Best College Slot Receivers 2019

• 12/5/20: Atwell has been impressive to open 2020 and could be a slot receiver candidate for the NFL. 8/29/20: Atwell was a productive slot receiver and playmaker for Louisville in 2019. He has serious speed, as evidenced by his excellent yards per catch.
• Jamison Crowder proved to be the most important offensive player for the Jets in 2019. He quickly became a favorite target of Sam Darnold’s and finished the year with a team-high in receptions.
• He is amongst the highest graded 2020 draft prospects of all eligible players and should be the first receiver off the board next April. 1 / 5 NEXT Published 27 Aug 2019, 15:30 IST.
• By severing ties with half of last year’s group of wide receivers, Bill Belichick essentially admitted that the Patriots won Super Bowl LIII in spite of an underwhelming corps of pass catches, not because of it. Julian Edelman aside, the group left standing by the end of the season was New England’s weakest output since 2006, when Reche Caldwell was the team’s No.

A healthy Dante Pettis put on a show during his rookie season. Injuries limited him to only 12 games, but his time on the field was impressive enough to land him at No. 8 on Doug Farrar’s list of the 11 best NFL slot receivers.

Pettis’ ability to work out of the slot and outside is part of why he’s so valuable in an offense that requires a diverse skill set from receivers. He caught 27 balls for 467 yards and five touchdowns overall last season, but his work from the slot stood out to Farrar:

Ranking the Best Receiving Corps for 2019 College Football Season. Of Lil'Jordan Humphrey—who thrived on option routes in the slot—will be facing a massive challenge.

Especially in the slot, Pettis had some impressive moments, and he projects well as a primary receiver in multiple roles. In 2018, he caught 12 passes on 16 targets from the slot for 234 yards and two touchdowns. So, you have to project optimal production when it comes to Pettis, but it’s easy to do.

Best College Slot Receivers 2019 Roster

While he won’t line up a ton in the slot in 2019 with a few other receivers on the roster capable of filling that role, his high-level production in that area of the field point to all the things that make him a good receiver. His ability to quickly separate at the line of scrimmage make him deadly in the confined spaces a slot receiver works in, and he has enough speed to run away from defenders and turn short throws into big plays.

It stands to reason that Pettis notches a 1,000 yards in Year 2 as long as he stays on the field. A pair of knee injuries last year are the biggest red flag for the 23-year-old. On the other hand, he admittedly took awhile to get in the flow of the offense, and his productivity between Weeks 8 and 12 are a sign that he’s only going to get better. He hauled in 20 balls for 359 yards and four touchdowns in that four week stretch.

Best College Slot Receivers 2019 Draft

With the arrow pointing up on the former second-round pick, it’s not an inconceivable notion that Pettis winds up among the NFL’s best receivers overall after 2019, and not just out of the slot.