Scouting Report: LSU Wide Receiver Terrence Toliver

If you didn’t know who Terrence Toliver was in the middle of last season, odds are you did if you watched the 2011 Cotton Bowl between Louisiana State University and Texas A&M when the former LSU Tiger wide receiver hauled in 5 passes for 112 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-24 win at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Toliver was named the most outstanding offensive player for his performance. He put up his best numbers during his junior season in 2009, catching 53 passes for 735 yards and three touchdowns. In 2010, his numbers dropped off a bit, with 579 yards receiving but increasing his touchdown receptions with five. He also had at least two receptions in every game as a senior. Although he didn’t put up as big of numbers as some of the other wide receiver prospects entering the 2011 draft, he has proven himself to be a consistent receiver against quality competition in the SEC. However, he will need to improve in some areas of his game to have success in a different level of competition that is the National Football League. Here is a closer look at Toliver, including his strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

Vertical Threat

When looking at Toliver on tape, he looks like a true deep threat receiver who can stretch the field and make sure defenses keep an eye on him at all times. He is a very disciplined when it comes to running deeper routes, he does a good job of planting his foot in the ground on breaks which in turn helps him get separation from the defensive back. Look for a team who needs a receiver who can make plays over the top of a defense to give Toliver some consideration.

Beating Zone Coverage

When scouting a receiving prospect, it is important to look at how they attack a defensive scheme that they see. One of Toliver’s big strengths is being able to find a hole in a defense’s zone scheme and give his quarterback and target. While he does have some aspects of his game to work in terms of shorter routes that I will touch on later, he has a good understanding of where he can “sit” when playing against a zone scheme and make plays to move the chains for his offense.

Durability

When I talk about Toliver being a durable player, I am not insisting that he will avoid all injuries at the professional level. What I am certain is that if he does suffer any injuries, you can bet that he will do everything in his power to be on the field regardless of the pain. For instance, in a early 2010 practice, Toliver broke his left hand in a skirmish with a teammate. He publicly said he wasn’t proud of that and worked through practice with the injury as punishment. During his pro day on March 15, he pulled his right hamstring. However, he still took part in position drills and according to NFL.com’s Gil Brandt, he looked “outstanding.”

Weaknesses

Securing the Ball

In terms of Toliver’s ability to catch the football, he has good hands and does a good job of extending his arms when receiving instead of letting the ball get into his body and cradling it. What he does to improve on is keeping his eyes on the ball and bringing it into his body before he runs up the field. Often times on film I saw him turn to run before putting the ball away and it led to drops. In my opinion Toliver just needs to work on his patience. While everything he does as a receiver needs to be quick, securing the ball is something that needs to happen before the play is made.

Route Running (Intermediate)

As I hit on Toliver’s deep route ability earlier, his shorter route running needs some improvement. While quickness is definitely a strength in his overall ability as a wide receiver, it sometimes can hurt him when making his breaks underneath. His routes are not always as fluid as one would like, often because he lacks body control when cutting. I would like to see him run his shorter routes a little more crisp  and sharp as opposed to the rounded routes he has run on tape.

Acceleration/Breaking Off of the Press

While Toliver has very good straight line speed to be the vertical threat I talked about earlier, he doesn’t have the best acceleration off of the line of scrimmage. For being a bigger receiver at 6’4”, 212 lbs., cornerbacks are able to have their way with him at the line of scrimmage. He needs to improve on getting off the jam and into his route quicker. On top of that, it usually takes him longer to reach full speed on deeper routes. I would like to see more burst from him underneath near the line of scrimmage.

Projected Round: 3^rd

NFL Comparison: Early Doucet, Arizona Cardinals