty. Not only did Cam Ward have a depth of very solid WRs that ran 3-4 deep and a better OL, but we can very easily demonstrate the effect of the latter by looking at each team's rushing success. Ward's Miami team ran for 201.6 Rushing YPG at 6.4 YPC. Sander's Colorado team ran for 94.2 Rushing YPG at 4.1 YPC. There are very few QBs that I know of who would trade a better OL and significantly superior running game solely for a better #1 WR. Considering the depth Miami has to work with at the position, Ward clearly had more offensive talent surrounding him, and it isn't particularly close. With that in mind, the biggest concern with Ward is that in this breakout season, he truly didn't play a top-tier defense. Even within the ACC, Ward and Miami never played a team with a better than 5-3 conference record. There were 2-3 playoff teams that schedule in the ACC (Clemson, SMU, and Notre Dame) and Miami managed to avoid them all. While I would have liked to see both prospects in the playoffs, Sanders has two years that are far more consistent than Ward's final two years, and with that in mind, I really wanted to see Cam Ward have an opportunity in the CFB Playoff.
For this brief film session, I've selected perhaps the best Cam Ward game you can possibly watch, which is Cam Ward against Virginia Tech from this past year, which can be found here:
This game is the perfect encapsulation of Cam Ward, because he both is at least partially responsible for the situation he gets his team into, and is the heroic figure that digs them out of disaster. Right away in the video, we can see one of Cam Ward's biggest calling cards: making a bad situation worse. At 0:20, Miami is staring at a 3-and-out, but instead of just taking a bad/negative play, Ward tries to flick the ball out at the last second and leads to a turnover in plus-territory. And, while I give him some excuse for throwing a TD on the previous play called back due to penalty (2:50), Ward at 3:05 has an opportunity even with a Field Goal to put his team up 2 scores. Instead, an INT and a good runback put Virginia Tech in position to tie the game. 14-7 is the last lead Miami would see until they took the lead 38-34 at the end of the game, so this is a massive sliding doors moment for this game and particularly would have been if Miami lost by a hair instead of winning in the end. And just to cover our bases, Ward does throw another interception into double coverage at 6:15 to start the second half. Luckily the defense starts to strengthen, and Ward is able to lead three consecutive TD drives capped off by the kind of ridiculous creation ability that makes Ward such an intriguing player (10:30). While I didn't highlight many plays specifically showcasing his arm, Ward's arm is definitively better than Shedeur Sander's, and can be seen throughout the film. He even has some very nice placements down field like on the pass at 0:49. And while Ward does have a high-level of escapability in the pocket, it is also his desire to make that translate into passing plays like at 4:45 which showcase why Ward's upside at the next level is so intriguing.
My final verdict for Cam Ward in terms of grade has not changed over the last couple of days, but I wonder if the tone might have changed a bit; over the last several days there seems to be a louder chorus that believes that the pick at 1.01 is very clear and evident. Specifically, that Ward is ridiculously over-scrutinized and that Shedeur Sanders gets off light. To my knowledge, I have no direct affinity, relationship, investment, or anything else between these two QBs, and I find that notion to be without a doubt absurd. Since settling into the world where one of these QBs will definitely go 1.01, I can absolutely see all the reasons why you would start to push to Ward: if this was last year and neither QB was going top 3, maybe you do lean on Shedeur more because if he's going a bit later, you can more easily stomach the lack of high-upside tools. But at 1.01, I do see where the theoretically capped upside of someone with Shedeur's traits would push probably the majority of the teams in Cam Ward's direction. However, Cam Ward's final season does deserve a fair bit of scrutiny. The schedule was fairly soft-- again not because of the ACC, but their schedule within the ACC-- the OL pretty good, the WR room was pretty deep, and the running game was excellent (200+ Rush YPG when removing Sack losses). These aren't reasons to dismiss or discount Cam Ward outright, but they are at least reasons why as much as I didn't believe they SHOULD make it, I personally did want to see Miami and Cam Ward get the playoff opportunity against a tougher test. With Sanders, I brought up the Star / Starter / Bust game from the Athletic, and I'm going to do that once more here: the biggest gap for me between these two prospects is that Ward scores far higher in Star, but also far higher in bust. While Sanders has pitfalls of his own, the pitfalls of Ward are more numerous, scare me more, and the situation that helped alleviate them may be too favorable to recreate at the NFL level. Still, he is as good of a QB prospect as we have in this 2025 Class. Both Sanders and Ward have grades from me that hover between a top 10 to top 20 Overall pick in the NFL Draft, though obviously the inflation of QB need will push them higher in our real draft this April.
