Realistic Player Comps

[Dantés]

Player comps are really fun and I think they can be very useful. The problem is that most of the time, people just make comps for the prospects that they love, and because they love said players, the comps tend to be all be to HOF'ers and All Pros. Sometimes those are appropriate, but most of the time they aren't.

Here's my attempt to give some comp's on some players that I think are realistic. I'm trying to include guys I like and guys I don't. Many plays, I just don't know well enough to comp. Add some of yours. Do your best to be reasonable.

Wide Receiver:

-Jaxon Smith-Njigba > Cooper Kupp: If you're rolling your eyes right now, given what I wrote above, I don't blame you. But their play styles, NFL fit, and athletic profile are crazy similar. JSN technically ran a 10th faster in the 40, but his was pro day and Kupp's was combine, so even that is probably pretty close. And remember, Kupp is one of the best WR's in the league now, but he wasn't regarded that way as a prospect.

-Zay Flowers > Emmanuel Sanders: Sanders was a couple inches taller than Flowers, but otherwise they profiled very similarly to one another as athletes and in terms of play style. Early career Sanders was a boundary/slot versatile Z with great quickness and change of direction. That's how I see Flowers.

-Jordan Addison > Marqise Lee post stomach flu: Addison and Lee were both overhyped WR's coming out of USC who the NFL did not like nearly as much as the media did. Lee had about 20 lbs on Addison, but athletically they were otherwise similar. Another comp I like for Addison is Dede Westbrook.

-Quentin Johnston > Braylon Edwards: Similar H/W/S prospects who tantalize with their upside but just never quite play up to their gifts. Edwards strikes me as a good comp because when he was "on" he was great, but it was a pretty short flash. Johnston I find to be similarly exciting, but he also makes me nervous. I could also see comp'ing him as a lighter Laviska Shenault or Treylon Burks as I think early on in his career, he's going to be a manufactured touch player.

-Jalin Hyatt > Paul Richardson: Similar size, similar speed. Richardson was also a big play creator in college, and probably could have been a comparable deep threat to Hyatt had he played in that same offense will all the free releases and runways.

-Jonathan Mingo > Quincy Enunwa: This is probably an uninspiring comp to most, but before injuries derailed his career, Enunwa was on his way to becoming a really good power slot WR. He could play outside, but thrived in the slot, was great in the running game, was tough to bring down after the catch, had a lot of speed for a big man, and made some great plays at the catch point.

That's all for now.

 

[Dantés]

Tight End:

-Michael Mayer > 110% of Dalton Schultz: I am not comparing Mayer to Schultz the prospect, but rather to the Schultz we've seen the last three seasons in Dallas. In other words, the player I see Mayer becoming in the NFL is a well-round, competent combo TE who isn't especially exceptional at anything. With his short frame, I struggle seeing him become a ++ blocker at the next level as many have projected.

-Tucker Kraft > Hunter Henry: This is a tougher comp because Henry was not healthy before his draft and never gave us numbers. But I see Kraft panning out similarly as a legit combo Y who can really block and threaten in the passing game. I think Kraft has a better chance to become what most project Mayer to be.

-Sam LaPorta > Souped Up Lance Kendricks: LaPorta is a better athlete, but these two were similar prospects in that they were under-utilized by their college offenses and were asked to block quite a bit even though they lack true Y characteristics. I think LaPorta has a good chance to be a better receiver in the league.

-Dalton Kincaid > Dallas Clark

 

[Poppa San]

-Dalton Kincaid > Dallas Clark

You OK? It's like you stopped typing in the middle of a thought.

 

[Dantés]

You OK? It's like you stopped typing in the middle of a thought.

Ha. I lost the will to explain myself.

 

[tynimiller]

The Zay comp is money

 

[Todd Princl]

Player comps are really fun and I think they can be very useful. The problem is that most of the time, people just make comps for the prospects that they love, and because they love said players, the comps tend to be all be to HOF'ers and All Pros. Sometimes those are appropriate, but most of the time they aren't.

Here's my attempt to give some comp's on some players that I think are realistic. I'm trying to include guys I like and guys I don't. Many plays, I just don't know well enough to comp. Add some of yours. Do your best to be reasonable.

Wide Receiver:

-Jaxon Smith-Njigba > Cooper Kupp: If you're rolling your eyes right now, given what I wrote above, I don't blame you. But their play styles, NFL fit, and athletic profile are crazy similar. JSN technically ran a 10th faster in the 40, but his was pro day and Kupp's was combine, so even that is probably pretty close. And remember, Kupp is one of the best WR's in the league now, but he wasn't regarded that way as a prospect.

