NFL Draft Prospects 2019: Wide Receiver - D.K. Metcalf, Ole Miss
DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf is a former four-star recruit from Oxford, Mississippi who decided to join his hometown rebels. After breaking his foot following the first two games of his true freshman season, he was forced to sit out the year.
In his first real campaign, he caught 39 passes for 646 yards and seven touchdowns, making the SEC-All Freshman team. Last season he looked like an absolute monster, catching 29 passes for 569 yards and five TDs through seven games, but he missed the rest of the season with a neck injury.
Despite that, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and uncle by entering the NFL draft and he has been one of the biggest internet sensations.
Metcalf blew up once everybody saw a picture of him shirtless at Exos Sports. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a more jacked up receiver in my life. He continued to make people’s jaws drop with a freakish combine performance.
Metcalf is a big-bodied vertical threat at 6’3”, 228 pounds with 4.33 speed and a 40.5-inch vertical.
Before being ruled out, he was averaging 21.8 yards a catch with a ridiculous 13.6 yards per target and his catch rate wasn’t higher only because quarterback Jordan Ta’amu tried to force some passes into double and triple-coverage against him or didn’t lead him enough to the outside on fade routes.
Metcalf eats up cushions quickly with long strides and is a threat to burn you over the top on any given play, which Texas Tech and Alabama got to know first hand when he went for touchdowns on the first snap of those games. Especially against 'Bama, it was apparent how physically gifted this kid is, as he just threw a second-day corner in Saivion Smith to the side, ran down the field and just caught the ball with his fingertips on one hand.
The physical freak invites the challenge of going against the opponent’s best cover-guy, can get pretty feisty and dish out that little extra shove after the play. Metcalf competes for the ball and uses subtle push-offs to create late separation.
He shows the ability to pluck the ball out of the air with extended arms outside his frame and caught the game-winning touchdown versus fellow draftee Lonnie Johnson in the 2017 Kentucky game that way.
He was criticized a lot recently about his ability to change direction, because he put up worse numbers in the three-cone and short shuttle than Tom Brady, but I think that is largely overblown.
Metcalf barely got run slants or any in-breaking routes, as Ole Miss inexplicably left the middle all to teammate A.J. Brown. That doesn’t mean he can’t do it. He looked excellent at rolling his hips into smooth breaks when we did see him get the opportunity and should be a YAC-specialist on slant and post routes.
The footwork and hand techniques versus press still need plenty of work with Metcalf, who is winning mostly with physicality at this point. He took a bunch of inside releases on fade routes, but gained ground so quickly that it didn’t matter and he beat somebody deep.
However, the timing of his jumps with the ball in the air is a little off at times and he lacks some awareness of the sideline. Metcalf dropped seven passes compared to just 65 catches over that two-year stretch, as he tried to bucket-catch some passes instead of using his catch-radius by attacking the ball in the air.
He clearly has the size and strength to be an excellent blocker with a WR-leading 27 reps on the bench press, but he doesn’t really show a lot of tenacity and technique in that aspect.
The big target was locked up pretty good by LSU’s Greedy Williams, who could mirror his hips and disrupt the catch-point with his long arms and Metcalf was even called for an offensive pass interference at the goal-line as well as failing to bring in a back-shoulder throw versus Williams.
Metcalf’s route tree was basically limited to go-routes, hitches and curls during his collegiate career and he almost solely played as the outside receiver to the left.
However, that is all he needs to run at the next level to be a weapon. If you are looking for a complete receiver who shows nuanced route-running and wins with multiple breaks, this is not your guy.
Metcalf is a raw size/speed freak, whose production was incredibly limited by Ole Miss’ baffling scheme, but he has shown the potential to dominate matchups. I think if you put him in the right system and allow him to play to his strengths, he could be a Calvin Johnson / Josh Gordon type player.
Grade: Mid-first