Seahawks Scouting: USC WR Robert Woods

I suppose it's never too early to start talking about the 2013 NFL Draft (oh... it is? ...well, shit..) and as the Seahawks roster looks, on paper, right now, there are several needs and holes that could be projected going into next season. As with anything, caveats abound and a million and one things could happen between now and then, but wide receiver still looks to be one of the positions atop that list. Many were disappointed that the Seahawks didn't go that route at all in this year's Draft - passing on early round players like Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright, Stephen Hill, Rueben Randle, and Alshon Jeffrey; mid-round prospects like Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Chris Givens, Juron Criner, Nick Toon, and Greg Childs; then even late round guys like B.J. Cunningham, Tommy Streeter, Marvin McNutt, and Junior Hemingway - etc etc so forth and the list goes on.

The Hawks did pick up a few guys among the undrafted ranks after noting that this year's WR class was 'average' and not outstanding; they signed Oregon's Lavasier Tuinei, Washington's Jermaine Kearse, and Ohio's Phil Bates. These three are virtual unknowns, and will battle with Deon Butler, Ben Obomanu, Mike Williams, Charly Martin, Cameron Kenney, and Ricardo Lockette for a couple of roster spots behind the guys that I see as locks - Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, and Kris Durham.

Still, outside of possibly Sidney Rice, who remains a big question mark when it comes to his injury history, the Seahawks have no true (obvious) #1 receiver - something that could come in handy for this or any offense. A guy to draw coverage, tilt the defense in his direction, be a red-zone go-to guy, beat one-on-one coverage, etc. A touchdown maker.

One player that has been talked about (yes, I already exchange texts with Davis near-daily on what the Seahawks might do in rounds one through seven next year) as a possible round one choice in 2013 for Seattle is USC's Robert Woods. Up there with him are Cal's Keenan Allen, Baylor's Terrance Williams, and yes, WSU's Marquess Wilson. For today though, let's take a look at Woods.

For help, I hit up Thomas Melton. Tom runs his own Draft scouting blog, attends and scouts many of the offseason All-Star games (Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine Bowl, etc) and works as a de facto Quality Control Coach (I don't know his official title, but for all intents and purposes that's what he is) for Beloit College, filming and making cuts ups of every game, breaking down offensive formations, tendencies, alignments, etc. In addition to the great scouting reports we have here from Derek Stephens and Rob Staton, (and Ben Harbaugh, and Matt Erickson, and others...), Tom has agreed to share a few of his scouting reports with Field Gulls when he breaks down players the Seahawks might have some interest in. The most recent report he filed was on USC WR Robert Woods.

Per Melton:

Size: Doesn't have great size, but he is listed at 6'1", 184 pounds. He could stand to add some weight, but he doesn't look skinny to me on film. Adding some size and strength might help him beat more physical corners at the line, and he might struggle less with physicality from the defense in general.

Speed: Woods clearly has impressive speed. I don't think he's a 4.4 flat guy, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was timed in the 4.45-4.47 range. He has good burst off the ball and accelerates to his top speed quickly, allowing him to beat defenders in 1-on-1 coverage when he is given the opportunity. He's not easy to overthrow deep, but it happens at times. Woods is also dangerous after the catch because of his speed, and because of his ability to gain yards after the catch, he is used on returns as well as on offense. He often demands a safety over the top, making life easier for the other superstar wide receiver on the Trojans, Marqise Lee.

Quickness: Woods has impressive quickness as well. He changes directions quickly, and his quickness is always on display when he is running his routes. His change of direction speed and his burst make him ideal for quick screens and passes in the flat where he can make a man miss and pick up additional yardage. His quickness certainly informs his route running, and he definitely does a good job getting in and out of his breaks.

Release: Woods has a good release when he is allowed to get off the line of scrimmage without a challenge from the corner, but when he is engaged by a strong, physical corner he can have trouble getting off the line of scrimmage. He needs to get stronger, work on beating the jam and being physical once he is healthy, because it is one of the only things holding him back from being a truly complete, elite receiver prospect. USC moves him around constantly, playing him in the slot, in the backfield, and bringing him in motion frequently to try to help him avoid jams, but to be a top WR prospect he will need to learn how to beat the jam consistently.

Route Running: Woods' route running has been great since he was a freshman, so it's no surprise that he continues to run very good routes. This is one of Woods' strengths, without a doubt, and it helps him create consistent separation versus man coverage. He has a good feel for zone coverage as well and knows where to sit to give Matt Barkley a target to throw to, and usually is on the same page with Barkley when running option routes and looking for back shoulder throw opportunities. As he continues to learn more and more about reading coverages pre and post snap I think he will become very dangerous on back-shoulder throws, but he still has room for improvement there.

