WR - Breshad Perriman UCF

Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:
Perriman has real speed...but per NFL.com draft profiles he runs sloppy routes, sits & waits on balls instead of coming back to the QB, and has erratic hands. Some of those issues are correctable...not sure about the drops. NFL player comparison: Kenny Britt

Coates has a lot of the same characteristics as Perriman...similar size and also fast, although Coates ran @ .2 seconds slower than BP. Like Perriman he also has questionable hands...had a 19.1 drop rate, not good at all. NFL player comparison: Martavius Bryant

I think it's safe to say both of these guys have some very good tools to work with...but both are pretty raw WR's. Both would need a lot of work at the NFL level to become much better route runners and reliable receivers. For me, Devin Smith is a guy I'd draft over Perriman and Coates...if you saw his work vs both 'Bama and Oregon, it was stellar. He can score from anywhere on the field.

Smith is a better WR than those guys at this point.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
Perriman frustrates me more than any other 1st or 2nd round WR prospect. He's crazy talented and he makes some impressive catches, but why in the hell is the son of an NFL WR so damn raw in his skill set? He's obviously had opportunities to refine his routes and catching/concentration so why hasn't he? Dude could be a GREAT pick or a horrendous bust.

I mean, having NFL bloodlines means a lot of positive things, but I don't think of those things is that your father coaches you on every technicality of playing the position all along the way.

After all, his dad was a former player, not coach... doing and teaching are not the same thing, which is why there are so many good former players that flop as coaches, and guys who weren't talented enough to play at all or were mediocre become good coaches.

Could just be the very nature of what he is asked to do and how coaches ask him to do run routes. I don't think it's a stretch to say that a school like UCF isn't exactly known for pushing polished prospects into the league.

As for his hands, I think there are TWO types of WR's with bad hands:

Type 1: Just guys with bad hand eye coordination and clumsiness

Type 2: Guys that have problems with nerves, concentration, focus, etc.


IMO, Perriman falls into the #2 group. Why? Because a player with bad hand eye coordination and clumsiness wouldn't be able to make ANY of those highlight reel, adjustment grabs between coverage downfield! It's not a guarantee practice will cure his concentration issues, but it IS a guarantee that he doesn't physically and athletically lack the ability to catch the football.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
The 9-route thing I think is a misunderstanding -- MD is not saying Perriman cannot or has not ever ran the other routes, he's saying his most experience/success comes from the vertical game.

To be quite honest, as boom or bust as Perriman is, I would not be all that shocked if Rannell Hall went on to be the better NFL player. Hall had a down year because he played fighting through injuries, but he's a very underrated receiver who also has return ability. They gave him some opportunities running the ball too (25 carries, 129 yards, 1 TD). Had a nice Shrine game week too.

Well, if that is your opinion, I am curious what you are basing it on. Even being a better route runner and more of an "underneath" WR, Hall was within 1 catch of Perriman and didn't find the End Zone.

Also, keep in mind, this is with teams rolling all their coverage towards Perriman... so his job was not going to get any easier operating underneath.

When slow, average athletic WR prospects succeed in the NFL, they were almost always ultra-productive guys in college whose stock took a hit due to their measureables.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Smith is a better WR than those guys at this point.

I'm so confused what these blanket statements about Devin Smith get inspired by.

For folks that criticize Perriman for his route tree, speed, and being a 1 trick pony..

...you guys are at the same time saying that a player in a spread offense with more simplistic route tree, slower 40 time and 33 grabs on the year for 28.2 avg (meaning he did almost nothing but go deep) is such a superior prospect that it doesn't even need an explanation.

Originally posted by LowerTheBoom:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by natrone06:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
How does this guy get caught from BEHIND on his highlights if he is running in the 4.2's? He plays nowhere near that. Not even in the same category. He looks like 4.5's on tape. I would not even guess 4.4 on game tape. Game speed and track speed are two different things. Plus pro days are usually hand held times and not electronic laser times like the combine. Very unreliable. I'm not sure we can even say he really ran that. He's probably pretty fast. But these are not laser times like the combine.

In one play in his highlights he gets caught from behind and still scored a td lol. The timed speed only validates what every scout was saying pre pro day and that is hes extremely fast and explosive.

And he has a 14% drop rate you can be fast and explosive, but it doesn't matter if you can't catch the ball (see Darrius Heyward-Bey). I would rather take Devin Smith over him in the 2nd with out a doubt.

Dude... he caught 50 balls on the year. It's an extremely small sample size to write him off for having "horrible hands". Meaning he dropped about 11-12 balls out of about 62-63 catchable passes.

So you are faulting him for HIS mistakes, and totally disregarding the numerous big play, incredibly difficult adjustment grabs he bailed his QB on. I see you also did not include a stat that showed how many times he was wide open and the QB either missed him or gave him such a s**tty pass even he couldn't do anything with it.

The Devin Smith to DeSean Jackson comparisons are both funny to me and ironic- DeSean Jackson was far and away the best WR in college football the year he came out. He dropped because of serious character concerns and because he weight 175 wet and wearing boots.