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DEEPER DIVE #15:
Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
Age: 22.03
Height: 6’ 1”
Weight: 185 lbs
Possibly the most interesting prospect I’ve ever had to evaluate, the strangest variable with Travis Hunter is that everything written in this Deeper Dive is irrelevant next to the ultimate decision of what position Hunter plays or plays primarily. Hunter is not just someone who dabbles on one side of the ball or the other, but is one of the only genuine two-way prospects we have ever seen. In 2024, PFF totaled Hunter as playing 776 Defensive Snaps and running 502 Routes, which was the 6th highest route total of any WR in CFB last season. Coming out of HS, Travis Hunter was considered an elite HS recruit, ranking either 1st or 2nd Overall and as a clear and consensus 5-Star prospect. And given the nature of his talent, this would have probably been the case regardless of position. Travis Hunter’s recruitment was one of the biggest recruiting flips in recent memory– plausibly of all-time– as Hunter was widely considered to be a lock to go to Florida State before being pulled away to go to a lower division HBCU coached by Deion Sanders, Jackson State. Hunter would spend one year with Sanders at Jackson State before following Sanders to play for Colorado for the next two seasons. Hunter played some WR at Jackson State, but was notably discussed as being a feature WR for the Buffalos as they transitioned to FBS football, and since that transition has been one of the best and most dynamic WRs without any volume adjustment in CFB.
Starting with the most basic numbers, over the course of two seasons and 22 Games for Colorado, Travis Hunter has compiled 153 Receptions, 1,979 Yards, and 20 TDs. On top of this, most of Hunter’s poorer performances can be directly tied to the injuries he suffered in 2023 and 2024. That question of durability will exist particularly if he does dabble on both sides of the ball or even more, but it is worth noting still that when healthy, Hunter has been a monster. Hunter managed to compile over 30% of his team’s receiving yards, 40% of his team’s receiving TDs, and also had a Y/RR above 2 in each of the last two seasons, rising to 2.51 in this past season. Hunter also displays every sign we are looking for in the advanced numbers. Not only do his ball skills get a lot of praise and press, but he has converted 11 of 16 Contested Catch Opportunities according to PFF, a very high percentage, and has only 3 Drops in his last 195 targets. He also has 18 and 24 Missed Tackles Forced in each of the past two years, scoring him as one of the best receivers in this category in this class. Simply put, despite playing as a full-time Defensive Back, Travis Hunter managed to check every single box I look for without any sort of adjustment for playing time or any other imaginable excuse we could come up with. Hunter needs no excuses because his production is just that darn good.
It likely wasn’t necessary to use two games for Hunter, but I wanted to start with this first game against Texas Tech just to showcase purely the YAC upside and physical running ability of Travis Hunter.
Since we’re really only talking about one trait we can probably talk about all the plays together here, but throughout this video at 0:00, 1:20, and 1:45, Hunter utilizes his speed and physicality to make defenders miss, gain tough yardage, and extend plays into potentially explosive areas. The primary video for this review though is Hunter’s game against Oklahoma State:
The biggest calling card for Hunter are likely his ball skills, and throughout the video including at 0:30, 2:30, and 2:55, we see that Hunter both possesses excellent hands, and is also quite physical at the catch point. 2:55 in particular is a play that Hunter could have easily faded away from, but fought through to make an excellent grab. While this is probably too small of a moment to make this much of, the head fake at 1:50 reminds me of all the discussion around Hunter playing both sides of the ball, and the idea that even if he does not stick at both, perhaps understanding the mindset of each position more completely could be an advantage. When I see creativity in his route process, it makes me think that Hunter is a player who can more easily understand naturally when creativity can be effective.
