STRENGTHS
Bub reminds me a lot of former Bengals Receiver Tyler Boyd. Their style of play is the same but Bub is bigger, faster, stronger, and a more natural receiver compared to Tyler who works hard to accomplish his success. Bub has a smooth gate that allows him to play effortlessly. He also has deceiving quickness that you just don’t see when watching him on film unless he is pressed into using it. Playing football comes easy to Bub. I suspect that Bub is challenged more in practice against his teammates than he is in a game. Bub can play inside or outside. He can run all the routes and because of his strong body, can keep defenders away from his hands-on deep routes. He has the strong hands to make the difficult catch. Bub likes to be physical and enjoys the challenge of going up against press coverage. He has remarkable natural athletic talent to be a top receiver in the NFL. Nevertheless, it takes more than talent to play in the NFL.
CONCERNS
Bub takes for granted his ability to be a top receiver. He is so very gifted that he hasn’t been challenged at the college level and when he has, he easily steps up to that challenge. Bub may think he works hard but his work ethic hasn’t been challenged to improve himself as a receiver. Bub has a good work ethic but the question is…does he work hard? Remember Drew’s Draft rule number #26 – Having natural athletic talent can be a gift and a curse. As a gift, it can make things come easy. It can be a curse when it deceives you from realizing your true potential.
BOTTOM LINE: 3.33
The work ethic to get better as a “receiver” is the big question mark. Better route running, smarter route running, details of running routes, stronger hands, catching contested balls, improving his catch radius, running routes consistently, the work ethic to become a better “receiver” is the question mark. We can see how good Bub can be, now we need to understand if he sees how good he can be. Because of his athletic talent, Bub could be successful early. Nevertheless, as soon as Defensive Coordinators get some NFL game film on him they will find ways he never thought existed to challenge him and frustrate him, and that’s when Bub will learn what real work is or he will just fade away. Bub is not a boom-or-bust player because he won’t be selected in the early rounds of this draft. Bub is a developmental player and it will be up to him how much more he develops. He could be one of those 4th or 5th-round receivers who could be special but, becoming special starts with the attention to the details of your position.
