Amidst the plethora of weapons on the UNC offense is stud wide receiver, Dazz Newsome. Being a 4-year impact player, he has done nothing but be a constant and consistent threat to defenses. Newsome’s agility, field vision, and certain routes provide a solid base for a starting slot wide receiver at the next level. Is Newsome that talented, or is he just a beneficiary of the scheme and weapons around him? Let’s find out.
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Player Bio
Name: Dazz Newsome
Jersey: #5
Position: Slot Wide Receiver
School: North Carolina
Class: Senior
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 190 lbs
Hands (5.25/10)
Newsome’s hands are nothing spectacular. He has to deal with Sam Howell’s poor ball placement plenty of times, so he has experience getting low balls. This said he does seem to have a hard time snatching some of the hard-to-catch balls. He was force-fed a lot of passes, so it does not appear to be an issue with catchable drops (4 on the year, according to PFF). Newsome also muffed a punt. His score is slightly adjusted to account for Howell’s lack of placement and correct ball speed. There is nothing wrong with Newsome’s hands, but there is nothing to write home about.
Contested Catch (5.5/10)
This category is unfairly loaded towards slot guys, so this is slightly heavier loaded towards contact catching and dealing with sticky coverage. Newsome is seen catching passes through heavy contact multiple times (thanks Howell for putting him in that situation). As said before, there is nothing wrong with Newsome’s hands, and it appears as if they are strong through contact. This is great at the next level, where the windows get smaller. He also was seen pushing off a defender (within five yards) to adjust to a hole in the zone and get away from his sticky coverage, which is a great sign of high IQ for a slot receiver. Do not throw jump balls to Newsome.
Straight Line Speed (7.0/10)
Newsom will not blow past defenders in the blink of an eye as Jaelon Darden (You can read our scouting report on Darden here) would, but his speed is something to watch. Newsome can challenge many defenders with his speed, but again he is not going to take the top off of the defense. His speed is certainly more than adequate for returns, where Newsom’s agility and burst do the magic more than anything.
Short Area Burst (8.25/10)
Surprisingly this category was slightly hard to grade. On the majority of snaps, Newsome looked like he had incredible burst and agility. He made men miss consistently, he shot off the line at a high speed, and he even burst from cuts very well. However, Newsome had quite a few plays (some more in certain games than others) where he seemed to be a bit laggy. This might cause a slight concern for consistent effort, but the rest of his play seems to say otherwise. Was he dealing with a slight injury? As the tootsie pop commercial says, the world may never know.
After the Catch (8.5/10)
It is showtime for Newsome. If UNC chose him to be their returner, Newsome should shine here. He has solid field vision that aids the fact that he does not have 4.2 speed to completely blow past people. Newsome also has great break tackle ability and contact balance, making him an all-around lethal threat with the ball in his hands. Imagine if he had Darden burst with his abilities.
Release (2.0/10)
Due to Newsome always playing in the slot, he never dealt with press coverage. He has dealt with sticky coverage, which he has either been completely absorbed by or dealt with properly. Also, note that Newsome has shown some hand fighting ability. Due to there not being much tape for this category, it shall be set to below average at 2.0.
Route Running (6.25/10)
The more tape that is watched, the higher this score goes. Due to his limited route tree, Newsome will be handicapped from getting a great score. He excels in a few routes: soft outs, skinny posts, sluggos, and most routes requiring a hard jab step near top speed. Where Newsome falters (besides several routes), is his slower speed routes like slants, hard outs and ins, and more. This is because he tends to not want to gain speed until after the cut (which assumes that he is not comfortable making hard stops at full speed), which generates small separation. This may be a huge red flag in the NFL, but usually, slots do not have to deal with many of those routes besides slants. Newsome’s faults are fairly fixable. Note: Newsome does seem to be more comfortable with soft routes rather than hard-cutting ones.
Separation (5.25/10)
Newsome can use his burst to generate separation consistently, but he also uses technique on the routes that he tries hard on. It is difficult to gauge this category as well. Newsome separates slightly above average when factoring in his off reps and when he gets stuck in coverage.
Positional Versatility (5.5/10)
This came as a pleasant surprise: Newsome is an amazing blocker. He may not plow people over, but at his size, he handles safeties and corners very well. He has great hand placement and puts out a solid effort. Newsome will only be a slot and a returner (as long as he does not muff) in the NFL, but those are two positions that have a value attached to them.
Competitive Toughness (4.25/5)
This score was kept from a five simply due to those off reps seen throughout the tape. Many times Newsome also stood still and did nothing for a play or two. However, on most plays, he put out immense effort even when the play was nowhere close to where he was. Newsome’s effort in the run game heavily supports the team-first mindset that shows up on the majority of his tape.
Injury (5/5)
The injury sheet appears clean for Newsome.
Player Summary
Newsome appears to be the real deal. Defensive and special teams coordinators have bitten off all of their fingernails by the time the game is over. With all of his traits, both mental and physical, Newsome has the basis for a high-floor impact player. Of all wide receivers in this draft class, he might be among the top for day one impact. With very few things needing fixing, Newsome is a prime candidate to make the biggest splash on day 1 in the right scheme; however, if the lazy reps show up in the NFL, do not be surprised if Newsome’s career is cut short. That may sound harsh, but a slot wide receiver cannot take plays off in a very pass-heavy, quick pass league. With the right supporting cast and coaching staff, Newsome may be one of the biggest steals later on in this draft.
Final Grade (62.75/100): Third Round
Player Comp: Keke Coutee
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