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Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

If I remember right, some people had him as the #1 WR prospect coming out of highschool. This is the first I've heard his name since. Forgot all about him. Obviously he was highly overrated, but maybe there is something in him the Saints can wake up.

When we've had success with UDFA's it's typically been guys who actually succeeded, but because of size or lack of competition or a combination along those lines, they went undrafted. I'm not too high on guys who just flat didn't do much of anything. But it doesn't hurt to look.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

Speed isn't everything but you must catch the ball...

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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.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

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.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

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Originally Posted by hagan714 (Post 655829)

yep i bet this is what the saints are thinking.

Good call. I'd like to see less of Colston in that role.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

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Originally Posted by Cruize (Post 655806)

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

That is the question I was going to ask. If he is fast or not. I want speed from our wide recievers but Colston has been great for us. Hope he does well.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

Unless he balls out of control in training camp, I would expect the Saints to develop him (practice squad) this year.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

He is another tantalizing prospect this year. He could turn into an NFL tight end with some good coaching. Josh Hill doesn't look much more flexible and produces on the field. These two could be a nice combo in a couple of years........or not. :wink:

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

Supposedly has big hands and benched 225 20 times. Watching him on tape, I never saw him break any tackles. He seems to need to develop a mean streak. Unfortunately, I've never seen a guy develop that. Good luck, but Toon seems better to me.

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

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Originally Posted by Crusader (Post 655818)

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...

Re: Saints signing wide receiver Kyle Prater

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Originally Posted by jeanpierre (Post 656179)

Being a long strider isn't the same as being slow. Dickerson was fast (Ran a 4.3). Prater runs a 4.7, or around there, which is quite slow. Jerry Rice had a bad 40 time (though he sure looked fast to me) but he was lightning quick, ran flawless routes and nobody ever had better hands than him.

Prater doesn't seem to have any of those qualities at this point, and I don't know how you just coach all that up. I honestly do think that putting on weight and being a tight end would be his only ticket. That's a real long shot, but who knows.