Wide Receiver Albert Wilson

Albert Wilson is a wide receiver from Georgia State.  Never heard of Wilson or Georgia State?  Me neither.  But maybe we should have.

Wilson is a superior athlete.  At 5' 9", 202 lbs, he is short and powerfully built, more like a running back than your typical receiver.  He runs a 4.38 40, has a 37.5 inch vertical, and broad jumps 123 inches.  That's faster than Watkins, a higher vertical than Evans, and a longer broad jump than Beckham, for those keeping score at home.  This dude is an ATHLETE.  Unfortunately, he may or may not be a receiver.  His hands are, ahem... inconsistent, a nice euphemism for he has a case of the dropsies.  His route running is, ahem.. unrefined, a nice euphemism for he needs serious work.  As a receiver, he needs to be developed with some intensive coaching.  Maybe he never becomes an NFL quality receiver.  But my oh my, when he has the ball in his hands and some open field, the man does shine.  His burst is special, and once he kicks into gear, nobody and I mean nobody is catching him from behind.  Watch him return a kick, and watch him take a pass and split two defenders and take it to the house, and you start to dream, if only he could be coached up...

In the meantime, you take him late in the draft for his current ability, which is as a 5th receiver/return man/possible wildcat guy extraordinaire.  Did I mention he was a high school quarterback?  Take Wilson and you're taking an athlete first, a receiver second. It will be up to you to mold him into what he could be.  But if you succeed, he could be special.

Wilson's college production was good, not great:

2011 37 catches, 772 yards, 21.2 ypc, 6 TDs

2012  48 catches, 947 yards, 19.7 ypc, 7 TDs

2013  71 catches, 1177 yards, 16.6 ypc, 8 TDs

Nothing to write home about, right?  But if you watch the quarterback he's playing with, you start to understand why he didn't produce more.  The quarterback was absolutely horrendous.  I mean so bad it's amazing he plays in college terrible.  I mean as bad as I've ever seen awful.  Given the quarterback, Wilson's numbers look downright miraculous.  But again, you're not taking him for his current receiving ability.  If you take Wilson, it's for returns first, occasional cameos as a 4th or 5th receiver taking the top off a defense second, the possibilities of him playing the wildcat role or taking some end around handoffs third, and the tantalizing potential of what maybe, just maybe, he might become with the right coaching fourth.

Albert Wilson, athlete.  Return specialist.  And that heart breaking, tantalizing, frustrating word, potential.  Loaded with potential.  Now if we can just teach him to catch, and run crisp routes and ....  well, you know how that story usually ends.  But what are 7th round picks for but potential and dreams?

Take a look.  Maybe you'll like him.