Scouting breakdown: The 11 best receivers in the 2020 NFL draft

A star-studded crop of wide receivers look to crash the NFL. Where do CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy and the rest stack up for the 2020 NFL Draft?

10. Michael Pittman Jr., USC

(Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports)

Height: 6’4″ Weight: 223
40-Yard Dash: 4.52 seconds
Bench Press: 13 reps
Vertical Jump: 36.5 inches
Broad Jump: 10 feet 1 inche
3-Cone Drill: 6.96 seconds
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.14 seconds
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A

Bio: With an NFL lineage and a strong high school resume, Michael Pittman Jr. was a highly-recruited prospect coming out of Oaks Christian. He was named to the Parade All-American first team as a senior, and was a stellar wide receiver, safety and returner in high school. He enrolled at USC, despite offers from schools like Arizona State, California, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Notre Dame, UCLA, Washington and Washington State, to name a few.

It took a while for Pittman to contribute in the Trojans’ offense, but in 2017 he did manage to catch 23 passes on 36 targets for 404 yards and a pair of touchdowns, showing something of a connection with Sam Darnold in the USC offense. As a junior his production really improved, as he caught 41 passes for 75 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 18.4 yards per reception, which stands as his career-high. Last year was a huge season for him, with 101 receptions for 1,269 yards and eleven touchdowns.

Stat to Know: Five. That is the number of drops that Pro Football Focus charted him with on the 176 catchable passes thrown his way during his time at USC. An impressively small number of drops.

Strengths: Building off the previous point, Pittman attacks the football in flight and has no fear when it comes to his hands. He high points the football well, he adjusts to the football in flight well, and he is skilled at the back shoulder game. He shows good footwork against press coverage, and he is a varied receiver in the sense that USC aligned him both inside and outside.

Pittman might lack elite speed, but his breaks are violent and he manages to get separation despite having a reputation as a true burner. If you watch him on routes that work back down the stem, such as curls or comebacks, you will see how well he sinks his hips into the break and violently works back towards his passer, creating a huge gap between him and the nearest defender.

Pittman is not known as a vertical threat, perhaps due to his lack of elite long speed, but he does a good job at tracking the football downfield and creating space between himself and the nearest defender while giving his quarterback room to place vertical throws along the sideline. This downfield reception against Utah is a prime example:

The job Pittman does here of using his hands to fight through the contact, and then using his shoulder to create space while tracking the football, is high-level play. Plus, watch how he maintains his landmark on the field, working up the “bottom of the numbers” to give his quarterback space to drop this throw in towards the boundary. This is how receivers that lack “elite” speed can be vertical threats in the downfield passing game.

In fact, Pittman’s game against Utah is a must-watch if you are interested in scouting a wide receiver. Watch how he tracks and wins this football at its high point in front of the nearest safety:

That is a ball-winner.

Jordan Reid, a lead analyst for The Draft Network, put together this quick cutup of what Pittman did against Utah and it is worth the time:

Weaknesses: There are a few things to highlight with Pittman on the negative side of the ledger. He does not offer a ton after the catch, at least not yet. He has broken just 20 tackles on his 17 career catches, and last season averaged just 4.8 yards after the catch, tying him for 196th in college football. He also aligned almost exclusively on the left side of the formation last year, which will make him need to learn and adjust to be more flexible in the NFL. He also could stand to work a bit more when the initial route is not open, or his quarterback is forced to scramble. There were times on film when he would just stop his route, and not work to get into the quarterback’s field of vision or find open space against the coverage.

Conclusion: The bottom line is that Pittman does a number of things extremely well, which will make teams like him in the draft. He is a versatile receiver who can function in a number of different schemes, and his ability to use his frame as a receiver to create space coupled with what he displayed on short- and intermediate-area routes makes him a solid prospect. He seems to be moving up draft boards as this process lingers, and do not be surprised to see him drafted earlier than you might expect.

Comparison: Pro Football Focus compared him to Alshon Jeffery in their draft guide, and the comparison is apt. I also see a lot of Allen Robinson in his game. A receiver who is at his best working the short- and intermediate-areas of the field with his size and frame, but is also skilled enough to be a vertical threat despite track star speed.

Lamb | Jeudy | Ruggs III | Shenault | Jefferson | Higgins | Mims | Reagor | Aiyuk | Pittman | Johnson

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