2020 NFL Draft Prospect – Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR Michigan

Ray Garvin Posted On April 1, 2020

Our NFL rookie profile series continues with this analysis of 2020 NFL Draft Prospect Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR from Michigan. We will continue to provide you with these in-depth rookie profiles and a ton of other fantasy football rookie analysis right up through the NFL Draft. Stay tuned, and stay ahead of your league!

We’ve all been talking about the depth of the 2020 wide receiver class for months. In this class, you have the production monsters, the speedsters, the big-bodied possession wideouts and then you have the athletic freaks who underperformed their entire college careers. Michigan wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones fits that mold, but there are some elements of his game dynasty owners should find intriguing.

The Stats

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Statistics from sports-reference.com.

Peoples-Jones was one of the top high school players in the country in the 2017 recruiting class. He was the number 12 overall player and the overall top wide receiver in his class, with a composite score of .9925 according to 247 sports recruiting services. There was a tremendous amount of expectations on the shoulders of DPJ from day one.

Unfortunately, the numbers didn’t even come close to the expectations placed upon him. DPJ underperformed and underwhelmed during his three years at Michigan. His best statistical season came in his sophomore season. I’m trying to be positive here, and I will say his age-adjusted production in his age-19 season wasn’t bad. He had a 21% market share or receptions, a 21% market share of receiving yards, and a 33% market share of receiving touchdowns. Then in his last season, the production took a dip again.

The Film

https://youtu.be/t4Kydj2IGuE

The film is where you can see flashes of the potential. I was always left wondering why he couldn’t produce. Granted, context matters and the quarterback play was subpar at best during his three years playing in the Big House. Here’s a fun and demoralizing fact: during his freshman season the leading passer at Michigan – John O’Korn – threw for a whopping 973 yards with a 53.5% completion percentage, two touchdowns and six interceptions.

I’m not going to place all the blame on the quarterback and head coach. DPJ had his fair share of issues as well. He often relied on his athleticism over learning the details of the position and even in a bad situation, he failed to establish himself as the go-to target on that offense. No matter how bad the offensive situation and quarterback play was, this is problematic.

The Measurables

He is very very athletic. Make no mistake, DPJ’s lack of production had absolutely nothing to do with his athleticism and physical tools. For those who had forgotten about him, DPJ reminded the entire football world that he’s a high-level athlete. At 6’2” 212 lbs, he blazed a 4.48-second 40-yard dash (67th percentile), had an out-of-this-world 44.5-inch vertical leap with 10” hands and a 139” broad jump. In both of the two explosion events, he tested as a 99th-percentile athlete.

His best player comparisons are Darius Slayton, Chris Conley, and Josh Doctson. While these players aren’t world-beaters and one ended up a major bust, the talent and physical traits are there for him to carve out a role at the next level.

Dynasty Value

According to DLF’s March 2020 Rookie ADP, DPJ currently sits as rookie 2.10 with an ADP of 22. He is currently ranked ahead of incoming rookie wide receivers Devin Duvernay and behind Michael Pittman. One of the things you should take into consideration when drafting DPJ is his dynamic ability on special teams. If there were something he excelled at during his time at Michigan, it was his playmaking ability on punt returns.

During his career, he returned 89 punts for 743 yards and two touchdowns, while having multiple touchdowns and long returns called back for penalties. Take this playmaking ability into consideration when making the decision to press draft on him. I’m not saying he’s anywhere close to Tyreek Hill, but remember how Hill’s career really took off: punt returns.

Conclusion

If you are going to draft Donovan Peoples-Jones, you’re doing it based on potential and potential alone. He doesn’t have the raw numbers or the age-adjusted production numbers in his profile to make us feel remotely comfortable that we are drafting a future star. DPJ did what he needed to do at the NFL Combine to make one team fall in love with that potential. Based on where he’s currently valued, you could do a lot worse at the end of the second round of rookie drafts. I’m just fine taking a shot on him at that point, and you should be okay with it as well.