Hands: Woods hands are very good, but when I was watching him last year he seemed to have one drop a game that he should have come down with. I'm not sure if they were concentration issues or not, but that is my best guess having watched over half of his 2011 games. He clearly has NFL caliber hands and catches the ball very cleanly outside of his frame. He rarely body catches and regularly makes impressive diving catches to bail out a less than stellar throw from Barkley. He can catch passes that are low, high, outside and he holds onto passes once he catches them, even if there is contact immediately after he makes the reception. He will be able to go over the middle in the NFL, especially once he puts a little more weight on to help improve his durability. He can make the tough catches look easy, but he needs to make sure he eliminates the easy drops this upcoming season.

Body Control: Woods has pretty good body control, but I'm not ready to say he is good or great in this area yet. He shows the ability to make tough adjustments to the ball in the air, but while he came close to a lot of big plays on underthrown balls or passes thrown too far inside when they should have been outside, he didn't often come down with them. Also, there were a number of times when he had a chance for a touchdown or a big play on the sideline but he didn't quite get his feet in-bounds, resulting in an incompletion instead of a game-changing play. He can certainly improve this, he just needs to drill it, but he isn't there yet in this aspect. I want to see him make those game-changing plays on difficult deep balls and catches near the sideline that he didn't quite make last season. He has the tools and the ability to do it, he just needs to keep working at it.

In Traffic: Woods is a reliable receiver in traffic and because he can snag passes outside of his frame he gives Barkley a big target radius to throw to even though he isn't much taller than 6'0". Like Marqise Lee, he plays bigger than his actual listed size and that has something to do with his catch radius as well as his athleticism to track down poorly thrown balls with a quick adjustment on a ball thrown too far forward or too far behind or a diving catch when he is in full stride. He isn't afraid to go over the middle and I don't think I ever saw him make a catch in traffic and drop it as a result of contact, and there were plenty of instances where that could have happened. Once Woods catches that ball the only time it's going to hit the ground is after he's tackled and the ball gets placed between the hashes for another snap.

YAC: This is one of Woods' best characteristics. Woods does a great job setting up and using his blockers both as a return man and as a receiver on screens or just running after the catch in general. He has impressive vision and while it can be risky, he knows when to cut back against the grain and when to forge ahead and get the tough yards. He can be physical as well, fighting for tough yards after contact is made, but is at his best when he can make defenders miss in the open field due to his stop/start ability and his impressive acceleration. It does concern me a little bit that he tends to run out of bounds at the end of plays instead of fighting for additional yardage, but some of that may have been a result of being banged up towards the end of the season. That's something I'll be keeping an eye on during his junior campaign.

Blocking: Woods isn't a great blocker, but the effort is certainly there and once he gets stronger I think he will continue to improve in this area. He never got called for a hold in all of the games I watched, so that is certainly a plus, and there were a number of plays where his block downfield helped spring a big run for Curtis McNeal. He gives good effort and is certainly willing to block, plus he has some nastiness to him and really likes to blindside pursuing defenders, not unlike Hines Ward. I love to see that, and he got a couple really good licks on bigger defenders doing that as a sophomore.

Overall: Woods is at the top of my list of wide receivers, right up there with Keenan Allen. I've been a huge fan of both since I watched them play as freshman and it's going to be difficult to pick one over the other at any point.

Woods is a complete receiver that catches the ball well, runs impressive routes, is dangerous after the catch, adds value as a return man and shows good effort as a blocker. Not only that, but he is a team player. According to an ESPN broadcast, Kiffin called Woods after a tough game where he was relatively ineffective because of injury and wanted to make sure he wasn't down on himself. Woods told Kiffin that he didn't care how many passes he caught because the team won. That's the kind of receiver you want to have in your locker room.

Right now he just needs to get stronger, work on beating jams at the line of scrimmage, clean up some of his easier drops and work on making tough catches deep and along the sideline. Those might seem like small critiques, and that's because for the most part they are. Woods is a NFL ready receiver and should be a popular player come April if he can overcome some of the durability concerns that have been popping up recently. An injury is the only way Woods will be consistently stopped, though he could stand to improve against more physical defensive play. I'm very high on Woods and I am excited to watch him continue to progress as a junior, and I would be very surprised if he didn't declare after this season.

Projection: Top 10. I don't want to go much further than that, but Woods certainly has the skill set and NFL talent to go this high. I don't think he is a franchise caliber receiver like Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss in his prime or Andre Johnson, but I think he has the potential to be a #1 wide receiver. If not, he is going to be an absolutely lethal #2.

Big thanks to Tom for the scouting report, and make sure to follow him on Twitter then head to his website to check out his other scouting reports.

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Video cut ups via DraftBreakdown.com and JMPasq/DraftJedi.