Wide receiver

Rutgers

6-2 211

Draft board overall prospect rank: #45

Draft board overall wide receiver rank: #7

Overall rating: 77 (2^nd round)

40 time: 4.67

Games watched: West Virginia/Rutgers

Positives

·         Good size (6-2 211)

·         Incredibly Reliable hands – also huge (10 ¼ inches)

·         Great body control

·         Plays with physicality

·         Good run blocker

·         Can make catches with a guy draped on him

·         Not afraid to go over the middle

·         Excellent possession receiver between the numbers

·         Knows how to get open against all types of coverage

·         Smart

·         Incredibly productive as a in 2011 (115 catches for 1206 yards and 7 touchdowns)

·         Played with multiple different quarterbacks

·         Thrived in spite of poor quarterback play (His 115 catches were 83 more than his team’s next leading receiver)

·         Some experience carrying the ball (125 career carries)

·         High character, hard worker

·         Great route runner

·         Good YAC

·         Strength (doesn’t get jammed at the line)

Negatives

·         Not a vertical threat at all

·         Only 4 career catches of 20+ yards (out of 210)

·         Poor 40 time (4.67)

·         A history of injury issues

·         Only 7 touchdowns in spite of his height in 2011

·         Awful punt returner (70 returns for 121 yards in 2 seasons)

NFL Comparison: TJ Houhsmanzadeh

Mohamed Sanu is an interesting prospect. He was incredibly productive at Rutgers despite poor quarterback play. In 2011, he caught 115 passes, which was almost 50% of his team’s 256 catches. The #2 guy on his team in terms of catches had 32. However, of the 210 career carries he has, only 4 went for more than 20 yards.

He has absolutely no speed to burn and he’s not a vertical threat at all. He’s really, really good at what he does, which is getting open short, making tough catches over the middle between the numbers. He’s incredibly strong and physical and tough to tackle in the open field. He’s a very mature route runner who you can’t jam at the line of scrimmage. He’s very intelligent and a team leader. He just isn’t going to be an outside receiver or a deep threat. He’ll be best off as a #2 possession receiver or slot guy at the next level.

He reminds me a lot of TJ Houshmanzadeh. Houshmanzadeh thrived in his career next to Chad OchoCinco (then known as Chad Johnson). He went to Seattle for a bit and tried to be a #1 receiver, with no success whatsoever. His career was over very quickly after he left Cincinnati. Sanu is a similar player. Across from the right player, he can be a 70-80 catch possession receiver who moves the chains and makes tough catches. He’s a solid 2^nd round prospect in my book.