From now until the 2020 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to showcase as many prospects as possible and examine both their strengths and weaknesses. Most of these profiles will feature individuals that the Pittsburgh Steelers are likely to have an interest in, while a few others will be top-ranked players. If there is a player you would like us to analyze, let us know in the comments below.
# 6 Devin Duvernay/WR Texas – 5’11”, 210 lbs
The Good
- Top tier speed, the guy is just a burner
- Sharp, fluid cuts in and out of his breaks
- Built like a RB, great contact balance
- Shows great stuff after the catch
- High IQ player that eats up zone coverage
- Elite hands, does not drop anything
- Really gets after it in run blocking
- Fantastic deep threat
- Top-notch physicality for a receiver in open space
- Can really show some nice suddenness in his routes, especially against off-man coverage
The Bad
- Little to no reps against press coverage, but limited reps show he needs to improve his hand-fighting ability
- Wish he had a bigger catch radius than he actually does
- Releases are not nearly as developed as they should be
- Tries to just sprint past guys instead of doing the technical things
- Not much experience in contested catch situations
- Wish he showed off more hip sink in his routes
- Could stand to fight better through contact when the ball is contested
Bio
- 2019: 106 receptions, 1386 yards, 9 TD
- Career: 176 receptions, 2468 yards, 16 TD
- Senior Bowl Invitee
- Bilitnetkoff Award Finalist
- Track star in high school
- Football pedigree – Brother, Kevin Duverany, played DB at Texas, Uncle, Calvin Murray, played baseball, and Cousin, Kyler Murray, is the Arizona Cardinals QB
With a deep receiver class and a really studded group of receivers at the Senior Bowl, you are going to have to have a trump card to stick out in this class. If you have two trump cards? Then you can become a bonafide Top-10 receiver in this class, which is going to be a very competitive place to get this season with so many good receiver talents.
How do you create a trump card? Just so happen to have an unreal football pedigree and genes and become a legitimate star sprinter and run a sub 4.4 40 yard dash and you have one trump card in speed. Then work your butt off to build out your frame until you look like a running back and you have another trump card in contact balance after the catch. These two are perfect to describe the two trump cards that Texas WR Devin Duvernay has, and you can see it every game he played this season.
You can see just from this video how fast this guy is when he gets into the open field. He shrugs off one defender with ease simply because his legs are so strong and then just hits the jets and the guy is gone. This is why he is such a big-play threat and can win deep with ease against corners in off-man. Work the middle of the field with him on these slants and drags and simply let him work in the open field.
He eats and breathes in the middle of the field, and when he gets a free release, he is going to win most of the time. Duvernay simply finds the weak spot in the zone, but he also does a great job of flattening this route out away from the safety to give himself a window to tuck this ball into his frame and hold on through the incoming tackle. That is simply a high football IQ play by him and one that is underrated.
There is a defender coming full steam ahead at him and he just shrugs off the tackle to burst forward for about a gain of seven or so. Impressive contact balance, as I said above for a guy who is built like a running back. Texas loved to use him on these screens and it’s not hard to see why when he can create big plays out of thin air.
Here is Duvernay using his stout frame and lowering the shoulder into potential first-round pick Grant Delpit. Duvernay is a very physical guy that has no problem laying his shoulder and the wood down onto people, so this is not a one-time occurrence. And that willingness carries over into run blocking where he gets after it.
This is where Duvernay shines. He is not the most polished route runner by any means, especially when guys can get up in his face, but if you put him in the slot and let him work against off-man coverage he is going to win the battle every single time. He knows how get on the defensive back’s toes and really threaten them to the inside or vertically and with sharp and fluid cuts he can get open. This is a good route where he does just that and it would have been a touchdown had this ball been on target.
Prediction: Mid-Late Day 2
Games Watched: Vs LSU, at West Virginia, vs Oklahoma, at TCU, vs Oklahoma State