Ultimately, there are certain players where controversy makes them someone we need to discuss more often and in greater detail. Travis Hunter feels like the rare case where that is actually the opposite. There is a massive amount of controversy when it comes to how Hunter should be valued, but there seems to be almost no utility in discussing it any further. If, at the NFL Draft, Travis Hunter decided to announce he was forgoing Defense for the remainder of his career, he would be among the top prospects in this class. While some doubt his upside at just one position, I do not. This is a special WR prospect. However, if it seems that the plan for Hunter is to focus on defense while using him in packages on offense, I don’t know how you can plausibly draft him with a remotely high fantasy pick. For Fantasy Football, I hope that Travis Hunter plays WR for a long time. For the NFL, frankly I hope he plays both ways because that would be the most intriguing and interesting. Most likely, we probably still won’t know what to do with Travis Hunter for a very, very long time, and likely even after the NFL Draft. Since most of my grades are NFL related, Hunter will be given the top 3 grade as his special talent deserves. This is also the highest NFL Grade on this board at any position.
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DEEPER DIVE #16:
Xavier Restrepo, WR, Miami (FL)
Age: 23.04
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 198 lbs
A fifth-year senior who spent all five-years at Miami, Xavier Restrepo has over time developed into a model of consistency for the Hurricanes. Formerly a 3-Star Recruit, Restrepo does not have necessarily the size or explosive upside that normally create a top-tier draft prospect, but he has been a reliable producer each of the past two seasons. At 23.04, Restrepo is one of the older players in this class, and that ties into those last two seasons of production; while they were very solid, it is worth mentioning that Restrepo’s first three seasons in CFB were fairly unproductive. Overall, one of the biggest questions for Restrepo will be what specific position(s) he fits into the best. Most likely, Restrepo will play quite often from the slot, but is he exclusively a slot-only player, or someone who can be a bit more of a hybrid?
The lack of early production and 23+ Year declare age are going to be two of the biggest detractors for Restrepo analytically. Restrepo did have a significant foot injury during his 3rd season, and his 1st season was 2020 / COVID-19, so there are at least some viable excuses for Restrepo, but we would still like to see significantly more production within the first three years of a player’s career. However, over the last two seasons, Restrepo has been a very solid compiler, totaling 154 Receptions, over 2,200 Receiving Yards, and 17 Receiving TDs. While these numbers are impressive, it doesn’t necessarily help that Cam Ward was his QB for 2024, and Ward was obviously highly productive. In fact, using the proportional numbers we lean on for this analysis and show, Restrepo scored more highly in 2023 than in 2024. While there are some volume concerns with Restrepo, the last two years have showcased a multi-faceted ability that does have significant appeal for the next level. Restrepo has converted a higher percentage of his contested catch targets, has a low drop rate overall, and has been very solid in forcing missed tackles as a ball carrier. Overall, Restrepo’s Yards per Route Run over the last two years is a very solid 2.60. So while there are some concerns about the ultimate volume and analytical upside, Restrepo does showcase consistency, reliability, and several positive traits within the last two years.
There isn’t too much to discuss here with Restrepo, but I did select this game against California to go over a few small notes:
The biggest concern with Restrepo in my eyes is that while it is easy to see many of the aspects of repeatable route running in his game, for a player who lacks some of the physical upside we are looking for in a WR prospect, Miami does utilize motion and scheme quite often to get Restrepo involved. This is obviously not inherently a bad thing, but for a player whose entire game will be built off his ability to separate on the interior, I would just simply like to see a few more reps where he had to beat a man lined up across from him. This occurs at plays like 1:21. While Restrepo is not the largest WR, nor the most dynamic, he does have some savvy ability as a YAC receiver as displayed at 2:02. Considering that we are focused on Fantasy Football, one of the biggest concerns is the alignment which is involved with those motion plays mentioned above as well. It isn’t that Restrepo never lines up outside, but this is certainly not the way Miami prefers to get him the ball.
