Today we are focusing on Garrett Wilson, Ohio State’s 6’0″ 193 lb. wide receiver who was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2020 and who headlines a talented receiving corps alongside Chris Olave.
Strengths: Wilson is an elite route runner. He incorporates his top-end quickness and suddenness into his routes to make them very crisp and tough to match. Additionally, Wilson’s routes are extremely deceptive, as his suddenness allows him to fake his movements to shake his defender. As a result, Wilson is adept at using his quickness and route running to beat man coverage. His releases against press are good too, as he uses his lightning quick feet to get past his man. His foot quickness also makes him really good on stop and comeback routes, given that he can effortlessly stop on a dime. Wilson displays a really good ability to track and locate the football, and to use his body control to adjust to the ball. His hands are also really good, as there are barely any drops on tape and he naturally catches in stride. After the catch, Wilson is dangerous with his quickness, elusiveness, and field vision. This additionally makes him useful on manufactured touches such as end arounds. Wilson is unafraid of working the middle of the field, routinely making catches through incoming hits. Wilson lines up in both the slot and on the outside for the Buckeyes, and also offers value in the return game.
Weaknesses: As good as Wilson is at winning with quickness and route running, he is not a complete receiver and may never be. Wilson is not the biggest and it shows in multiple ways on tape. First, he is rarely put in contested catch situations, and this will likely never be a significant part of his game, since he is not physically imposing or dominant at the catch point. Wilson also struggles playing through route contact, and this could be magnified in the NFL. After the catch, he can make defenders miss with elusiveness but does not break tackles, with arm tackles being enough to take him down sometimes. As a blocker, Wilson is willing but often does not do enough to latch onto his man and sustain. Wilson is quicker than he is fast or explosive, as you rarely see him take the top off a defense with pure speed or showing deadly acceleration in a short span of yardage.
Bottom Line: Wilson is a deadly route runner who beats defenders with great quickness, suddenness, crispness, and deceptiveness in his routes. With another off-season to improve his craft, I expect Wilson to perform really well in 2021 by utilizing these strengths to beat defenses. It is important to understand that contested catch situations can never be a part of his game, and that he may be very quick but isn’t a burner. As a result, Wilson will likely be limited to the slot in the NFL, but his quickness and route running skills offer him a high ceiling at that position. I can see Wilson being a very good NFL slot receiver.
