A Closer Look: Dezmond Patmon WR (R6•P33)

[EastStreet]

Name: Dezmon Patmon
Twitter: @dadpat7
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Age: 8/6/1998 (21)
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 228 lbs
School: Washington State
School2: NA

College Position (latest): X WR
College Position2: Z WR
Likely NFL Position: X WR

 

Pick: Round 6 • Pick 33 (212)
40 Time: 4.48
Vert: 36.0
Draft Grade: 5.64
Draft Projection: Round 7/Priority free agent
Taken Higher Than Projected: Yes
HS 247 Grade: 0.8375 / 3 Star WR

 

Injury Flags: Knee (Fresh)
Attititude or Behavior Flags: NA

Captain: No

 

School Awards: NA
Conference Awards:
Pac-12 Conference All-Academic honorable mention 2017
National Awards: NA

 

Family History:
Uncle DeWayne Patmon, played linebacker at Michigan and for the New York Giants (2000-01). 

 

Fun Fact: Named after Desmond Howard

Academic: NA

 

Stats
Appeared in 43 games, 12 as a starter…156 receptions for 1,976 yards and 13 touchdowns…averaged 12.7 yards-per-catch…four 100-yard efforts…caught a pass in 33 straight games.
Year1: GP 4, 2-19-0 (REC-YDS-TDs), 9.5 AVGC, 4.8 AVGG, 
Year2: GP 13, 35-379-0, 10.8 AVGC, 29.2 AVGG
Year3: GP 13, 61-816-5, 13.4 AVGC, 62.8 AVGG
**Led his team in receiving yards
Year4: GP 13, 58-762-8, 13.1 AVGC, 58.6 AVGG
Year5: NA

 

School Stats and Bio:
https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/dezmon-patmon/8083

 

 

NFL.com Bio:
The San Diego native played in four games his true freshman year in Pullman, but a knee injury caused him to miss most of the season (2-19-9.5). Patmon became a top reserve contributor in all 13 games of his sophomore year (35-379-10.8), even starting against Michigan State in the Holiday Bowl. Healthy during his junior campaign, he led WSU with 816 receiving yards; he caught 61 passes on the year, averaging 13.5 yards per reception, and scoring five touchdowns. He played in all 13 games as a senior, starting four contests (58-762-13.1, eight TDs).

 

NFL.com Overview:
Big pass-catcher with intriguing size but lacking the assertiveness to impose his will. Patmon suffers from an overall lack of suddenness to uncover on both the first and second levels and issues with focus drops is an additional concern since he'll see plenty of contested catches. He has decent buildup speed, body control and ball skills to compete for 50/50 balls, but he doesn't always play with "my-ball" attitude. He's big but limited and must play with better confidence and toughness to carve out a roster spot.

 

NFL.com Strengths:
Very big target
Has size and strength to big-boy cornerbacks when he wants to
Route-running is relatively smooth
Sneaks up on corners with some build-up speed to get deep
Ball skills show themselves downfield
Talented at working back to deep sideline throws
Long arms to secure well beyond the frame
Can drag tacklers for extra yardage after catch
Stalk blocker with size for adequate mirror and wall-off

 

NFL.com Weaknesses:
Languid release quickness against press
Feet too heavy for consistent separation underneath
One-speed route runner
Tight hips and not much juice getting in and out of breaks
Run after catch is unimaginative
Field demeanor needs to be more commanding and physical
Allows smaller corners to share the catch space on first two levels
Slow to find soft spots of zone
Struggles with focus drops

 

 

East Street's Worthless Opinion:
Talent Grade (O or D): C+
Talent Grade (STs): C
Team Need Grade: A
Round Value Grade: B
55 Man Chance: 30%
Practice Squad Chance: 75%
Floor : Camp bouncer
Ceiling: Starting X WR
Year 1 Prediction: Practice Squad
Long Term Prediction: Depth X WR

 

East Street's Hot Take:
Prospect with rare size and speed combo (6-4 and 4.4s), but lacks "give me the darn ball" attitude. If not for a deep WR class, likely a 4-5th round pick. While having similar yards in 2018 and 2019, performed a little better in 2018 with Minshew, but had more TDs with Gordon. Pretty consistent performance week in / week out over two years against both good and bad teams. Not really agile, but does posess straight and long speed. Played more of a Z role early, and looks to have moved to X in 2019. He does run some good intermediate to deep come-back routes.

 

Seems Ballard and Reich are finally prioritizing "size" at WR, and don't plan to get caught with their pants down again if there's an injury. He'll be competing more with Pascal than Pittman for a spot on the 55 in my opinion. Barring some unforseen injury to Pascal or Pittman, or some incredible development from Patmon, I look for Patmon end up on the practice squad to work on technique this year. A good position coach and off season plan could elevate him to the next level. He's going to have to work on aggressiveness if he wants to compete against NFL DBs and LBs. The potential is certainly there though.

 

Links:
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/dezmon-patmon?id=32195041-5416-2967-3c9d-d58aabb33560

Vids:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EastStreet]

I think I'd like to see a RZ set of the below

 

Pittman / Doyle / OL / Burton / Patmon

Taylor

Rivers

[chad72]

If he comes in with the right mindset and can be coached up, I think he could get some key snaps in the red zone as WR depth. He does seem to have the ability to catch passes in traffic.

