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Greg Cosell on WR Position & WR Prospect Randle

Greg Cosell of NFL Films has an article on Wide Receivers in the draft and their use in the NFL. It is a very interesting read but I will share this part about Rueben Randle here:

A big wide receiver who I believe can align on the outside and run the complete route tree is LSU’s Rueben Randle (6-3, 210). The more games I watch, the more I like Randle. He is smooth and athletic, with better acceleration off the ball than either Jeffery or Sanu. In some ways, he reminds me of the New York GiantsHakeem Nicks, who was not drafted until the 29th pick in the first round in 2009. Nicks was the fifth wide receiver selected that year (after Darrius Heyward-Bey, Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin and Percy Harvin), but he’s clearly been the most productive of the bunch. Where Nicks has been very effective — and I project Randle playing a similar role — is at "x iso", the single receiver to one side of the formation. When you’re aligned at "x," you must be able to win versus man coverage.

I have been banging the Rueben Randle drum for a while now as I feel he is the best fit for the kind of scheme the Panthers run and even more so if you want to find to replace Smitty (not that he will necessarily be as good as Smitty). The other guys in the draft that have received a lot of attention are Blackmon, Floyd and Kendall Wright. They are are different types but there is little to separate them overall and I would say that the Panthers would probably have Randle rated higher than any of them.

Greg Cosell also shares a lot of his thoughts om twitter and I strongly recommend following him. Here are some recent tweets on the same topic:

Who's most physically talented WR in NFL? Player you could line up on outside + he coud consistently win one-on-one v. good corners

WR Hill difficult eval. Ran few routes at GT. Straight line WR who didn't play as fast on film as timed Combine 40. Minus lateral quicks.

Coryell offense: WR attack vertical seams. Skinny posts, Run thru windows. Downfield throws. Long to short. Speed cuts. Smaller quicker WR.

No WR in this draft as good as A. Johnson or C. Johnson when they came out. Blackmon/Floyd not in that category. Randle intrigues me most.

Don't think Blackmon/Floyd at same level as Green from last yr. Neither has that kind of explosion. But can only eval players in given draft

Asked re: Floyd. See some D. Bowe in him. Big WR with better quicks and movement the more I watched. Think I like Floyd more than Blackmon.

Be interesting to see where Wright goes. Explosive vertically on film. Question is can align on the outside. Is he D. Jackson, or just slot?

There is more discussion on WRs and it's really worth following Greg Cosell regularly, especially this time of the year. I was particularly interested in his views on Randle and other WRs that have been rated highly in this draft.

Time for a poll....

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