Green Bay Packers: 3 First Round Wide Receiver Prospects
By Kenny Jilek
Rashod Bateman – Minnesota
Out of these three guys, Bateman is the least like a pure slot and played on the outside quite a bit at Minnesota. His extra height over the other two makes him better at the catch point on jump balls, although he was shorter than expected when officially measured, coming in at about 6’0 flat when he had been listed at 6’2″.
In addition to his ability to make contested catches, he adjusts to the ball extremely well in the air and can contort his body to odd positions to make plays on slightly inaccurate balls. While he does possess an ability to make tough catches, he often drops the easier ones. When he’s coming across the middle, and he gets a bullet to get him on the run quickly, he was prone to some drops, and that kind of thing makes him less of an ideal slot. When he does catch it, though, he excels at getting upfield for some nice YAC.
His routes against man coverage is where he really thrives. He has a great release off the line, and if the corner is playing off, he can stem his routes well to get leverage to one side or the other. His favorite move at the top of his routes is hitting a quick hesitation to get the defensive back to relax for a second, and then he’ll make his cut. He’ll do it against man or zone, and it consistently throws defenders off.
In the open field, he’s fast, and he’s quick, but he doesn’t seem to have elite speed or elusiveness. His route running talents are best used out on the boundary instead of in the slot, so he could still be an option for Green Bay and have a role, but it’s not as easy of a fit as Moore.