Jordan Addison, WR, USC: 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Jordan Addison is declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft after a rough year (by his standards) at USC. Will Addison be the first wide receiver off the board? Can he still land in the top ten despite a down year and impressive defensive/quarterback class?
Name: Jordan Addison
Position: WR
School: USC
Height: 6-foot-flat
Weight: 174 pounds
Background
As mentioned on this site, Jordan Addison is declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft. He had a rough year after transferring from Pittsburgh to USC. Addison had 59 catches for 864 receiving yards, and added 8 receiving touchdowns on the year. This comes after a fantastic year before, in which he had 100 catches for 1,539 yards. Addison’s 17 touchdowns helped him earn the 2021 Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver in college football.
Going into this college football season, Addison seemed to be the top wide receiver in the NFL Draft. Since then, Addison has struggled to produce the same results as last season, and Quentin Johnston has taken the No. 1 slot on most wide receiver rankings going into combine/ team workout season.
In fact, I have seen a lot of mock draft boards — by draft experts that are very reliable — that have Addison as the third wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft. Usually with Jalin Hyatt or Jaxon Smith-Njigba ranked ahead of him. Personally, for me, Addison’s athletic traits still have him as my No. 2 wide receiver, but the drop-off in production for the wide receiver was costly to his stock.
Strengths:
-Athleticism
-Speed
On paper, Jordan Addison is a perfect wide receiver in terms of measurables. This player has fantastic athletic ability. Addison’s speed is more impressive than given credit for, and that will make some headlines when he tests at the combine. I really would not be surprised if he gets talked about a lot in the media just cause he is a great prospect from a technical standpoint.
Weaknesses:
-Tracking Deep Ball
-Dip in Production in 2022
My main weakness with Addison is that he seems to struggle with the deep ball. At times, he has trouble keeping track of the ball while working downfield. When watching the film of Addison, it was hard to find the exact reason why he struggles tracking the ball while running the route. At the end of the day, the USC standout is a great volume guy who can run a lot of short routes and have success.
However, he isn’t a complete wide receiver, by any means, going into the 2023 NFL Draft. Furthermore, Addison did have a down year this season and it will cost some spots in this draft.
2023 NFL Draft Projection: Top 15-20
With the NFL regular season over, it has become a lot easier to project where players might go in the draft. Based on the amount of good quarterbacks and generational defensive players — plus the fact that Johnston is the better draft prospect — Addison will likely land outside of the top ten. I project him to go somewhere between No. 15 – No. 20 overall.
I have read a lot of mocks where he goes to the Texans, after the Titans take Johnston, but I personally think they would need an offensive lineman for their new future quarterback, rather than a wide receiver.
I will always be a Penei Sewell over Ja’Marr Chase truther. Chase helping the Bengals get to the Super Bowl last season did not change my mind. They had to invest heavily in the offensive line last offseason and it is still a serious concern going into the divisional round matchup vs. Buffalo.
A couple of mocks have Jordan Addison going to the Packers. I like that pairing. Addison has a chance of going to the Patriots — they could use a wide receiver like Addison — but could also go for a tackle or cornerback. If the Giants want to get aggressive, they could use another threat in the passing game.
I could also see a wide receiver-needy team, that is already a complete team, trade up to the middle of round one to select Addison. If I had to make a prediction, I would say that the Packers end up with him, or someone trades up to the mid-teens to get him.