[EastStreet]

Just now, chad72 said:

If he comes in with the right mindset and can be coached up, I think he could get some key snaps in the red zone as WR depth. He does seem to have the ability to catch passes in traffic.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens at X. I doubt we keep 3 Xs on the 55 (Pittman, Pascal, Patmon). I could see them though keeping all 3 but running Pascal mostly out of slot. 

 

I really like the thought of this.....

X - Pittman, Patmon

Slot - Campbell, Pascal

Z - Hilton, Fountain

 

Wouldn't be surprised if they start flipping Hilton and Campbell this year if Campbell comes on strong. Always thought Hilton could extend his career by moving to slot.

[chad72]

14 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

It's going to be interesting to see what happens at X. I doubt we keep 3 Xs on the 55 (Pittman, Pascal, Patmon). I could see them though keeping all 3 but running Pascal mostly out of slot. 

 

I really like the thought of this.....

X - Pittman, Patmon

Slot - Campbell, Pascal

Z - Hilton, Fountain

 

Wouldn't be surprised if they start flipping Hilton and Campbell this year if Campbell comes on strong. Always thought Hilton could extend his career by moving to slot.

 

I have not seen enough from Fountain that he makes the roster either, IMO. I would not be surprised if they use Campbell, or Hines like a Z that motions across the formations.

 

X - Pittman, Patmon

Slot - Pittman, Pascal, Campbell

Z - Hilton, Hines, Campbell

 

I don't see Pittman used as a Z but I can definitely see Campbell moved all around with his better speed.

[runthepost]

He’s the next Deion Cain in terms of forum hype

[chad72]

1 minute ago, runthepost said:

He’s the next Deion Cain in terms of forum hype

 

Not even close. Deion Cain came from a much more storied program, the expectations from Patmon are much lower. WR depth at best is the expectation, not a diamond in the rough that becomes an alpha which was sometimes bestowed upon Cain, unfairly. 

[EastStreet]

7 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

I have not seen enough from Fountain that he makes the roster either, IMO. I would not be surprised if they use Campbell, or Hines like a Z that motions across the formations.

 

X - Pittman, Patmon

Slot - Pittman, Pascal, Campbell

Z - Hilton, Hines, Campbell

 

I don't see Pittman used as a Z but I can definitely see Campbell moved all around with his better speed.

I think they'll use all Xs out of slot at times, be it Pittman, Pascal, or Patmon if were to make it. 

I'd see Hines lining up more in the slot than Z, but Z wouldn't shock me. I read an article yesterday that said they fully expect for Hilton to move to slot early this season, and Campbell and Fountain to fight it out for Z. I think Dulin will be in the thick of things too.

 

Gonna be fun

[coltsfeva]

Like to see him gain 10-15 lbs and be used as a TE. He is supposed to block well and right now, his frame is too slight for that but maybe?

[AwesomeAustin]

Maybe he will make the practice squad.     Colts play a lot of possession move the chains offense.  Lacking skills to block out corners and go for the ball could be his Achilles heel that keeps him from being more than camp competition.  In year 4 of Ballard we will start seeing more draft picks not make the team. I believe every single one of Ballards draft picks are still in the league.  Shows a lot of quality so will be harder for new guys to make the roster.  

[The Peytonator]

32 minutes ago, runthepost said:

He’s the next Deion Cain in terms of forum hype

Not at all. Cain had Roy Hall levels of hype, Patmon is more like Blair White. Patmon could very well be a steal, but he will not generate much buzz unless he shows out big time in the preseason. 
 

I believe he’s destined for the practice squad year one. I think Fountain and Johnson both make the initial roster if everyone is healthy (not likely). 

[EastStreet]

9 hours ago, The Peytonator said:

Not at all. Cain had Roy Hall levels of hype, Patmon is more like Blair White. Patmon could very well be a steal, but he will not generate much buzz unless he shows out big time in the preseason. 
 

I believe he’s destined for the practice squad year one. I think Fountain and Johnson both make the initial roster if everyone is healthy (not likely). 

 

I can't wait for Kelly to throw to some of the guys. If we see Kelly move the ball effectively to guys like Fountain, Dulin, Patmon, etc., we'll see the hype tsunami rise very high. 

[EastStreet]

9 hours ago, AwesomeAustin said:

Maybe he will make the practice squad.     Colts play a lot of possession move the chains offense.  Lacking skills to block out corners and go for the ball could be his Achilles heel that keeps him from being more than camp competition.  In year 4 of Ballard we will start seeing more draft picks not make the team. I believe every single one of Ballards draft picks are still in the league.  Shows a lot of quality so will be harder for new guys to make the roster.  

I think Patmon will make the PS pretty easy. I think we'll see some of the frequent hang around jags get casted off, and our new look PS will have some decent WRs like Patmon, Dulin, etc.. The talent level is definitely moving in the right direction.

[COLTS449]

10 hours ago, runthepost said:

He’s the next Deion Cain in terms of forum hype

Man, Cain was projected as a 2nd round pick early on. Then he came in and was killing it in camp and everybody was noticing. Honestly. He deserved a lot of the hype he was getting for real. And like chad said. Deion came from Clemson. Nobody is gonna be hyping this kid up like we did with Cain lol. 

[EastStreet]

Talked to a buddy of mine on the Left Coast. He's really high on Patmon. Said not to sleep on him competing with Pascal for the second X spot. He reminded me that Patmon had a better year (total yards) than Pittman in 2018 PAC. Said he just needs position stability and coaching.