Two-Tone Blue Dudes: Jayden Reed

With a Quick Note about Josh Downs & Nathaniel Dell

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Outside of JSN, there may not have been a more exciting wide receiver for me to write about. I should probably clarify, because I don’t think think he’s as exciting on tape as someone like Marvin Mims, but dammit, he’s just a freaking solid wide receiver, who is going to end up in Two-Tone Blue.

So, here’s a reminder for how we are using the Wide Receiver Traits Tool that paid subscribers have full access to:

• The Physical Traits

• The Athletic Traits

• The Advanced Metrics

• The On-The-Field Metrics

Each category is still worth 25 points. Here are the grades so far:

• Jalin Hyatt: 91/100 (1st Round Grade)

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 90/100 (1st Round Grade)

• Marvin Mims: 87.5/100 (High 2nd Round)

• Cedric Tillman: 87/100 (2nd Round Grade)

• Zay Flowers: 80.1/100 (2nd Round Grade)

• Tyler Scott: 78.9/100 (3rd Round Grade)

• Trey Palmer: 78/100 (3rd Round Grade)

The Too Short to Ride This Ride Guys: Tank Dell & Josh Downs

Tank Dell

• Physical Traits: 8/25

• Athletic Traits: 13.75/25

• Advanced Metrics: 20/25

• On-The-Field: 20.5/25

• Total Score: 63.75/100 (Low 4th Round Grade)

Josh Downs

• Physical Traits: 12.25/25

• Athletic Traits: 25/25

• Advanced Metrics: 21.75/25

• On-The-Field: 18.25/25

• Total Score: 77.25/100 (3rd Round Grade)

I am lumping these two guys in together. That may be unfair, but I do not think the Titans have true interest in these wide receivers. Here’s what I mean by that. We know they brought in Tank Dell for a Top-30 and had dinner/meeting with Downs (can’t recall right now which), but I don’t think the value is there for the Titans to be interested.

Now, say Dell or Downs fall because of their extreme height disadvantage into the 4th/5th round, I could see the Titans jumping on them. The Titans have shown interest in smaller wide receivers this year. here are the sub-70” tall guys they have shown interest in:

• DeMario Douglas

• Tre Tucker

• Xavier Smith

• Tyler Scott

• Ed Lee

So in addition to those two guys, they also are looking at these guys. What do they all have in common besides being exceptionally short? Returners. Ultimately, that’s whatI think these guys are being looked at in their role.

I got to watch Take Dell up close in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. His speed and short-area quickness is fantastic. He made a few highlight plays. The problem is, you’re seeing almost the same play over and over, from various accounts.

Ultimately, what you saw most of the week was him being pushed off routes and kind of disappearing when faced with bigger, more physical corners. He also didn’t look spectacular catching punts. however, to be fair, no one did besides Jayden Reed. Stoney Keeley and myself came away with the same thoughts (subscribe to his Patreon to get more on 100+ NFL Players):

I’m a little lower on Dell than most analysts seem to be. I feel like he’s a bit of a one-trick pony who is fast as lightning and electric in the open field with the ball in his hands. He’s a freestyle jitterbug that runs with creativity after the catch, but I do worry about his size (5’8” 163 lbs, sheesh), and he disappeared at times during Senior Bowl week going up against the physical press corners. He dropped punts. Overall, I just didn’t see the hype that everyone else did. His value to a franchise early on would be as a returner until he can prove he can develop as a more well-rounded receiver. 

Much like Dell, Downs is electric, and if anyone can become the outlier based on their tape it is definitely Josh Downs. He plays much bigger than his size indicates, and he can get open quickly. One of the best hands in the class, in my opinion.

The problem with that, is that his size severely limits what he can do for a team. On a team like the Chiefs or Rams where they use multiple wide receiver sets frequently, Downs would make sense. However, as Keeley put it:

I do think his size makes him a "no" for the Titans because it limits how many things he can do within this offense, and we know 'versatility' is a big thing for them right now. It's all the rage. In two tight end sets, I don't see Downs being one of the two receivers they'd want on the field. So, I don't think they'll invest the draft capital it'd take to get him because I'm not sure his skill set is that valuable to them.

I know it’s Short King Spring, and being a Petite Prince myself, that I should be above eliminating wide receivers because of their height, but it’s history. It would be a poor allocation of resources to use a 2nd or 3rd round pick on either of these wide receivers, when the pressing need is to find a starter opposite Burks on the outside.

The other issue is Kyle Philips. Make no bones about it, Downs is a much better prospect than Philips was, but how are the snaps can be divvied out between the two? You’re essentially sinking a high-end resource on a redundant player.

I love Downs and Dell’s tapes. However, I have learned from my mistakes in trusting guys like Calvin Austin, Rondale Moore, D’Wayne Eskridge, Andy Isabella….it doesn’t matter how good their tape is versus sub par defenses in college, because in the NFL, size is king.

Jayden Reed: The Physical Build