Strengths

Size, size, size. If there's one attribute that is valued by NFL scouts simply off the eye test, it's size, and Prater has a lot of that. There aren't many 6'5" receivers out there, which makes him a difficult matchup for smaller defensive backs. There's a reason he was so highly sought after high school and why he showed the flashes he did with Northwestern.

Weaknesses

Getting the ball in Prater's area isn't the problem; the problem is whether he'll catch it or not and whether the defender gets there before him. He had his fair share of drops at NU but his most glaring deficiency is lack of foot speed and agility, which feeds into poor route-running. A 40-time of 4.75 is not promising at all, even for a possession receiver such as Prater. In the NFL, even the big receivers can move quickly, and Prater is just not at that point yet.

Overview

One of the most-used clichés in sports is that you can't teach size, which, even with its overuse, is inherently true. That's why Prater will likely find himself on an NFL's team roster this summer for a training camp and maybe even into the fall. The fact is that he's just not athletic enough, at least right now, to compete in an incredibly physical league in which even the bigger receivers, and defensive backs, can run sub-4.40 40-yard dashes. In high school and college, extreme size can trump deficient speed but it can't in the NFL, which is why it would be a surprise if Prater is selected in this year's draft.

His best chance to make a name for himself in the league though would be as a tight end/slot receiver hybrid. In fact, multiple NFL teams have told Prater that that is where they see him. If he could put on some weight to help handle the blocking duties of the position, he'd be a tough matchup for NFL linebackers over the middle of the field.

yep i bet this is what the saints are thinking.

Good young man. Has the size and hands. Looks horribly slow and stiff.

I wouldn't go that far maybe but he looks like a long strider.

That's a better take on it; he doesn't have that "suddenness" that Coach Payton speaks, but he does manage to get separation and he seems to have good hands...

The size is definitely there as well...

You know Eric Dickerson was a long strider and he did okay in the league...

It's all about finding your way, being there every Sunday, and producing when your name is called so we'll see...