Devy Profile: D.K. Metcalf, WR Ole Miss
DeKaylin (D.K.) Metcalf is a physical freak. He has both size and speed, and is a very smooth runner. He is also a good bet to outjump anyone guarding him. Metcalf is set to begin his redshirt freshman season for the Ole Miss Rebels. He hopes to uphold the tradition of talented Ole Miss receivers, which includes recent standouts Donte Moncrief, Laquon Treadwell and Evan Engram. DeKaylin’s father, Terrence, also played in the NFL as a guard. While this is not a definitive predictor of NFL success, it is a positive trait. Former NFL players are often able to instill a good work ethic in their children and teach them what it takes to make it to the NFL.
Age
Just 19 years old, Metcalf is still very young as he enters his redshirt freshman season at Ole Miss. He is a raw prospect filled with a lot of potential. I am excited to see how his game grows and develops as he ages and gains more experience at the college level.
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As a Recruit
He was ranked as the 20th wide receiver and 119th overall prospect by 247sports.com coming out of High School. He caught 94 balls for 1,455 yards and 22 touchdowns in his senior year of High School at Oxford and totaled 224 catches for 3,302 yards and 49 touchdowns for his entire career there. Metcalf was a well-rounded athlete at Oxford, also playing basketball and participating in track and field. He received offers from many top colleges, including Auburn and UCLA, and ultimately chose Ole Miss to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Freshman Season
His true freshman season was cut short due to the broken foot he suffered in his second game against Wofford. Before the injury, he only recorded two receptions but both of them went for touchdowns. He eventually received a medical redshirt, allowing him to keep his freshman eligibility for the upcoming season.
Stats above courtesy of Sports Reference.
Athletic Profile
Metcalf is one of the most athletically gifted players at the college level. He is a huge wide receiver, standing at 6’4’’ and weighing 225 pounds. In addition to his size, he is built like a brick wall with all of his upper and lower body strength. It is actually surprising how much muscle he carries since he is still a teenager. His vertical jump was measured at 37.5 inches and his forty time was recently clocked at 4.46 seconds. These are remarkable numbers for a college sophomore. They suggest Metcalf could become a freakish NFL receiver similar to Julio Jones.
As you can see in the table below, Metcalf’s size compares to some of the largest receivers in the NFL, including Julio Jones, Alshon Jeffery, and Mike Evans.
Metcalf’s speed is visible in the limited routes I watched him run. He routinely uses his speed and explosiveness to blow by defenders on go-routes. He also uses his impressive vertical jump to give the defender almost no chance at contesting the catch.
Route Running
In the high school tape I watched of Metcalf, he ran a lot of go-routes with some screens and slants mixed in. All of these route types utilized his exceptional speed and ability to make plays after the catch. His quickness and agility also allowed him to turn quick slants and bubble screens into long touchdowns. Most defenders proved no match for Metcalf’s size and quickness. For instance, Metcalf’s ability to gain yards with the ball in his hands is on full display in the clip below.
Watching some tape on D.K. Metcalf tonight. He is a freak athlete and has great YAC ability. pic.twitter.com/lEkaDlKzYp
— Kyle Holden (@TheDevyDude) August 18, 2017
He demonstrated tremendous speed on his go routes, which allowed him to create a lot of separation from his defenders. However, some of his routes were not as crisp as they should have been. While I like to see receivers run more advanced patterns than Metcalf did, I will give him a pass considering he was still in high school for these plays. I will be interested to see if he is able to improve his route-running and learn new patterns this year at Ole Miss.
Ball Skills
Metcalf has very limited college tape, but he still displayed exceptional ball skills in the two catches he had. Against Florida State, the ball was slightly underthrown and heading toward the defender’s helmet, but Metcalf was able to reach in front of the defender and tip the ball back towards himself to make the catch.
Ball skills on fully display here. pic.twitter.com/qIc5Ram7Y4
— Kyle Holden (@TheDevyDude) August 18, 2017
There are not many college receivers who can make that play, but Metcalf is one of them. He also has a tremendous vertical, which allows him to high-point balls at heights most other defenders cannot reach. He does a tremendous job of catching the ball in traffic while leaping over two defenders in the clip below.
What a catch here. pic.twitter.com/vQf5Vz7YyD
— Kyle Holden (@TheDevyDude) August 18, 2017
Metcalf also has strong hands, which allow him to gather in contested catches. He will be very tough to guard this season if he is able to combine his ball skills with more advanced route running.
NFL Comparison
It is difficult to compare Metcalf’s game to those of NFL players because he has only caught two passes at the college level. In addition, his high school highlights are often against inferior defenders compared to what he will face in college and potentially the NFL.
However, from the tape I did watch, parts of Metcalf’s game are reminiscent of Alshon Jeffery’s. They both excel at deep routes where they can use their size and speed combination to run by and out-jump defenders at the catch point. They also have the ability to turn short screens into long gains. Metcalf has a long way to go to reach the heights Jeffery has, but he does have the physical tools to do so.
Summary
Metcalf is an intriguing prospect with loads of potential, but his career outlook is still very much unknown at this point. On one hand, he could develop into one of the top receivers in the nation. He makes acrobatic catches very few at the college level can. On the other hand, he might just end up being another physical specimen who cannot put everything together to excel on the field.
Metcalf’s teammates, A.J. Brown and Van Jefferson, are also young, large-bodied receivers. It will be interesting to see who separates themselves as the alpha receiver in this offense. Whoever does could be in for a big season catching passes from quarterback Shea Patterson.
In the devy rankings I have looked at, Metcalf is projected to be picked in devy drafts somewhere in the beginning to middle of the first round. He is currently battling it out with N’Keal Harry for most people’s top devy wide receiver of the 2019 class. I currently have Metcalf just behind Harry, but he has the potential to jump into the top receiver spot if he has an impressive year. He is one of my most intriguing prospects to watch this upcoming season because of his tremendous athleticism and limitless potential. Now it is time to see if he can reach it.
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- Devy Roundup: Week 14 - November 26, 2019
- Devy Roundup: Week 13 - November 20, 2019
- Devy Roundup: Week 12 - November 12, 2019
