One 2021 NFL Draft prospect that has a big red flag when it comes to his injury history is Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore.
This season, Moore only played in three games due to a lower-body injury. He also missed most of the 2019 season due to a hamstring injury and has only played in seven games over the past two seasons.
Despite missing so much time over the past couple of years, Moore is still considered a possible day one selection due to his outstanding production when on the field and overall playmaking ability.
As a freshman at Purdue, Moore became the first true freshman consensus All-American in Big Ten history after recording 114 receptions for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns. When healthy in 2019 he was able to produce impressive numbers as well catching 13 passes for 220 yards against Vanderbilt. This year he was able to record 35 receptions in just three games.
In terms of how his game transitions to the NFL, he has a few things working in his favor with the first one being his outstanding playmaking ability. He is one of the biggest threats in college football when it comes to making yards after the catch.
He also is a physical player especially for someone 5-foot-9 180 pounds and can either run through arm tackles or outmuscle a defender when going for the ball. On the downside, his lack of size and long injury history will scare off some teams.
2021 NFL Draft stock down: Tre Nixon, WR, UCF
The reason we are seeing UCF’s Tre Nixon stock fall this year is due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the season opener against Georgia Tech. This injury limited Nixon to playing in just four games this year and catching only 14 passes on the year.
This injury was extremely unfortunate for Nixon as this was supposed to be his breakout year after averaging 15.1 yards per catch in 2019.
As a prospect Nixon shows the speed and size combination coaches love. In terms of his speed, Nixon has consistently displayed the ability to get deep or to take a short catch the distance. Coming in at 6-2, he also has the size to give a quarterback a big target downfield.
One more aspect of the game Nixon excels at is tracking the ball when it comes over his shoulder on passes such as go and corner routes.
In order to live up to his potential in the NFL though he is going to have to become a more physical player and work on his route running. I currently project Nixon to go around the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft and think he could make a living as a number three receiver in the NFL.
2021 NFL Draft stock down: Elijah Cooks, WR, Nevada
Another player who saw his season destroyed by an injury is Nevada wide receiver Elijah Cooks.
Cooks was only able to play in one game this year due to a shoulder injury, as he suffered a season-ending injury in the first half of the team’s season opener.
Despite seeing such limited playing time he was still able to show the exciting potential he has with this one-handed grab against Wyoming. In addition to having one of the best catches of the 2020 season Cooks was also able to dominate for a full season in 2019.
As a junior he led Nevada in receptions with 76 catches, receiving yards with 926, and also caught eight touchdowns. To go along with his outstanding production Cooks also has the size the NFL craves coming in at 6-4 and 215 pounds.
Elijah Cooks doing his best OBJ impression! pic.twitter.com/5ncZvdH0zI
— Stadium (@Stadium) October 25, 2020
The biggest concern with Cooks besides his injury this year is his speed. While he was able to gain separation against Mountian West corners, will he have the quickness to do this at the NFL level?
It is not often a team is able to find a player with Cooks’ size and athletic ability combination and even rarer to be able to get him on day three, which they likely will be able to with Cooks in the 2021 NFL Draft.
2021 NFL Draft stock down: Pooka Williams, RB, Kansas
A player that will be faced with his share on and off the field is Kansas running back Pooka Williams.
On the field, the questions will revolve around his lack of size coming in at only 170 pounds and the fact his production has dropped each year. Off the field, the questions will revolve around his domestic violence charge in December of 2018. Neither one of these issues will help Williams when it comes to a team taking him in the 2021 NFL Draft.
One way to possibly get around his size concerns would be for him to be willing to switch to wide receiver. This move would make sense for Williams for several reasons with the first one being he has been a good receiver out of the backfield at Kansas.
During his two full seasons at Kansas 2019 and 2018, he caught a total of 60 balls. He displays the quickness you want out of a slot receiver as well and should be able to get separation on his routes. He shows the ability to be dangerous after the catch in this role as he rated first in the Big 12 since 2014 with a 33% forced missed tackle rate according to Pro Football Focus.
Pooka Williams has opted out of the 2020 season to be closer to his family in Louisiana, per @BruceFeldmanCFB
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 19, 2020
33% forced missed tackle rate is the highest of any Big 12 RB since 2014 pic.twitter.com/emC04VFjR4
While I doubt we will see Williams get drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft, a team will likely pick him up as an undrafted free agent.
2021 NFL Draft stock down: Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse
Teams looking for a ball-hawking safety are going to love Andre Cisco of Syracuse. In his first two seasons for the Orangemen, he had 12 interceptions. This was the highest total of any player in college football over the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
He was also able to grab one interception this year in the season opener against North Carolina. Unfortunately, it was the only pick he was able to get this year as he tore his ACL in warmups for the third game of the season against Georgia Tech.
When evaluating Cisco it becomes evident very quickly that his top skill is his ability to play the ball in the air. He shows great awareness in the passing game and also the aggressiveness to go make a play on the ball. Teams will also like the athletic ability he displays as according to Bruce Feldman, Cisco runs a 4.33 40-yard dash and has a 36-inch vertical jump.
Unfortunately, the fact he sometimes overplays the ball does lead to some issues for Cisco. One of these issues is he sometimes gets out of position in coverage and misses the tackle when the ball is caught. He also is not the strongest in run support and needs to do a better job in his run fits.
However, the biggest concern with him currently is his injury history as he is still recovering from his torn ACL. In addition to his current injury, he also missed three games in 2019 due to injury.