STRENGTHS
Anthony reminds me a lot of Victor Cruz. He’s an impact slot receiver with special teams return talents. He has excellent hands to catch the ball and adjust to the ball in the air to make the difficult catch and increase his catch radius. He’s the type of player who doesn’t need to touch the ball a lot in a game to impact and affect the game. He is quick and fast and shows the lateral agility to explode in and out of his breaks to gain needed separation when running his routes. He’s a tough kid and smart and he wants the ball all the time and this attitude is just fine with me because all the great players want the ball to impact the game. Can Anthony be a great player? If he is in the right offensive system the answer is yes.

CONCERNS
If Anthony wants to be considered more than a slot receiver he will have to build up his body without it affecting his speed or quickness so that he is able to take the pounding that a starting wide receiver takes in the NFL and stay healthy. Right now, his slight frame suggests that he will struggle to stay healthy if he is counted on as a starting receiver. Also without the needed bulk Anthony will struggle if played on the outside against taller and bigger corners who will be more physical with him.

BOTTOM LINE
Anthony is a matchup night mare when he lines up in the slot against safeties and linebackers and even slot corners that are becoming more important because of players like Anthony. He is especially effective running those RPO’s because of his quickness off the line and excellent hands. Anthony is an explosive player and he will keep defensive coordinators up the night before a game trying to figure out how to defend him and that means in the right system Anthony becomes more than just an impact player, he becomes a franchise player who will make offensive coordinators try to figure out how to get the ball into his hands more often. What works against Anthony right now for this draft is the fact that he comes from an offensive system that uses 4 and 5 receiver sets as its main offensive system and that means the quality of defensive players Anthony went up against didn’t have much of a chance matching up against his athletic talent but that will change at the next level. It will not only change, but it will affect (at first) Anthony’s ability to impact because he will have to learn how to run the entire route tree and he will be up against players who can match his speed. Nevertheless Anthony’s quickness is unique and not many players when lined up in the slot will be able to match up against that aspect of his athletic talent.

Drew Boylhart   FEB.2018