Rookie Profile: Chris Godwin, WR Penn State

Joseph Nammour Posted On April 11, 2017

Chris Godwin has quickly risen from anonymity to become one of #DraftTwitter’s favorite prospects in this year’s upcoming draft. Likewise, he’s gaining significant traction as a late first round dynasty rookie draft selection since the conclusion of the NFL Combine just over a month ago. DLF’s rookie rankers have him as the 16th best prospect in this year’s draft, and he checks in as the same rankers’ sixth best wide receiver.

Godwin was a four-star recruit out of Middletown High School in Middletown, Delaware and the 25th best receiver prospect, per 247Sports. He played in all three phases of the game, including as a returner, rusher, and wide receiver. In his three years since high school, Godwin has shown terrific development as a prototypical X-receiver, and is now considered a consensus second-day NFL Draft selection.

Let’s take a look at the reasons why he’s climbing the ranks.

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Film & Traits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHCwL5J8jyM

Godwin’s best collegiate performance was his last, as he put on a show in Penn State’s overtime loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. After catching nine passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, the junior receiver declared for the NFL Draft.

At 6’1” and 209 pounds, Godwin has good size and plays with tenacity. He has room to improve as a blocker, but he engages well and displays good effort. Godwin is routinely able to seal off the edge, putting some highlight plays on film on crackback blocks. Additionally, he appears to take ownership of his failures and has shown an effort to improve in this regard throughout his career at Penn State.

As a receiver, Godwin is clearly a talented player. There are certainly occasions where he suffers some concentration drops, but he has average to decent hands overall and rarely lets the ball into his body. He’s a competitive player in contested catch situations and excels at catching the ball in traffic by using his big frame and body control to extend his catch radius.

My favorite part of Godwin’s game, though, is his route running. For a receiver of his size and athleticism, his route running is notably refined. Godwin ran the full route tree and frequently beat his defenders in man, zone, press, and double coverage. He’s at his best against zone coverage, as he’s able to find holes in an opposing defense’s assignment seemingly at will. He has shown the ability to beat press, but he’ll need to become more consistent with his technique at the next level. Godwin posted the best short shuttle time of any receiver at the Combine, but this didn’t show up on his tape, as he rarely displayed quick-twitch athleticism to throw himself open.

Godwin is a complete enough prospect to be an NFL team’s WR2 in 2017, and his upside rivals that of any in this class outside of the top two receivers. As dynasty owners, we hope to see him land with a team that has a need for a top receiver or a solid complementary option. The Steelers, Titans, Bengals, Lions, Ravens, Bills, Cardinals, and Panthers all stand out as teams that could benefit from another solid wideout, while the Rams, Bears, and Jets suffer from poor or unsettled quarterback play but have a need as well.

Production

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Statistics from Sports-Reference.com.

As a young 18-year-old true freshman, Godwin started his career at Penn State slowly, scoring just two touchdowns and averaging only two catches and 26 yards per game. Godwin broke out in his sophomore campaign, catching 69 passes for 1101 yards (16.0 YPR) and five touchdowns. He then capped off his college career in 2016, totaling 59 receptions for 982 yards (16.6 YPR) and 11 touchdowns. Although his receptions and yards took a dip in his final season, it was encouraging to see Godwin become his team’s preferred red zone weapon through the air.

Measurables

While nobody expected John Ross to break the record for the 40-yard dash, everybody already knew he was a blazer. However, Godwin was arguably this year’s most surprising and impressive performer at the wide receiver position at the NFL Combine. Take a look at his workout metrics below, courtesy of Player Profiler.

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Godwin’s SPARQ-x score – a metric that measures “Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness” – was in the 95th percentile of all wide receivers in their database, and his breakout age of 19.5 – his sophomore season – is similarly impressive in the 77th percentile. He also posted a 34.9 percent College Dominator rating, also an above average mark (35% is the mark considered to be the cutoff for a team’s potential future WR1). Godwin’s metrics are all remarkable, but his measurables may be even better.

According to Player Profiler’s glossary, Agility Score measures a player’s short area quickness and balance and correlates with an ability to avoid tackles and compile yards before contact. Because Godwin ran the fastest short shuttle of any receiver at the Combine, his Agility Score is solid – particularly for a man his size – but he doesn’t display above-average ability in the open field with the ball in his hands. At 6’1” and 209 pounds, Godwin ran a strong 4.42 40-yard dash and put together an 88th percentile Height-Adjusted Speed Score. His Burst Score – measuring a player’s zero-inertia explosiveness (stop-and-start acceleration) and ability to catch the ball outside the body – was also above average in the 68th percentile.

His closest comparable in their system is Pierre Garcon, a player who was a top-ten fantasy receiver in 2013 and who hasn’t scored fewer than 138 PPR points in a season since his rookie year in 2008. While Garcon isn’t a flashy name, he’s been a solid NFL contributor for a long time, and seeing Godwin listed alongside him is certainly encouraging.

It’s clear that Godwin possesses the requisite athleticism to succeed as an NFL wide receiver.

As mentioned above, Godwin’s numbers are impressive across the board. His 20-yard-shuttle is the most impressive test score he produced, while almost every other drill was above average. While his three-cone drill result was below average, Godwin’s combination of long speed and short-area quickness will only help him separate at the next level.

Overall

Godwin solidified himself as a second-day selection at the Combine, when he was able to put a bow on his solid collegiate career. As a second or third round pick, he’s safely a top-15 rookie asset in dynasty formats, and someone who I think can step into a WR2 role for an NFL offense right away. With the right landing spot, he could be a startable option right away.

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