-Zay Flowers > Emmanuel Sanders: Sanders was a couple inches taller than Flowers, but otherwise they profiled very similarly to one another as athletes and in terms of play style. Early career Sanders was a boundary/slot versatile Z with great quickness and change of direction. That's how I see Flowers.

-Jordan Addison > Marqise Lee post stomach flu: Addison and Lee were both overhyped WR's coming out of USC who the NFL did not like nearly as much as the media did. Lee had about 20 lbs on Addison, but athletically they were otherwise similar. Another comp I like for Addison is Dede Westbrook.

-Quentin Johnston > Braylon Edwards: Similar H/W/S prospects who tantalize with their upside but just never quite play up to their gifts. Edwards strikes me as a good comp because when he was "on" he was great, but it was a pretty short flash. Johnston I find to be similarly exciting, but he also makes me nervous. I could also see comp'ing him as a lighter Laviska Shenault or Treylon Burks as I think early on in his career, he's going to be a manufactured touch player.

-Jalin Hyatt > Paul Richardson: Similar size, similar speed. Richardson was also a big play creator in college, and probably could have been a comparable deep threat to Hyatt had he played in that same offense will all the free releases and runways.

-Jonathan Mingo > Quincy Enunwa: This is probably an uninspiring comp to most, but before injuries derailed his career, Enunwa was on his way to becoming a really good power slot WR. He could play outside, but thrived in the slot, was great in the running game, was tough to bring down after the catch, had a lot of speed for a big man, and made some great plays at the catch point.

That's all for now.

In Lindys Draft Guide Quentin Johnston was compared to Kevin White. I would be like “thanks for killing my draft status.”

 

[Todd Princl]

What would your Darnell Washington comparison be? I have heard many mention Marcedes Lewis.

 

[gopkrs]

What would your Darnell Washington comparison be? I have heard many mention Marcedes Lewis.

Hard to comp him because he was not used a lot as a receiver. And that is a knock on him as well as lumbering to top speed and not real quick. But he is huge. Seems like they could get a handle on how well he can catch anyway but no one seems to want to guess at that. His 40 speed is fine. Would rather see a 20 or 10 speed. A Mercedes Lewis comparison seems to say he really won't catch a lot of passes over his career.

 

[OldSchool101]

Hard to comp him because he was not used a lot as a receiver. A Mercedes Lewis comparison seems to say he really won't catch a lot of passes over his career.

?? He’s actually caught 432 passes for 5,000+ yards. He’s got an outside chance at finishing his career as a top 40 (TE) in receptions in NFL history.
Lewis (39TD) needs just 3 TD’s to rank #19 All-Time (42TD) at TE.
He’s gotten that reputation just recently because we used him more for blocking and he’s in his twilight years.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Hard to comp him because he was not used a lot as a receiver. And that is a knock on him as well as lumbering to top speed and not real quick. But he is huge. Seems like they could get a handle on how well he can catch anyway but no one seems to want to guess at that. His 40 speed is fine. Would rather see a 20 or 10 speed.

Here are the numbers for Washington:

10-yard split: 1.61 seconds
20-yard split: 2.67 seconds

 

[tynimiller]

Hard to comp him because he was not used a lot as a receiver. And that is a knock on him as well as lumbering to top speed and not real quick. But he is huge. Seems like they could get a handle on how well he can catch anyway but no one seems to want to guess at that. His 40 speed is fine. Would rather see a 20 or 10 speed. A Mercedes Lewis comparison seems to say he really won't catch a lot of passes over his career.

You are misrepresenting Lewis big time. Early in his career that man was quite the sufficient pass catcher and yard producer.

 

[gopkrs]

You are misrepresenting Lewis big time. Early in his career that man was quite the sufficient pass catcher and yard producer.

Lewis had two years in the 50s and one year with 41. He has played a long time is why he has a decent number of receptions imo. I believe we would be smart to take a TE that is going to help a lot in the passing game. I just doubt that Washington is that man.

 

[gopkrs]

Here are the numbers for Washington:

10-yard split: 1.61 seconds
20-yard split: 2.67 seconds

I was looking for comparisons but couldn't find them except one which said the 1.61 was average.

 

[OldSchool101]

I was looking for comparisons but couldn't find them except one which said the 1.61 was average.

I was sold on him pre-Combine. Possibly his most impressive stat for me is his 17.2 per catch at the SEC level. Added to it are a 7’ Wing span and 11” hands really nice agility and concentration.

First of all. This draft class is likely one of the #3-4 best overall TE class groupings in this century. Only Time will tell, but it’s graded really high as a total grouping.

Another key point at TE is potential. How many TE’s have we seen come into this league without significant college production. There’s lots of highly successful NFL TE’s. The best example being one of the best TE’s to ever Play the game. Antonio Gates

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I was looking for comparisons but couldn't find them except one which said the 1.61 was average.

