A fun exercise during the pre-draft process is drawing comparisons of prospects to NFL players from a stylistic standpoint.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar did that with his top 50 prospects. And it just so happens that Farrar had a player remind him of a former Charger, with that being North Carolina wide receiver Josh Downs.
Downs was compared to Travis Benjamin, who spent four seasons with the Bolts.
Here is what Farrar had to say about the comparison:
Selected in the fourth round of the 2012 draft by the Browns out of Miami, Benjamin was that same type of scooting receiver with the ability to beat defenders on all kinds of routes. At his peak with the Browns and Chargers, Benjamin could do those things both in the slot and outside. Not bad for a 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver, and Downs could also be that sort of NFL weapon.
Farrar’s comparison is spot on, as Downs and Benjamin are undersized at the position, but they have elite vertical speed, quickness and agility to get separation consistently downfield. Additionally, both have excellent elusiveness in the open field to gain yards after the catch.
The only difference is that Downs has better hands than Benjamin, who had issues with dropped passes.
Benjamin had just 99 catches for 1,460 yards and nine touchdowns during his time with the Chargers.
Before I saw this, I thought Downs compared similarly to Bears’ Darnell Mooney. They both lack size, but they’re fast with vertical speed to beat defenders and explosive yards-after-catch players.
I recently mocked Downs to the Chargers in a trade-back scenario.