Devin Smith is talented, but he had an accurate, poised, strong armed QB throwing him the ball. I doubt even Devin Smith's family considers him the best WR in this draft. Maybe he will be a very good pro, who knows, I see a LITTLE bit of Steve Smith in him... but IMO he wasn't nearly the player MeSean was coming out.

I'm not saying I dislike Perriman at all, just stating the fact. He does drop a ton of easy passes and that's the truth. He is very raw in his route running to this point but he does have crazy upside!

He isn't a top 15 pick at all and I don't think he makes it to us in the 2nd. So unless we trade down in the 1st (need another team to do that) then not sure when you want to draft him?

Originally posted by LowerTheBoom:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Smith is a better WR than those guys at this point.

I'm so confused what these blanket statements about Devin Smith get inspired by.

For folks that criticize Perriman for his route tree, speed, and being a 1 trick pony..

...you guys are at the same time saying that a player in a spread offense with more simplistic route tree, slower 40 time and 33 grabs on the year for 28.2 avg (meaning he did almost nothing but go deep) is such a superior prospect that it doesn't even need an explanation.

Smith really came along when Jones became the starter. He avg a TD every 2.75 times he touch the ball, that is a play maker to me! Smith is probably the best WR in the draft at tracking the ball/making adjustments and has real game speed.

In all honestly besides draft breakdowns and highlights I haven't watch a ton on Perriman so I guess I'm a little biased

Buck posted this is the catch rate thread, but this supports the Devin Smith argument. One could argue that Devin Smith had a better QB (which is true), but he also faced significantly tougher opponents in college. Sports-reference.com lists Ohio State's SOS as 17th this year compared to Central Florida's SOS which was 102nd out of 128 teams. Perriman got targetted almost twice as much in 2014 and they still had similar production (1044 to 931 yards in favor of Perriman, but 12 to 9 TD's in favor of Smith). In my opinion, Smith is faster, more explosive, and more coordinated/better at tracking the deep ball. I see Smith as a 4.35 guy even though he ran a (relatively) slow 4.42 at the combine and Perriman is more like a 4.4 guy. I still don't want either one of them at 15 and don't think either one will be there at 46, but I would love to have either in the 2nd round if they fall.

Originally posted by LowerTheBoom:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
Perriman frustrates me more than any other 1st or 2nd round WR prospect. He's crazy talented and he makes some impressive catches, but why in the hell is the son of an NFL WR so damn raw in his skill set? He's obviously had opportunities to refine his routes and catching/concentration so why hasn't he? Dude could be a GREAT pick or a horrendous bust.

I mean, having NFL bloodlines means a lot of positive things, but I don't think of those things is that your father coaches you on every technicality of playing the position all along the way.

After all, his dad was a former player, not coach... doing and teaching are not the same thing, which is why there are so many good former players that flop as coaches, and guys who weren't talented enough to play at all or were mediocre become good coaches.

Could just be the very nature of what he is asked to do and how coaches ask him to do run routes. I don't think it's a stretch to say that a school like UCF isn't exactly known for pushing polished prospects into the league.

As for his hands, I think there are TWO types of WR's with bad hands:

Type 1: Just guys with bad hand eye coordination and clumsiness

Type 2: Guys that have problems with nerves, concentration, focus, etc.


IMO, Perriman falls into the #2 group. Why? Because a player with bad hand eye coordination and clumsiness wouldn't be able to make ANY of those highlight reel, adjustment grabs between coverage downfield! It's not a guarantee practice will cure his concentration issues, but it IS a guarantee that he doesn't physically and athletically lack the ability to catch the football.

We constantly count on Anquan Boldin to help our young WR with parts of their game. It would be crazy to think that Perriman's dad, with his YEARS of NFL experience, would be incapable of helping his sone refine his game. The obvious explanations to me are that Perriman is either unable to refine his game (unlikely,. but it would be very troubling if true) or unwilling to ask his dad for help (immature at best, lazy at worst). I'm leaning towards #2, and that doesn't really make me happy. Most of the time we see an extremely talented WR getting by on his athleticism without developing more sophisticated technique, we tend to excuse them by saying that they didn't have better coaching available to them. This guy obviously knew where he could go to for help/drills/advice on building an NFL-ready game, and he clearly has not developed a complete skill set.

Good breakdown of Perriman

Originally posted by NYniner85:
I'm not saying I dislike Perriman at all, just stating the fact. He does drop a ton of easy passes and that's the truth. He is very raw in his route running to this point but he does have crazy upside!

He isn't a top 15 pick at all and I don't think he makes it to us in the 2nd. So unless we trade down in the 1st (need another team to do that) then not sure when you want to draft him?

I never disputed that he did drop those passes and am not excusing them... just saying that he didn't get a ton of balls his way, and the smaller the sample size, the more mistakes stick out like a sore thumb.

