2019 Senior Bowl: 5 players who improved stock

Deebo Samuel, WR, South Carolina

For wide receivers at the Senior Bowl it could be hard to really increase your stock. The corners are usually older corners that are lower draft picks. Even this group in Mobile did not feature any of the top-5 in the class. That being said, wide receivers stood out this week. The best of the bunch was South Carolina’s Deebo Samuel.

As a junior Samuel put the football world on notice. All he did was make big plays and score touchdowns. His senior breakout season was hampered by quarterback play. Now that he was able to play with truly strong play from his quarterbacks, Samuel showed why he can make a case for the first receiver taken.

Despite being under 6-feet tall, Samuel has the reach of someone much taller with 32.5 inch arms. Those are measurements similar to West Virginia’s David Sills who measures in at 6-foot-3. This is why Samuel excelled at beating man coverage and press time and time again.

It also is a big reason why he’s shown good ability to high point balls and win in the air. This is not the typical play you see from a sub-6-foot player. Samuel is a rare talent at the position, despite not being a prototypical outside receiver.

Samuel impressed with his route running all week as well. There were times where he simply could not be touched. It is easy to see him being very quarterback friendly given his wide array of skills. His value increases even more in the red zone where his sudden cuts, and excellent feet make him a nightmare for defensive backs in space.

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Samuel was pegged as a likely slot only player. What he showed in Mobile is that no matter where he lines up he will be a weapon. He will need to carry this momentum into the combine for his rise to continue. If Samuel impressed in Indianapolis the round 1 talk will continue with it.