2014 NFL Draft: Pre-Season Breakdown – Donte Moncrief, WR Ole Miss

Jan. 5, 2013; Birmingham, AL, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Donte Moncrief (12) is stopped just short of the goal line by Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Anthony Gonzalez (28) during the third quarter of the BBVA Compass Bowl at Legion Field. Mississippi won 38-17. Mandatory Credit: Kelly Lambert-USA TODAY Sports

After showing some flashes of what he could be as a freshman, Ole Miss wide receiver Donte Moncrief had a breakout season his sophomore year with 66 receptions for 979 yards and 10 touchdowns.  As long as the Rebels can provide someone who can get him the ball, he should only continue progressing as a player and has a chance to be the best player at his position in the SEC.  Moncrief is phenomenal athlete with great triangle numbers and the potential to continue getting better.  In certain areas of his game, he is raw and has some habits he needs to eliminate while in others, he is impressive and shows game changing ability.  Moncrief has the ability to be a top 50 player with the potential to get into the first round should he declare after this year, but really needs to polish his game in certain areas and just be more consistent from play to play.

Vitals & Build

Moncrief is listed at 6’2” 214lbs with an impressive build and functional strength.  He has speed to burn and his first step explosion really stands out on tape.  There is nothing to suggest he cannot continue adding strength with any ill effects at this point, but anything he gets at this point is a nice bonus.  At least on tape, it appears has an NFL ready body, but with another year or two dedicated in the Ole Miss strength program, he could be extremely impressive.

Route Running & Technique

Moncrief’s stance is incredibly inconsistent.  The majority of the time he not only comes out with an ugly bounce but actually hops into running his route.  This is sloppy and makes him come out of his stance far more slowly with little if any sense of urgency, which is a shame because he has tremendous explosion with his first step.  There are times when he will do it correctly and efficiently, coming out of his stance with all of his momentum going forward and it looks much smoother and makes him look extremely fast.

Against press, Moncrief is more effective out of his stance because it forces him to be smarter and more efficient to win.  He comes out of his stance more consistently for the most part, but will take some false steps that can be eliminated or at least reduced.  The adjustment he needs to make in press is getting his arms up and using them to create separation.  Moncrief does a good job of using his strength to allow him to stay close to his line and get back to it quickly, but better use of hands to keep defenders out of his body will only make it easier.

When it comes to running routes, Moncrief has some great qualities but a few issues to clean up and improve.  Ole Miss does not have Moncrief run an extensive route tree and has him run go routes, posts, comebacks, and bubble screens for the most part.  To his credit, he has done a great deal of work in the intricacies with which he runs these routes, enabling him to create separation and get open to make plays; wide open at times where he can lose the defensive back entirely.

Moncrief is not running the route, but playing the man, which is the goal.  He is not concerned with what the route is asking him to do because he knows how to run the route.  Instead, Moncrief is working on how to beat the guy in front of him.  Moncrief will run the same route with a number of variations which can cause his opponents a ton of headaches on adjusting to what he wants to do.

Moncrief does a fantastic job of selling routes and making defensive backs really take his fakes seriously and forcing them to stay accountable to almost everything he does.  The best example where Moncrief really excels is his post route.  He does a tremendous job of running straight at the defensive back and even when they are backed off in coverage, Moncrief is able to eat up yardage quickly and force the cornerback to make a decision on which way to flip.  Already, he has them at a potential disadvantage and if they turned outside at the wrong time, he will simply cross underneath them and catching them trying to flip their hips and turn their body the whole way while Moncrief has made a clean cut and is already gaining distance between himself and the defensive back.  There are also times when Moncrief does a good job of planting his outside foot with one hard step towards the sideline to sell the go route with outside leverage.  He only uses the one step and uses that step to plant and cut into his post route.  If the corner reads outside go and flips to run the outside route, Moncrief has him beat.  Even if he just makes the defensive back hesitate, his speed can beat them.  When it comes to selling a post and keeping a defensive back guessing on what he is doing, whether middle range or deep, Moncrief routinely puts a clinic on how to perform it.  Moncrief does it well enough where he could probably tell the opponent what he is doing and still make it work because he is so convincing with how he sells it.

