2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Parker Washington (WR – Penn State)

As the NFL season winds down, FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL draft scouting reports before the combine in March. Here’s a look at Parker Washington.

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2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Parker Washington (WR – Penn State)

Parker Washington (WR – Penn St.*)

5’10” – 215 lbs.

Background:

Has been playing in the slot since he arrived on campus; caught 36/58 targets (62.1%) for 489 yards and six touchdowns as a freshman, put together a 64-820-4 (12.8) line in 2021 on 86 targets, and finished his collegiate career with 46-611-2 (13.3) this past season on 66 targets before declaring.

Positives:

Productive three-year contributor for a major program. Thickly built for the slot. Runs a mix of routes to different levels of the field, with a mix of screens, crosses, hitches, overs, and deeper patterns. Has relatively clean, simple releases to get off the line against press. Has solid speed to threaten down the seams or across the field on over routes. Shows impressive suddenness, sells routes well at the stem to freeze defenders and create throwing windows and has some snap to his routes. Overall flexibility looks good. Has a reliable pair of hands, dropped just eight career passes in school (5.2%), and shows a solid ability to adjust to poorly-thrown balls. Sells out for throws away from his frame. Good focus to come down with contested catches. Competitive after the catch, with some elusiveness to make the first man miss and impressive contact balance/leg drive to fight for additional yardage. Does a nice job of following blockers in the screen game. Works hard to line up, engage, and sustain blocks on opponents when stalking, with solid contact balance.

Negatives:

Height is on the low end for a pro receiver, which will probably relegate him to the slot. Experience split out wide is relatively limited (28.1% of snaps this past year, 12.3% overall). Production is somewhat padded by a relatively high rate of screens, hitches, and throws of that nature; not as many throws where he’s beating man coverage. Not particularly explosive off the line; has build-up speed. Reliable within his radius but doesn’t present the biggest target overall. Settles into coverage too frequently when working against zone, rather than finding soft spots or improvising to create windows. Wasn’t a particularly efficient punt returner, averaging just 5.5 yards per return (19 punts).

Summary:

May never be a true outside receiver, but is a thickly-built, reliable slot option who pays attention to detail as a route-runner, offers a safe pair of hands and the ability to adjust to throws away from his frame, solid contact balance and some elusiveness after the catch, and high-effort blocking, traits which could make him a reliable underneath target at the next level as well. Looks like a relatively pro-ready, safer pick.

Projection: Round 3-4