According to the relative athletic score his 10-yard split was scored at 8.87 on a scale of 10 while his 20-yard spilt is listed at 9.19.

 

[gopkrs]

Just from the eye test watching a few of Washington's reception. He definitely lumbers trying to get up to speed. I just don't think he is going to give us the real TE threat in the passing game. My worry is that his comp will be more of a Richard Rodgers +.

 

[OldSchool101]

Just from the eye test watching a few of Washington's reception. He definitely lumbers trying to get up to speed. I just don't think he is going to give us the real TE threat in the passing game. My worry is that his comp will be more of a Richard Rodgers +.

Washington (9.88 RAS) does look lumbering at times and that’s what makes him so deceptive imo. That lumbering appearance is mostly because of his height/size, yet his stride is so long that he converts short area Power to Mid-Long area speed really well. I’m sure if we had a 3 or 5-yard split? he’d be very average or whatever. Note that Richard Rodgers (31.5”) actually beat Washington’s more pedestrian vertical (31.0”) That shows some evidence to that Lack of “quick twitch” that you might be referring to.

That said. Speed conversion changes very quickly as momentum gets going. By 10 yards he’s much faster than Richard Rodgers. Darnell is like trying to stop a Superduty 1 Ton truck past 5 yards or so and more like a Municipal Bus past 10 yards
So you’d think if you get him before that you’d have success? Be prepared to get a 34.5” stiff arm coming off his 21 Reps type strength and backed by 265lbs of weight lumbering at you. Be prepared to take some Advil afterwards, there’s plenty of tape of 215lb grown men lying on the ground stunned after they met him head on or got humiliated like a gnat as he threw them on the ground


Richard Rodgers was a fantastic possession TE with great hands imo. Although RR had poor grade short area speed and he was unable to break a tackle to save his life
Darnell will easily be in the top 10-20% of all TE’s in ability to break free or just hop over you when you go for the legs.

All this said, if you are looking for the best pure TE Receiver? Don’t choose Darnell that’s not what he’s about. He offers much more than that and so much that I saw a Scout that thought he could add weight and play OT very successfully. To even assert that shows what type of athletic potential you got there.

 

[PikeBadger]

Ha. I lost the will to explain myself.

I can understand that. Kincaid has a long long ways to go to be as good as Dallas Clark.

 

[gopkrs]

I can understand that. Kincaid has a long long ways to go to be as good as Dallas Clark.

Yes, that sort of comparison has to be proved.

 

[Dantés]

Yes, that sort of comparison has to be proved.

Don’t they all?

People overrate Dallas Clark in retrospect. Three career seasons over 600 yards.

 

[gopkrs]

Don’t they all?

People overrate Dallas Clark in retrospect. Three career seasons over 600 yards.

I always thought he was a great TE. Clutch and made really tough catches. Maybe Peyton just had a lot more targets. Not to mention a running game.

 

[Dantés]

Dontayvion Wicks, WR from Virginia is eerily similar to Davante Adams (the college prospect, not the finished NFL product).

Size:

-Wicks: 6’1” 206# 32.5” arms
-Adams: 6’1” 212# 32.5” arms

Speed/Explosion:

-Wicks: 4.57 forty, 1.55 split, 39” vert, 10’10” broad

-Adams: 4.56 forty, 1.53 split, 39.5” vert, 10’3” broad

Agilities:

-Wicks: 4.20 SS, 6.91 3C
-Adams: 4.30 SS, 6.82 3C

Both as prospects aren’t refined at creating separation but excel at making plays on the ball. Both struggle with drops.

 

[ThePerfectBeard]

Don’t they all?

People overrate Dallas Clark in retrospect. Three career seasons over 600 yards.

I still don't see the Dallas Clark comparison really. My challenge is to compare Dalton Kincaid to Brock Bowers. Bowers right now is being touted as the next big thing at tight end and yes he's breaking out earlier than Kincaid, but I think they're very similar players. I think both have incredible hands and a knack to get open at every level. Bowers isn't much of a blocker and hasn't needed to be, same with Kincaid. If Kincaid played at a different level, I think we'd be talking about him way more.

 

[Dantés]

I still don't see the Dallas Clark comparison really. My challenge is to compare Dalton Kincaid to Brock Bowers. Bowers right now is being touted as the next big thing at tight end and yes he's breaking out earlier than Kincaid, but I think they're very similar players. I think both have incredible hands and a knack to get open at every level. Bowers isn't much of a blocker and hasn't needed to be, same with Kincaid. If Kincaid played at a different level, I think we'd be talking about him way more.

I reached for a Kincaid comp. I should have just left that one off.