2015 NFL Draft Prospect Sammy Coates

On the Night

On the night, Cooper had 13 catches for 224 yards and and three touchdowns while Coates had five catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper outgainged Coates by 18 yards but Coates’ night was a little more impressive because he had eight less catches and 10 less targets to do it. I don’t know how important it is to each scout but Coates looks like he’s clearly the faster man as he was the fastest man on the field.

But one area that Coates has to catch up to Cooper in is his route running as Cooper plays in a pro style offense. This means he runs the full route tree and accelerates out of his breaks to become an open target. They both drop the ball at times as Coates cost himself a touchdown in the game so he didn’t look like he had the better hands that night.

You can tell the Cooper is the most polished receiver prospect in the draft and the offense he plays in help him to have the highest floor. But Coates being bigger, longer, and faster, gives him the most upside I’ve seen of the receiver prospects. While Cooper was setting his man up for most of the night, Coates just challenged his man to keep up and ran right past him.