TCU WR Quentin Johnston passes speed test, but can he prove to teams he has good hands?

How fast is TCU receiver Quentin Johnston? Better yet – how good are his hands?

He answered the speed question during the school’s pro day on Thursday.

Johnston ran an unofficial 4.49 and 4.50. Combined with his 40.5-inch vertical jump and 11-feet, 2-inch broad jump at the Combine, and Johnston would appear to be the top receiver in this draft class.

So why doesn’t he rank higher in the various big boards, draft rankings and mock drafts?

Dropped passes.

Field Gulls writer Diane Taylor put together some interesting data on the receivers who finished their final seasons with relatively high drops rates – and it’s looking pretty bleak for Johnston.

According to Taylor, players with a drop rate percentage of 10 percent or higher over the past five drafts have not fared well, with only two taken in the first round: another former TCU receiver, Jalen Reagor, and former Minnesota receiver Rashod Bateman.

Reagor, though, had a drop rate of 14 percent in 2019 while Batman had a 14.3 percent drop rate in 2020.

Injuries and ineffective play, though, has stunted their careers.

So has dropped passes, according to Taylor’s research.

Bateman’s career drop rate is 11.6. Reagor, meanwhile, has a better career drop rate at 6.5, although the percentage was 10.8 in 2021 and his cumulative reception percentage is a good-not-great 59.5 percent.

However, as Taylor points out, Johnston’s 11.8 percent drop rate this past season is better than Reagor’s and Bateman’s percentages during their final collegiate seasons.

Johnston, the No. 25 overall prospect in the latest Fanspeak-Jake Rigdon big board, is currently the second-rated receiver in this draft.

For what it’s worth, Johnston reportedly had a good day catching passes during the school’s Pro Day event. Of the three passes he dropped, media reports say two were long and one pass was short. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline said TCU quarterback Max Duggan had a rough day.

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Don’t read too much into Carolina not having a dinner meeting with Florida QB Anthony Richardson. While the team wined and dined with QBs  C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Will Levis, Panthers brass was in Arizona until March 29 for the annual league meetings. Arranging a dinner meeting the next night in Gainesville would have been problematic, says Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller.

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Tucker Kraft? In the first round? And to the Chiefs?

That’s where the Bleacher Report’s scouting department slated him in their latest mock draft – and it’s hard to argue their logic. From The Bleacher Report: “He brings a blend of speed, change of direction and power that you often only see from the league’s elite tight ends. He’s a bit clunky in how he moves right now, which is more a product of playing with an unrefined skill set at a lower level of football than anything else. But he has all the athletic tools to get cleaned up and blossom into a star.”

The report also gave the 6-foot-5, 254-pound tight end from South Dakota State props for his blocking, which they said could get him onto the field right away despite the presence of Travis Kelce, who turns 34 this year.

Jake Rigdon (@jrigdon73) covers the NFL draft for Fanspeak.com. His big board is updated at least once per week during the season and leading up to the draft. Message him on Twitter to receive $3 off your new Ultimate GM subscription.