Cleveland Browns: Grading the 2020 NFL Draft class, pick-by-pick analysis

Draft Grade: A

Michigan’s Donovan Peoples-Jones actually had some first-round buzz coming out of a very impressive showing at the 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Combine. After watching more tape and looking at his production on the box score, however, teams passed and passed and passed on Peoples-Jones, as he fell to the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round.

Athletically, Peoples-Jones (DPJ) is about as gifted as they come. He has great size (6-foot-2, 212 lbs, 33-inch arms and over 10-inch hands) and his athletic ability shows up both on tape and in his combine results. DPJ had an incredible 44.5-inch vertical jump at the combine, and he excels playing “above the rim” out on the field.

Using that leaping ability to his advantage, DPJ is an outstanding jump ball, 50/50 receiver. And at Michigan, that’s about all the passes he got. He was severely underutilized and often missed by throws at Michigan and will surely benefit from having an NFL quarterback delivering dimes to him.

The lack of production wasn’t all on the quarterback, though. Peoples-Jones is not a nuanced route runner, primarily running fades out of the slot to get those favorable 50/50 match-ups. He will need to develop a more diverse route tree at the next level, but he typically gets a good release off the line to create space to make a play.

Donovan Peoples-Jones is exactly the type of player you want to target in the sixth round of the draft. Maybe not the most productive player in college with some imperfections in his game, but the tools and potential to mold into something great.

I thought I was lower on Peoples-Jones than most when I ranked him WR18. But in a stacked 2020 NFL Draft wide receiver class, DPJ was one that fell and should prove to be a steal in the sixth round by the Cleveland Browns.