I also think when you factor in drops, that you have take into account:

* How many times is he also bailing out the QB from bad throws?

* When he DOES catch the ball, what is his production?



Just in his highlight reel alone (I hate referencing just HL reels, but they DO tell you about a players potential), I saw more than 7 catches where he bailed the QB out of a horrible throw and made a big time catch.

You can live with occasional concentration drop if it's like Steve Smith, Reggie Wayne or Kelvin Benjamin (I know, random trio) that is making way more big plays than drops. You CAN NOT live with concentration drops if it's a player like, say, Michael Crabtree, who makes very few big plays.

T.O. was plagued by drops his whole career.... yet he still a Top 3 all-time WR and every offense he was a part of until late in his career was a juggernaut.


As for him being a Top 15 pick or not... that is all subjective, and as we know, 32 NFL GM's don't need to agree with that sentiment for him to go in the Top 15, just one does.

Ideally, I wouldn't want to draft him at #15, but the fact of the matter is that he has size/speed numbers that are flat out unheard of to the point that people in this very thread are still in denial that he is that fast. I would not be surprised to see him go before #15, and would be very concerned about teams like the Chiefs, Eagles, Browns and other teams picking just after us looking at him.


To me, "draft value" is an optical illusion. It's something fun to discuss pre-draft and right after the draft... but it ultimately means NOTHING. It's all about who the player turns out. There have been countless players that bave been deemed "good value" for where they get picked and flopped, and there have also been GM's who got flamed "reaching" for a player that turned out to be a total stud.

**I think the 49ers would be a good situation for Perriman because he won't be counted on to come in and be a savior, as we have 2 quality starters and competition for the #3 and #4 spots. He can spend a year learning from a seasoned, no-nonsense vet like Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
We constantly count on Anquan Boldin to help our young WR with parts of their game. It would be crazy to think that Perriman's dad, with his YEARS of NFL experience, would be incapable of helping his sone refine his game. The obvious explanations to me are that Perriman is either unable to refine his game (unlikely,. but it would be very troubling if true) or unwilling to ask his dad for help (immature at best, lazy at worst). I'm leaning towards #2, and that doesn't really make me happy. Most of the time we see an extremely talented WR getting by on his athleticism without developing more sophisticated technique, we tend to excuse them by saying that they didn't have better coaching available to them. This guy obviously knew where he could go to for help/drills/advice on building an NFL-ready game, and he clearly has not developed a complete skill set.

Just like I stated before... his dad is a former player, not a coach. I'm sure there is a lot he has learned from his dad already, but his dad can't be with him at every practice, through every drill, break down every practice rep, game rep, etc., etc, etc...

What you're saying MIGHT be true, but at this point, it's complete speculation.

And I don't "count on Boldin to help young WR's with their game...", Boldin doesn't need to hold their hands and instruct them, he is the kind of player that rubs off on others just by virtue of his practice habits and intensity. I think where a lot of college kids fail is they come into the NFL thinking it's a game, they are a great athlete and will ball out like they always have... no.

These guys are like 21 years old... there are hardly ANY players that come into the draft any given year that are finished products, and even THOSE guys still have a ton to learn! It's a complex game, and it gets more and more technical as players go up in competition level.

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:
Buck posted this is the catch rate thread, but this supports the Devin Smith argument. One could argue that Devin Smith had a better QB (which is true), but he also faced significantly tougher opponents in college. Sports-reference.com lists Ohio State's SOS as 17th this year compared to Central Florida's SOS which was 102nd out of 128 teams. Perriman got targetted almost twice as much in 2014 and they still had similar production (1044 to 931 yards in favor of Perriman, but 12 to 9 TD's in favor of Smith). In my opinion, Smith is faster, more explosive, and more coordinated/better at tracking the deep ball. I see Smith as a 4.35 guy even though he ran a (relatively) slow 4.42 at the combine and Perriman is more like a 4.4 guy. I still don't want either one of them at 15 and don't think either one will be there at 46, but I would love to have either in the 2nd round if they fall.

* Devin Smith had 8 games with 2 catches or less
* 33 rec in a college season as a #1 WR as an NFL prospect is very alarming any way you slice it
* He is a true 1-trick pony. He hardly caught any passes that were not deep balls. Even Ted Ginn Jr. could at least take a bubble screen or slant the distance
* DS played against better competition- he also produced less, was capable of less tasks on the field, had a very good QB, elite college RB and one of the best college coaches of all time



I would put 0 stock into "yards per target", as there are too many variables in that stat, such as how frequently he was targeted and the quality of passes his way.

I think there is one thing we can all agree, he has one of the worst hairlines in the draft:

Originally posted by Travisty13:
I think there is one thing we can all agree, he has one of the worst hairlines in the draft:

Ya, he's tough to look at. I think his hair line "slips" into the later rounds.

Originally posted by LowerTheBoom:
Ya, he's tough to look at. I think his hair line "slips" into the later rounds.

Lol that's what happens to hair when you run that fast. Usain Bolt got that speed causing receding hairline too.