There are a few players every year who I’m not necessarily against going to my NFL team, but I question what the fantasy upside in particular might be. The top two players who fit that bill for this class are Xavier Restrepo and Tez Johnson. While I do see an avenue where Restrepo becomes a volume impact player, most likely his limitations that force him to likely be a slot-heavy player or slot-only player will limit that volume impact at the next level. Restrepo is not particularly large, and does not seem to be quite as explosive as someone like Ladd McConkey. Restrepo’s later breakout and older age are also indicators of potentially a lower overall ceiling. All of that considered though, Restrepo is still a player who scores highly for his potential reliability. If he is a player who can become a “QB’s best friend” at the next level, perhaps he could have some long term relevance playing mostly from the slot. With that in mind, I do have Xavier Restrepo as a solid 3rd Round Grade, and we will see what his exact numbers look like for an Inside/Outside translation after the NFL Combine.
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DEEPER DIVE #17:
Jayden Higgins, WR, Iowa St.
Age: 22.09 (Reported)
Height: 6’ 4”
Weight: 215 lbs
Jayden Higgins is another prospect from this class that came into the CFB space as a bit of an unheralded player. Higgins first attended Eastern Kentucky, a lower division school, and spent two years building his profile into one that would attract a power conference school. In his 3rd year out of HS, he transferred to Iowa State, where he would spend his next two seasons. While his impact took a while to get going in that first year, since about mid-way through 2023, Higgins has been one of the most productive WR in College Football. And while we do not have a lot of positive information about Higgins coming from the HS Scouting department, we can at least look at Higgins and acknowledge that he has excellent size for an NFL WR playing on the outside. Listed at 6’4” and 215 lbs, Higgins clearly has the physical traits in his size and length to translate as an outside WR. There was no listed DOB for Higgins that I have found yet, but I do have a DOB reported to me that is currently being listed.
While Higgins has very good numbers overall when just glancing over his Box Score, since the Cincinnati game mid-way through the 2023 season, Higgins has played in 19 Games against FBS competition, and in those 19 Games he has 118 Receptions, 1,825 Yards, and 11 TDs. In his final season with Iowa State, Higgins totaled 34% of Receptions, 36% of Yards, and 41% of Receiving TDs, all numbers that are excellent for a peak season. Not only that, but Higgins was both a model of consistency, and a player that checked many of our analytical boxes as well. While Higgins does not get the press of Tetairoa McMillan or Elic Ayomanor, compared to those other X-type WRs, Higgins has been by far the most consistent with his hands. Higgins has totaled only 2, 1, and 1 drops according to PFF in his last 3 years, or 4 Total Drops in 295 Targets, an excellent rate. Higgins has also converted a good percentage of his contested catch opportunities, and crucially Higgins has been very solid in forcing missed tackles as well, with a dozen at least in each of the past two seasons. So while we do have to question some aspects of the later breakout, later declare, and testing physicality when it comes to Jayden Higgins, his actual performance and production scores as a player still under 23 YO by draft age are extremely encouraging.
While the biggest questions with Higgins explosiveness might be best answered by the Combine and reactions surrounding it, we can at least look through a game or two of his film to try to make some determinations about what he does well, and this game against Baylor has been selected:
There is only so much to be seen on any of these Youtube videos, but I appreciate how this one right away shows what would likely be a successful Jayden Higgins’ bread & butter at the next level: the quick, physical slant. Higgins takes this slant at the 0:00 mark, and while he does not do too much with it, he does showcase his physicality as a ball carrier. Higgins is a tough tackle particularly for undersized defensive backs, and that can become a match-up problem at the next level. In terms of his ball skills, Higgins is consistent throughout his career with his hands and avoiding drops, though potentially there are some plays where you could see the ball get into his body. Still, considering that drops and contested catches have been areas of strength, I’m not too concerned about this. And at 1:35, Higgins showcases the ability to maintain his concentration and adjust to a tipped pass. Being able to make these concentration and adjustment catches will be crucial for Higgins, whose size will give his QBs a greater margin for error.
Jayden Higgins is another WR among a bucket of WRs listed near each other around the 3rd Round of my grades, but Higgins is one in particular where I see some upward mobility even between now and the draft. Higgins will be a Senior Bowl participant, and if he tests well enough, will continue to build a profile that can begin to look like simply someone who was unheralded in HS and took a couple of years to make-up for that gap. Between excellent size, reliable hands, and some potential juice as a ball carrier, Higgins is one of my favorite bets for upside among these 3rd Round Grades, and could easily find himself closer to the 2nd Round when we get closer to the NFL Draft.
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Thanks,
C.J.
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