Alex Kielar | April 20th, 2020
Michael Pittman Jr., WR, USC #6
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 220 lbs
Eligibility: Senior
Games Watched: vs. Utah (2019), vs BYU (2019), vs Colorado (2019), vs UCLA (2018)
Make sure to check out all of our other scouting reports here.
| Speed | 6/10 For a guy his size, Pittman is not as slow as he looks. He has a nice gallop and runs with a long stride. Won’t pull away from anyone at the second level unless he can free arm and needs extra space to get up to a competitive speed. |
| Hands | 9.5/10 Very strong at the catch point and can really high point the ball with great arm extension. Is able to make whatever adjustments on the ball to make the catch. |
| Release | 7.5/10 Is willing to get physical at the line of scrimmage and plays with no-nonsense. He can sometimes work too much on initiating contact instead of just working in space. Jab steps and body position gets corners off balance. |
| Contested Catching | 10/10 Makes up for not having the greatest speed by having the ability to make some great catches above the rim. Sometimes the catches are a lot harder than they really could be, but he doesn’t allow himself to be uprooted by a defender with his size. |
| YAC/RAC | 7.5/10 Very physical and can use that to his advantage. Will drop a shoulder to get extra yards. Can break tackles but isn’t targeted on design RAC plays like screens with the inability to make people miss. Lack of burst makes his YAC ability not as exciting. |
| Route Tree | 7.5/10 He doesn’t have a diverse tree but does well at stacking the field. Gives his quarterback good windows to throw the football into and gets defender’s hips turned with foot jabs and head fakes. His physicality is what helps out a lot to get separation underneath. |
| Vertical Receiving | 7.5/10 With his near inability to really spread the field with speed, there isn’t too much to get excited about here. Despite not much speed, however, he tracks the ball very well and can get over the top of defenders to cover them from getting back to the ball. One play I really liked was his touchdown against Utah (2019) when he high pointed the ball between two defenders and was able to get away from them and score. |
| Athleticism | 8/10 Very strong and has the average length and height for an NFL receiver. He has a long stride that helps in routes but isn’t quick or explosive. |
| Competitive Toughness | 8.5/10 Plays up to his size and very willing to take hits at the catch point. Will battle through and won’t let any contact phase him to make catches. |
| Blocking | 9/10 WIlling to bite the bullet to help his running back or more elusive receiver underneath. He wants the sauce on blocking and using his size and strong hands to his advantage. |
| Overall | 81/100 Pittman possesses some really good traits and some not so good traits. He has solid hands, a strong route tree, physicality, and great contested catching ability. Pittman isn’t explosive and won’t run by anyone in the open field. He can break tackles after the catch to pick up extra yardage. The team that drafts him has to play up to his strengths to be successful and he should give an immediate impact.
Round Grade: Second Round Projected Draft Position: Second-Third Round Pro Comparison: Alshon Jeffery |
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