Where are Washington State players expected to be taken in the 2020 NFL Draft?
The 2020 NFL Draft, which will be held virtually due to the spread of COVID-19, will run from Thursday to Saturday.
Washington State had two players invited to the NFL Combine, and they’ll all be hoping to hear their name called. Here, we take a closer look at those players, their evaluations and their draft projections.
Anthony Gordon, QB
NFL.com overview: “The latest gunslinger from Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” produced gaudy numbers in just a single season as starter. Comparisons to Gardner Minshew come up short, however, as Gordon lacks Minshew’s field awareness and decisiveness in reading coverages. He throws with touch but doesn’t have the arm strength or eye discipline to keep NFL coverages from closing his throwing windows.”
The rundown: Anthony Gordon completed over 69 percent of his passes last season, which ranked among the best rates in the country last season. But that was his only year as a starter in college. He looked strong at Reese’s Senior Bowl and the combine, where he showed off his quick release. Despite not participating in agility drills, analysts came away impressed by his performance with the ball in his hands. Projections for Gordon range from fourth-round pick to undrafted free agent. The Sporting News has the Green Bay Packers selecting Gordon in the sixth round while CBSSports also has him going to the Packers, but in Round 5. CBSSports ranks Gordon as the No. 8 quarterback in the draft and the No. 169 player overall.
NFL Combine quotable: ”I think you’ve kind of seen every defense. We’ve seen every defense from cover zero to drop eight, and everything in between,” he said. “The amount of reps I got, you can’t really replicate those throws in any other way, other than live reps. I am very thankful for being able to start that one year and getting over 500, 550 attempts. You know, that’s a lot of attempts. A lot of people knock the Air Raid for that, but, I mean, I don’t think you can beat that in terms of being a one-year starter. So I think the amount reps that I have is very beneficial for the next level, being able to throw the ball from all three different levels of the field.”
Dezmon Patmon, WR
NFL.com overview: “Big pass-catcher with intriguing size but lacking the assertiveness to impose his will. Patmon suffers from an overall lack of suddenness to uncover on both the first and second levels and issues with focus drops is an additional concern since he’ll see plenty of contested catches. He has decent buildup speed, body control and ball skills to compete for 50/50 balls, but he doesn’t always play with “my-ball” attitude.”
The rundown: Patmon (6-4, 225) is generally projected as an undrafted free agent. He impressed with his speed at the NFL Combine, running a 4.48 40-yard dash, which ranked 19th out of 45 wideouts. CBSSports ranks Patmon as the No. 51 wide receiver and the No. 329 player overall. Patmon finished the 2019 season with 58 receptions, 762 yards and eight touchdowns. In four years with the Cougars, he had 156 receptions for 1,976 yards and 13 touchdowns.
This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Where are Washington State players expected to be taken in the 2020 NFL Draft?."
