Triple Take: Breshad Perriman
Editor’s Note: Opinions are good. Multiple opinions are better. In this first installment of “Triple Take,” not one, not two, but THREE of our Dynasty Scouts writers evaluate an up and coming prospect. Having multiple opinions helps DLF avoid the “group think” mentality while providing you the insight you need to dominate your leagues. Remember, this is a Dynasty Scouts exclusive article. Our Dynasty Scouts section focuses on the stars of tomorrow, with a laser focus on High School recruits and College players who look to have the talent to be future assets in dynasty leagues and have value today in devy leagues. Dynasty Scouts articles are found in our Premium Content.
Breshad Perriman 6’3”, 214 pounds
2 star recruit
Father is former NFL WR Brett Perriman
Transferred to West Virginia in January
2012: 26 receptions for 388 yards three touchdowns
2013: 39 receptions for 811 yards four touchdowns
2014: 41 receptions for 906 yards nine touchdowns
Athleticism, Route running and RAC ability
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(Whalen) The biggest question mark to Perriman’s game is how will he develop as a wide receiver. He lacked production at Central Florida and caught only 80 receptions the last two seasons. For some reason, Central Florida doesn’t utilize him as much as I would think for a player averaging over 20 yards per catch the last two seasons. Therefore with a small sample size, not even Perriman realizes his potential. This also is the reason why he has flown under the radar of the draft community. Perriman is a good athlete, but he’s still limited. He’s more Kelvin Benjamin than he is Demaryius Thomas in that way. He’s a big play receiver that has sneaky good build up speed. I would guess he’s in the high 4.4 to low 4.5 range, but he moves well in a straight line. He’s decisive after the reception to get up field quickly to make a play. I wouldn’t expect Perriman to make too many defenders miss with his agility; he’s more of a power guy after the catch. He doesn’t have a lot of suddenness to his game and it shows when he’s running routes. This is a weak area to his game and he doesn’t change speeds to set up defenders.
(Leath) Some receivers become absolute technicians as route runners out of necessity. Others rely on dominant physical tools to overpower and run past cornerbacks. Perriman falls somewhere in the middle. A big dude, he’s not a jitterbug off the line and has more built-up speed than off the ball explosion. Yet neither of those prevent him from being a quality route-runner, as once he gets in the open field he has the savvy to find seams and can use his frame to box out defenders at the top of his route. Only the most skilled press corners can disrupt him at the line of scrimmage, and his size and power show when he’s powering past defenders after the catch.
(Caraccio) With an estimated speed in the low 4.5’s, Perriman possesses functional athleticism for the position. Possessing NFL caliber size, he has a good, not great, initial burst off the line of scrimmage. In fact the lack of consistency with which he gets vertical on his first few steps makes him appear slower than he really is. Against press coverage, Perriman showed the capacity to integrate both lower body fakes and hand fighting to get good releases off the line of scrimmage. These moments however were far too infrequent. With a propensity to get too upright at the snap, Perriman was challenged at times by stronger press-cornerbacks who were able to delay his release at the line of scrimmage. At the NFL level, stronger, more physical defensive backs will capitalize on those opportunities with regularity. Once Perriman entered the vertical stem of his route he showed good, not elite, acceleration. At the next level, Perriman may have trouble threatening a defensive backs cushion consistently. At the top of his routes Perriman was neither sudden nor deceptive in his breaks. Very rarely did he seem to create more than a yard of separation from the defender. Even on deeper routes, Perriman’s lack of elite speed was compounded by his inability to get separation earlier in his route; making him appear slower. As a runner after the catch, Perriman showed more power than finesses. A north-south runner, he rarely avoided tacklers. As a blocker, like many collegiate wide receivers, he’ll need to improve his technique at the next level. Perriman is neither heavy handed or aggressive blocking downfield but his physical tools should enable him to improve quickly.
Hands, Ball skills
(Whalen) This is Perriman’s greatest strength as a wide receiver. He has a knack for coming down with the football in crowds and hail mary’s, in case you missed his game winning reception two weeks ago. He excels at tracking the football through the air and adjusting his body to get into position to make the reception. One small concern, Perriman catches many of these contested passes behind defenders. This allows the defender to make a play on the football first and at the NFL it won’t be the same outcome as in college. He does a good job of catching the ball away from his body and uses his long arms to make a lot of plays. We will have to wait for the NFL combine, but it appears that Perriman has huge hands. He catches anything that touches his hands and combined with those long arms it creates a large catch radius.
(Leath) Despite his size, Perriman is very good at making adjustments and controlling his body when the ball is in the air. He can make acrobatic plays with ease and swivels his hips like Shakira on downfield jump balls. He could develop more of a bulldog mentality at the catch point, as smaller defensive backs can jar the ball loose when he lets the ball come to him as opposed to going after it with vigor.
(Caraccio) Perriman has incredibly strong hands, which he uses to pluck balls from the air effortlessly. Featuring a large catch radius and good body control as he adjusts to poorly thrown passes with ease. On deep routes, Perriman tracks the ball well over his shoulder and shows tremendous focus. In contested situations, or over the middle of the field, Perriman flashes the ability to shield defenders on his back, and make tough catches. This ability can best be attributed to Perriman’s innate physical strength and not his technique as a wide receiver. As he develops, I would like to see him make more of an effort to work back towards his quarterback when a play breaks down. There were several plays where Perriman could have used his physical prowess to create an additional target for his quarterback. To paraphrase Sigmund Bloom and Matt Waldman of Footballguys.com, a receiver in the NFL needs to be able to operate outside the confines of a play when needed; this is an area where Perriman needs to show growth. A big physical entity like Perriman needs to use his size more effectively to win at the next level.
Dynasty projection
(Whalen) Patience is going to be the key word with owning Perriman. If you draft him in the second round of your rookie draft, make sure you stash him for at least three seasons. It will take time for Perriman to get proper coaching to learn the nuances of the wide receiver position at the NFL level. Right now he’s skating by on his God given talent and he needs to be polished. I think Perriman will be a better NFL player than fantasy football asset. I would look for him to be a good red zone target and jump ball threat. If he develops well, his ceiling would be a WR3. I would compare him to Kelvin Benjamin and Brian Quick.
(Leath) Much like Mike Gundy, Perriman is a man. He’s got a NFL body and the lineage. Anyone related to Brett Perriman is alright in my book. Once you get past the top receivers in this year’s class, there’s going to be a lot of personal preference in that next tier. Even though he falls under the radar at Central Florida, Perriman is a big-time prospect that is likely to go on day two. I like him to be a long-term contributor as a team’s second receiver. If you’re looking for values beyond the first round of the rookie draft, he is one. Get him on your roster and expect steady WR3/flex production for years to come.
(Caraccio) At this time, Perriman profiles as a complementary receiver at the NFL level. While he has an incredible pair of hands and a large catch radius, Perriman needs to work on his releases at the line of scrimmage. In addition, he needs to be more deceptive in his route running to compensate for his lack of suddenness in/out of his breaks. As a dynasty investment, Perriman’s success is going to depend heavily on his landing spot. On a team with an accurate quarterback, he could be a good deep target, however, his weaknesses in the other aspects of his game may ultimately limit his snap count. Perriman has the potential to be a good football player at the next level; but perhaps just not a great fantasy one.
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Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen
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