STRENGTHS
Rondale is the type of receiver who can play in the slot, out wide, or coming out of the backfield. He can return punts or kicks and I bet he could even be used to block punts if you needed him to. He has good size and overall strength with the lower body strength to break tackles in the open field if you can lay hands on him. His vision and lateral agility is equal to any running back in the draft. He shows excellent balance and not only can he make yardage after the catch but his quickness running routes, to separate from coverage, is equal to any receiver in this draft. Rondale is a weapon, a match up nightmare, the type of player who should not be pigeon holed into playing just one offensive position.
CONCERNS
Rondale’s size, will be an issue for some teams, add to that a knee injury in his second year and coming off that knee injury in the covid year, and basically, you have only one year of production to base selecting Rondale on. That will be the biggest concern along with how well his knee injury has healed.
BOTTOM LINE 2.06
Rondale stats for his freshman year are, 114 receptions for 1,258 yards, 12 TD’s, 11-yard average per catch. The next year before his injury he averaged 13.3 yards per catch on 29 receptions for 387 yards increasing his average yards per catch when he was being game planned for. But here is the real concern, in the covid year he averaged 7.7 yards per carry on 35 receptions for 270 yards. Now granted, he only played in three games in 2020 but still, it might prove and question, if Rondale is completely back “mentally” from his knee injury as well as physically. Nevertheless, there is no question about his ability to impact if he is healthy and I have no doubt that once he is healthy, Rondale can impact for the team that selects him. Watching Rondale on film reminds me of former Panther Steve Smith because of his size and stoutness. He looks to be just as fast and quick but what really separates Rondale from other smaller receivers in this draft is the fact he can play outside as well as inside. Most smaller receivers don’t have the strength and bulk, along with the quickness, to stand up to taller corners and not get moved off their routes easily. Rondale will also go across the middle and make the tough catch and he is smart. Because of his high football IQ to play more than one position and athletic talent and stoutness like Steve Smith, Rondale could be the type of playmaker a Quarterback could go to, in any situation to make a momentum-changing play in a game.
