Rookie Report Card: Week Fourteen

In my weekly column, we take a longer look at  another two rookies.  I will compare their performance to date against my original expectations of them.  Let’s continue the 2013 series by looking back at two wide receivers that seemed unlikely to make much of an impact this year, other than returning the football, at the beginning of the season in Jacksonville Jaguars’ Ace Sanders and Buffalo Bills’  Marquise Goodwin.

Ace Sanders, WR JAX

Here is what I saw in college from Sanders: He is a fantastic punt returner that will make you miss with his short burst quickness and his juke moves.  His tremendous downfield vision sets him up to exploit bad coverage and allows him to anticipate defensive weaknesses. Sanders has a good center of gravity that makes it hard to arm tackle him.  While he is great in small areas, his speed is very average (4.58 second 40 yard dash) so defenders can track him down from behind.

Sanders has great hands and adjusts well to poorly thrown passes.  He climbs the ladder to get to highly thrown passes and can contort his body to make the spectacular catch. His size is concerning, so he might get stuck as a WR3 and returner unless he can put on some serious muscle, which I doubt his frame could handle.  He should be drafted in all leagues, but might be a stash for a while unless your league rewards points for return yardage.

This is what I saw from Sanders against the Texans: Due to suspensions and injuries, Sanders became a starter perhaps by default, but has done enough to get his owners a bit excited for his future.  The rookie lined up in the backfield, in the slot, split wide out and as a punt returner.  He does his best when he gets a free release due to his small stature (5′ 7″ 178 lbs) and usually gets sent in motion to make sure that happens.  On his first target of the game, Sanders deceived the defense by starting out in the backfield and floated away from the pressure to catch a short dump off pass in the flat.  The young receiver jetted past defenders while hugging the sideline.  He fully extends to get the ball at its highest point and does not let the ball get into his body as he always attempts to make catches in stride.

His quickness exploited the Texans defense as they bit on a fake reverse, but later in the game the Houston defense stayed home to keep Sanders in check on the only carry (a reverse) that he got all night.  The explosive rookie takes good angles as a returner using his ability to start and stop instantly which causes most defenders to fly right by him.  He has good downfield vision which he uses not only in the return game, but to block for his quarterback when the play breaks down.

Sanders got outmuscled once or twice near the sidelines, but was impressive enough to draw some coverage from Houston’s best cornerback, Jonathan Joseph. I liked the way he went to the ground to come up with a pass despite being covered well.  His most impressive play was one that no one outside of the Jaguars coaching staff had any way of knowing aka his 21 yard touchdown pass.  Sanders had a lateral throw back to him and the rookie heaved the ball across the field to find backup running back Jordan Todman for the score.

While I like Sanders, once Jacksonville is at full strength next offseason, he might not be playing all that much.  However, he should be stashed on your dynasty squad as a WR5, especially in leagues that award return yardage.

Marquise Goodwin, WR BUF

These are some of the observations of Goodwin during his time in college:  I was quite impressed by the former Olympian long jumper in his bowl game against Oregon State. On his first offensive play, Goodwin sprinted past the cornerback covering him into the end zone, only to lose the pigskin in the lights.  These concentration lapses are troubling, but he had more explosive plays in him.  The Longhorns got the ball in his hands on a reverse that the speedster darted 64 yards for a touchdown. During first ten yards of his reverse, all 22 players were in camera shot. However, by the end of his amazing run, there was only Goodwin much like a scene from DC Comic’s “The Flash.”

His ability to get to world-class speed in a few steps makes him an extremely dangerous weapon. Goodwin senses where he is on the field, uses the sidelines to create lanes, and can make tough contested catches between two defenders. He redeemed his first target mishap with a 36 yard touchdown catch with less than 2:30 in the fourth quarter to take and keep the lead for Texas. Goodwin is a bit on the raw side, but he has the gifts to become an NFL starter in the near future with good coaching.

Here is what I gleamed during Goodwin’s game against the Bucs: First, this was a poor game to see him as a receiver as he did not register a reception the entire game.  Goodwin did not start against Tampa Bay, but the rookie was featured in three and four wide receiver sets.  He spent most of the time lined up as an outside receiver.  Despite not catching any passes, his presence was felt.

Goodwin blocked downfield when his quarterback, EJ Manuel, took off to run.  He does a good job getting in front of the defender and stays with them.  This is fantasy relevant because the more a young receiver can do for his team, the more likely he will be on the gridiron.  He showed off his world-class speed when he chased down the linebacker who picked up a Manuel fumble that was 30 yards further down the field.  Goodwin prevented an almost certain touchdown.

The young receiver did not always look the part on his returns as his first one was for only 15 yards and he turned his back on the defense only to get bottled up, but fared better on his next kickoff.  His efforts this game show how volatile the Buffalo receiving core is. His breakout game against the Jets in Week Eleven (six receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown) was a result of his nine targets and a Stevie Johnson injury.  He is still too raw to depend on and should be considered a deeper wide receiver stash (even deeper than Ace Sanders) unless your league awards return yardage points.

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