Another example is when Moncrief will sell a quick hitch, suck the defender in, go deep and get the corner running, and then turn back and set up a target for the quarterback by the sideline.  His footwork is clean enough, his cuts are sharp enough, and his speed scares opponents so much that he can create a ton of separation doing it.  He needs to avoid getting too busy at times and performing three and four fakes which just take forever and the quarterback has either gotten rid of the ball elsewhere or had to pull it down and run with it before he is done.

One area where Moncrief has shown to be quite good is turning into a defensive back when the situation calls for it.  Not only can Moncrief make the play to avoid giving up the interception, but he has shown examples where he does it with great technique for a defensive back.  This is a tremendous quality to have as it makes the quarterback more comfortable and willing to take risks to throw the ball up if their receiver is going to do everything they can to go up and make plays as well as protecting him if he makes a bad throw.

It would be nice to see him run a more extensive route tree and hopefully he will continue to expand it this coming year, but he is running NFL routes and he is running them extremely well for the most part.  If he can correct his stance and release off the ball, they will only get more effective and make him play that much faster.  One other issue he needs to improve is what happens when the play breaks down.  There are examples of plays where Moncrief has determined the play is over at least for him and will just stop playing.  Instead, he should be working back over to the middle of the field and finding a hole in the coverage to his quarterback a player to throw the ball.

Hands

Moncrief shows strong hands the ability to snatch the ball out of the air cleanly.  His ability to locate and concentrate on the ball in traffic, with bodies flashing in front of him, or through contact is impressive.  He also does a tremendous job of tracking the ball when it is going deep.  At times, he will revert to using his body to make catches when he should be using his hands and he is open.  The times he uses his body to secure catches when he is either fighting through contact or going to absorb a hit are not a big issue, but hands would be preferable.  Moncrief seems to be gaining confidence almost by the catch in what he can do on the field and the plays he can make.  Occasionally, he will drop the ball as a result of a lapse in concentration and trying to run before he has secured the catch, but this should improve with experience and game reps.

Moncrief’s catch radius is above average but still improving.  There are times when he needs to extend his body and reach out and make catches but he seems reluctant.  He is perfectly comfortable jumping to make catches and occasionally will do it when he should not to use his body to protect himself and it also works to stead the ball in midair.  Moncrief is not afraid to go across the middle and make catches and will make an effort on passes his quarterback places badly when it could get him killed going across the middle.  He does need to work on his awareness to where the sideline is so he can adjust accordingly.

Not only does he have the ability to make catches on awkwardly located passes, but he has tremendous body control to this point, which is something else that should only continue to improve with time.  There are some catches where it is impressive he does not fall down and is able to keep his feet and continue running and make a big play even bigger with the potential to score.

Run After Catch

Moncrief is a terrifying player in space if he has a lane.  He does a good job of transitioning from pass catcher to run after the catch, which could continue to improve, but his acceleration makes him incredibly dangerous.  Moncrief opts to keep going north and south with the football rather than stopping and starting or going laterally.  He has the strength and power to run through arm tackles and the balance to avoid getting tripped up on too many cheap tackles.  If he has a lane, he has the acceleration to get up to his top speed in a few steps and when he is at his top speed, good luck to anyone trying to catch him.  Moncrief has big time speed and is always a danger to score the football when he is able to catch the ball on the move.  He can pick up some yardage on bubble screens but is not terribly comfortable in space as far as jump cuts and making guys miss in small spaces.  Rather, he is far more comfortable on the move and just using his speed and momentum to make defenders adjust to what he is doing.

Blocking

An area of inconsistency for Moncrief, he will flash effort and make some great blocks at times.  There are other areas where he gives less than stellar effort and has to put in more effort to make blocks on the second effort, which ends up being counterintuitive.

