Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: PPR, 4 Rounds (2023 Fantasy Football)

Quentin Johnston has easy and immediate speed that jumps off the screen on film. Johnson is a RAC specialist. With his loose hips, he transitions from receiver to runner fluidly. His burst is automatic. His juice and his upper body strength make him a frustrating player for defenders to wrap up consistently. Johnston ranked 11th in missed tackles forced and sixth in YAC per reception last season (minimum 50 targets). Johnston has all the raw skills to fulfill his potential as a No. 1 option in a passing game as an X receiver. He still has plenty of development hurdles to cross to get there. Johnston isn’t a nuanced route runner. While his first step is explosive, allowing him to gain immediate separation on drive routes, he lacks the extra polish that could really make him shine. Johnston doesn’t consistently stack corners on nines.

While he has won by running by corners in college, that won’t be as easy in the NFL. He ran primarily comebacks, gos and crossers toward daylight at TCU. When he’s changing direction on posts and corners, he needs to do a better job selling the vertical stem. The same can be said for comebacks and curls. While Johnston can flip his hips easily, he needs to do a better job selling the vertical element. His jab steps are pronounced. His sloppiness with these routes allows corners to hang with him or close quickly. Johnston’s physicality after the catch doesn’t show up at the catch point. Considering his size, he needs to be stronger at the point of attack. He limped to 34.8% and 36.8% contested catch rates over the last two years. He also dealt with concentration drops at times.

Jalin Hyatt is a speed merchant. That’s the best thing he has going for him at this stage. Hyatt’s blinding speed makes up for flaws in the rest of his game. The name of the game should be to get him moving horizontally with crossers at the next level to allow his speed to manufacture YAC. Screens by the truckloads also wouldn’t be a terrible idea for his next offensive coordinator to deploy. Hyatt was utilized in the slot or in stacked formations to get him free releases in college. He has an 88.7% collegiate slot rate. When Hyatt was tasked with winning against man or press coverage, he couldn’t. Hyatt’s route running and release package are vanilla. He lacks nuance in his routes and wins only via speed releases. If corners can get their hands on him, it’s over. They have free access to his body, and his lack of upper body strength shows up immediately.

Roschon Johnson is a north/south runner. He is at his best when he gets downhill quickly and into the second level. Johnson is patient at the line and scheme versatile. He has good lateral agility for his size, but he’s not a wiggle-back. However, Johnson has enough juice and good vision to work well on zone runs. Johnson quickly gets up to top speed but lacks that second “home-run” gear. He displays good contact balance. He’s able to shed arm tackles, and there’s plenty of film of him making the first would-be tackler miss. He was utilized on dump-offs in college. He displayed soft hands when called upon in the passing game.

DeWayne McBride is a tough runner. He has strong contact balance as he pinballs off defenders into the second level. His plus leg drive masks average burst at the line. McBride has enough lateral agility to sidestep to a different gap when the designed hole is filled with a defender. His vision is a plus as he presses the line well and improvises when it’s called for. He’s at his best when he gets downhill in a hurry as a one-cut and go back. McBride lacks the extra immediate juice to hit some creases as he looks a second behind. This also shows up when he’s asked to avoid a defender in the backfield.

He can jump-cut an early surprise occasionally, but he’s getting dropped behind the line on many plays that he encounters a defender immediately. He’s an unknown in the passing game. McBride only garnered 10 targets in college. This could be related to offensive design or a reflection of stone hands, but with such a small sample to work with, it’s impossible to know which. McBride did perform as a plus pass protector in his final season in college, so we can assume that the lack of targets wasn’t related to him coming off the field on passing plays. Last year McBride was 15th in PFF pass-blocking grade (minimum 50 pass-blocking snaps, 109 RBs).

Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft Board

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