Corey Fuller: Motor City Deep Sleeper?

Jarrett Behar

fuller

If I told you there was a 6’ 2”, 204 pound, 23-year old receiver on the Lions who ran a 4.32 and probably wasn’t rostered in your league, you’d probably get a little excited.  Now, it’s not all wine and roses for Corey Fuller.  For example, his vertical jump (31.5 inches) leaves a little to be desired, especially for a speedy, deep threat type of receiver.  Fuller, however, was unquestionably raw coming out of Virginia Tech, having only played 18 games (and only 12 with meaningful snaps) after transferring from Kansas, where he was a track and field athlete.

Thus, it should have come to no surprise when Fuller, despite being a sixth round pick, was waived by the Lions during training cap and was stashed on the practice squad in 2013, which essentially became a redshirt year for Fuller.  We all know what happened next, Nate Burleson left via free agency, Ryan Broyles tore an ACL for the elevendieth time and drop-machine Kris Durham was pressed into major service.  Since the end of 2013, the Lions have added Golden Tate, but the rumored (or even possibly failed attempt) to trade up to get Sammy Watkins never materialized and the only receiver added by the Lions in the draft was another sixth round pick, T.J. Jones of Notre Dame.  Although the Lions added Eric Ebron in the draft, there is still plenty of room for another receiver to develop, especially if that receiver can learn from Calvin Johnson, a consummate professional and the best in the game, in my opinion

Pulling from the DLF archive, Senior Writer Jacob Feldman wrote this really interesting piece on Top 25 WR measurables back in 2012.  Plugging Fuller into Jacob’s criteria shows that Fuller is right on the fringe:

Height – At least 71” (5’11”)                Check (6’ 2”)

Size – At least 2.6 pounds per inch        Check (2.76 pounds per inch)

Hand Size – At least 9”                        Check (9.5” hands)

40 yard dash – Under 4.58 seconds      Check (4.32)

Vertical Leap – At least 32”                  Close (31.5”)

Broad Jump – At least 120” (10 feet)    Check (120”)

20 yard shuttle – Under 4.4 seconds    Close (4.48 at Pro Day)

3 cone drill – Under 7.1 seconds           Close (7.17 at Pro Day)

Source: NFLDraftScout.com

Looking at the Lions’ wide receiver depth chart, we have:

  1. Johnson (the best)
  2. Tate (locked in WR2)
  3. Durham (dropped ten passes last year, only caught just 49 of 110 targets, just 44.5%)
  4. Kevin Ogletree (still living off of his 2012 Week 1 glory)
  5. Ryan Broyles (major injury concerns)
  6. T.J. Jones (smallish, but sure handed rookie)

The Rest:  Patrick Edwards, Naaman Roosevelt, Jeremy Ross (training camp depth and/or return specialists.

With Matthew Stafford a mortal lock to throw at least 600 passes a year (663, 727 and 634 in the last three years), there is an opportunity for someone to emerge behind Megatron and Tate.  Fuller has already generated some off-season buzz, which is obviously a good thing with a new coaching staff in town.  Since Fuller was on the practice squad last year, he was able to participate in the Lions’ 2014 rookie mini-camp.  His knowledge of the system gave him a leg up on the rookies and, according to Tim Twentyman of Lions.com, new Lions coach Jim Caldwell gave him praise in that regard and called his effort “outstanding.”  Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com echoed this sentiment, stating that Caldwell “praised him heavily.”

Now, we all know this is likely just May coachspeak, but in very deep leagues where I’m looking for roster fliers, or in shallower leagues where I’m looking for players to keep my eye on, I prefer my guys to come with a healthy dose of upside, especially in a high-octane offense.  Fuller meets those credentials, and if he can bulk up a little and show some blocking ability, he has a good chance to make the Lions 53-man roster.  If he does that, it will be time to stand up and take notice of this developmental project.

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