When interested and putting in the effort, Moncrief will get himself in good position, maintain position between the ball carrier and defender and seek to push the defender out of bounds.  In these situations, the only adjustment he should make is how he comes off the line.  He should come off the line the same way every time to make the defense not know what the play is going to be, enabling him to keep the defense guessing and create opportunities for himself and his teammates.  Unfortunately, he will sort of jog off the line of scrimmage and ease into getting in position rather than coming off the line like he might be running a route.  The result is Moncrief is giving away the play.

In other situations where Moncrief comes off the line in a lackadaisical manner, he will appear to try to take the play off to maintain his energy.  Often times the defender will take advantage and get by Moncrief, which then forces Moncrief to make up for it by fighting harder than he would have if he simply executed the block the right way the first time.  Amazingly, Moncrief has a number of examples where he can get away with it, run down the defender and make an effective makeup block for the ball carrier.  He would be much better off if he simply approached every block with great effort and take away the will of his opponent, forcing them to give up and quit.

The third situation is where Moncrief will go above and beyond and really impress with his effort.  At times, Moncrief is called upon to run defensive backs off or sell a bubble screen in order to freeze defenders and open up opportunities for runners.  Moncrief will do his job, read where the play is going, and then go find someone and make an impact block that can open up bigger plays.  Not only does he have the ability to do the job of getting in the way but he can drive opponents off the ball and get pancake blocks.  It all comes down to effort with Moncrief and being consistent, but he can as good as he wants to be in this area.  The fact that he can do it and simply does not at times can be incredibly frustrating.

System Fit

Moncrief’s best fit is in a vertical offense that wants to go down the field.  Not only does he have the speed and explosion to be a threat down the field, he tracks the ball and can adjust to it on deep passes as well.  He is much more effective when he can catch and run as opposed to stopping and making a play after the catch.  His bread and butter to this point is using the go and post routes to back off defensive backs to open up comebacks and dig routes before sucking them in and then just beating with raw speed down the sideline or in the middle of the field.  Offensive schemes like the ones run in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Kansas City would be a good fit for him, keeping him on the outside and letting torture defenders out there.

Moncrief could fit into a horizontal passing that has him catch passes like slant routes and continue running; he has more experience running routes that ask him to go deep down the field.  Like with Ole Miss, getting the ball in Moncrief’s hands is a smart move so coming up with creative ways to do it and New England, Philadelphia, and New Orleans could be a great situation for him.

Schedule

Notable Games

Right off the bat, the game against Vanderbilt could feature Moncrief against Andre Hal.  After their week two break against SE Missouri State, the Rebels play a brutal five game stretch starting with three games on the road: Texas against the duo of Carrington Byndom and Quandre Diggs, Alabama against Deion Blue and their talented safeties Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix and Vinny Sunseri, and Auburn.  The Rebels then come home to play Texas A&M and LSU with Jalen Collins.  Moncrief is going to have to come up big for them to win these games and if he is shut down, they could end up going 0-5 or 1-4.  And while Mississippi State graduated both of their starting corners from last year, the Egg Bowl is always a big game as the regular season finale on Thanksgiving.

NFL Comparison

Right now, Moncrief’s game is similar to that of DeMaryius Thomas of the Denver Broncos.  The former Yellow Jacket came out somewhat raw with a limited route tree with incredible physical tools and potential.   Thomas has worked himself into being a dangerous target with Peyton Manning.  Moncrief is just slightly smaller than Thomas at this point but offers the same type of deep threat and big play opportunities that Thomas does with the potential to get much better and more polished before he enters the NFL Draft.

Draft Projection

Moncrief has tremendous ability and has the potential to be the most talented wide receiver in the conference and one of the best in the draft class if he continues developing and really works to improve at his draft.  There is no reason to think he could not be a top 50 prospect should he declare after this year and could work himself into a first round prospect as his skill set and potential will be extremely attractive at the next level.  Moncrief has a ton of talent and could only be scratching the surface if he puts in the work to really perfect his craft.