Robert Woods Scouting Report

Measureables:

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 201

Arm length: 31”

Hand: 9 1/4”

40 time: 4.51

Pros:

• Highly productive receiver while at USC
• Made a lot of catches on errant throws in college, turning incompletes into big gains
• Has good solid hands and is a pretty natural pass catcher
• Really good route runner, gets a lot separation even from faster defensive backs
• Has good speed, but plays faster than he times
• Extremely good awareness, and works back to his quarterback when he’s in trouble
• Strong at finding the football and highpointing it when needed to jump
• Comes from a pro style offense and is capable of running the entire route tree
• Willing to go across the middle, capable of playing in the slot
• Good at picking up yards after the catch

Cons:

• Has had nagging injuries including an ankle injury that slowed him this past year
• Had a down year in 2012 across the board.
• Dropped more passes than he should this past year
• Isn’t really elite in any one area, and lacks elite deep speed.

Overall:

Robert Woods is one of the more intriguing prospects in this draft. He doesn’t possess either elite size or speed and is coming off both an injury and disappointing season. That causes him to fall in the eyes of a number of people, but he is good in so many areas that he is likely being overlooked. Woods is strong in key areas like route running, gaining separation, awareness and catching. For all those reasons he’s one of the safer bets among receivers in this draft. Not only is he likely to become a very good starter, but Woods also is more likely to be productive early in his career, which is something that notoriously plagues young receivers. His inconsistent 2012 and the ankle injury are definite concerns, but it shouldn’t knock Woods down too much. USC was a mess across the board this past season, which led to a number of their top players underperforming. Woods is a first round talent and will likely make some team look pretty smart taking him in the later half of the round.