WR — Courtland Sutton 7.38
Scout- Jason Feiner
College: SMU
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 216 lbs
40-Time: 4.54
Vertical: 35.5
Bench Press: 18
Athleticism
Q.A.B. 7.50 Sutton is an outstanding overall athlete for his size. He has excellent balance and strength to keep his feet. Sutton is surprisingly shifty and can run with the ball in his hands making often making the first defender miss.
Flexibility 8.00 Sutton has excellent flexibility and balance constantly twisting his body to make tough acrobatic catches.
C.O.D. 7.00 Sutton has good feet and can plant his foot to drive up field after catching the ball. Once in top gear he tends to put his shoulder down and attempt to run through players rather than avoid them.
Explosion 6.50 Sutton has been able to generate a lot of explosive plays throughout his career; however, he doesn’t possess the “wow” burst or explosion receivers are known for.
Deep Speed 7.00 Sutton is a dangerous deep threat. He has build up speed but doesn’t have elite acceleration. It takes time for him to work up to top speed. He has the ability to hit a second gear.
Without Ball
Quicks Off LOS 6.50 The Big bodied receiver is a very fluid athlete, but he doesn’t have great burst or explosion off the line.
Release VS Jam 8.00 Sutton is very physical and powerful. He utilizes his hands and can punch the receiver to generate space. His agility balance and hand use allow him to beat press and the jam. He is not able to win in press from agility or quickness alone.
Route Running 6.50 Sutton does a nice job of using his body to his advantage. He knows how to create leverage against smaller defensive backs, but he needs to clean up his technique. He has shown a tendency to drift at the top of his route when working back to his quarterback. He needs to constantly drop his hips and drive back to the line. He hasn’t used a receivers full route tree throughout his career.
Separation 6.00 Once he builds up speed, he has the ability to gain separation. He does a nice job of utilizing his size and gaining leverage against defenders. He doesn’t have the explosion or burst to outright beat a defender with quickness, but he has a good feel for open space and does a nice job of sitting and making himself a big target.
Blocking 8.50 Sutton relishes in blocking. He is a very physical player and has the talent and strength to eliminate defenders from the play. He loves blocking on the line or down field and does and excellent job of staying up right and using his size to gain leverage.
With Ball In Hands
Hands 8.50 Sutton has excellent hands. He does a great job of high pointing the ball and using his big body to shield the coverage. He has extremely strong hands and can pull the ball down and hang onto it with defenders draped all over him. He has good concentration and is exceptional at catching the ball in traffic. He can occasionally lose concentration on screens and drop the ball after attempting to run to early.
Yard After Contact 8.00 He is very strong and physical. He loves contact and does everything he can to gain extra yardage. He can power through arm tackles and smaller defenders.
Ability in Space 6.50 Sutton is surprisingly shifty for his size. He does an excellent job of making the first defender miss, but often initiates contact rather than avoiding the tackle.
Ball Security 8.00 Sutton doesn’t have trouble protecting the ball. He is a strong athlete who has fumbled twice in his career.
Competitiveness
Toughness 8.50 Sutton has outstanding build for the position. He is a tall big-bodied with a long muscular frame. He Utilizes his size and strength to his advantage to win 50/50 balls. He is a matchup nightmare in the red zone and does an excellent job of boxing defenders out and gaining leverage. He was injured in his true freshman campaign and missed the entire season, but he bounced back strong and hasn’t missed a game since. He is a big presence that doesn’t have many durability concerns.
Production 8.00 Sutton has been extremely productive throughout his career. He is a daunting presence on the field that often wins 50/50 balls due to his height athleticism and hand strength. He is a dangerous red zone threat and has the potential to be a double digit scorer at the next level.
Consistency/Motor 8.00 Sutton is very consistent and plays hard on every play. He loves blocking and will take a defender out of the play. He is a team leader and loves winning. He doesn’t give up and will do everything to gain an extra yard.
Intelligence
Instincts 8.00 Sutton has good instincts. He Has excellent timing and can jump and catch the ball at its highest point. He does an excellent job of sitting in the open space of the defense.
Learn/Retain 6.00 Sutton is a very intelligent athlete and person. He is a team leader and has the ability to succeed wherever he goes. Sutton hasn’t ran the entire route tree throughout his career and will need to learn a pro-style offense once he gets to the next level.
Position Versatility 6.00 Sutton will primarily be an outside receiver at the next level; however, he was very productive in the slot this past season. He understands how to gain leverage over the middle of the field and may see some time in the slot at the next level. He will be a dangerous red zone target.
Strengths
Courtland Sutton is an outstanding overall athlete with excellent balance and strength to keep his feet. He is surprisingly shifty and can run with the ball in his hands often making the first defender miss. Sutton is dangerous deep threats with build up speed. He has the ability to hit a second gear and run past a defender. Sutton is a powerful big bodied-receiver who has excellent body control. He is extremely physical and utilizes his hands extraordinarily well in press coverage. He can punch the defender and generate space. His agility, balance and power allow him to beat jams constantly. He is a very smooth and fluid athlete, and once he builds speed he has the ability to gain separation. He utilizes his size to gain leverage against defenders and can box out defenders. He catches the ball away from his body constantly displaying extremely strong hands and great concentration. He possesses the ability to shield a defender and high point the ball. He has great flexibility constantly twisting his body to make tough acrobatic grabs in the air. Sutton is a powerful athlete that plays hard on each play. He has the talent to eliminate defenders from the play when blocking downfield. He uses his size and strength to gain leverage over defensive backs. He loves contact and does everything he can to gain extra yards. He has the ability to power through arm tackles and grabs of smaller defensive players.
Weaknesses
Sutton is an outstanding overall athlete that uses his size exceptionally well. He is very powerful in each phase of the game; however, he is not very explosive. He has good feet, but tends to initiate contact in the open field rather than attempt to avoid a defender. He is a dangerous deep threat with great build up speed and size, but he doesn’t have great acceleration, and it takes him time to reach top speed. He doesn’t have great burst and doesn’t consistently explode off the line. Sutton uses his body well to shield defenders from the ball and gain leverage; however, he needs to clean up his technique. He tends to drift at the top of his routes when working back to the quarterback. He needs to consistently drop his hips in and out of his break. He hasn’t been required to run a full route tree throughout his career, so he may have trouble picking up an NFL offensive system. He is a physical big-bodied player that will primarily play on the outside of an offense. He will not have much versatility in the NFL.
Big Picture
Courtland Sutton is a powerful and physical receiver that uses his body exceptional well. He has displayed excellent hands and consistently high points the ball. He uses his big body to shield defenders from the ball and has the flexibility to twist is body in the air and make tough acrobatic catches. He is an outstanding athlete with good build up speed. He doesn’t have elite acceleration, but he once he gets into top gear, Sutton can take the top off a defense. He struggles with getting separation, but can fight defenders and utilizes his size to box out and bully jammers at the line. He has shown the ability to make the first defender miss, but often will resort to contact rather than fancy footwork in the open field. He is an outstanding athlete for someone his size, but he needs to fix his technique while running routes. Sutton has the ability to be an outstanding red zone threat and possession receiver on the outside of an NFL offense. It may take him some time to learn an NFL offensive scheme, but he has all the size and talent to be a weapon at the next level.
