One of the most productive wide receivers in college over the last two years, USC’s Jordan Addison will look to carry over his transfer success to the NFL as he enters the 2023 NFL draft.
Here is everything you need to know about the Trojans big-play man:
Vitals
Height: 6-0
Weight: 175
Class: Junior
Strengths
One of the more technically sound receivers in the class, Addison is an excellent athlete with refined technique, smooth route running, physicality, and excellent run-after-the-catch ability. He wins routes often at the line of scrimmage with great hand usage and control of his body. While not the largest receiver, he is able to break off initial presses consistently with clean swipes and forceful pushes through contact.
Perhaps his biggest strength is his physicality at the position. Addison is constantly breaking initial tackles, fighting for extra yardage through contact, bursting through press on quick outs, and using great body control for jump balls and to box out defenders in short yardage for the catch. He is quick and twitchy enough to take any catch to the house and can catch a defender off guard in an instant. His strong hands are equal parts useful for breaking off press coverage. When catching the ball, he constantly catches through contact and prevents balls being batted away from him with a good catch radius as well to suck in passes in his area.
As a route runner, Addison is smooth and meticulous, striding in and out of breaks with ease, and controlling his feet well both off the line and deeper into routes to break off of initial contact and to shimmy trailing defenders. He does an excellent job using his body during the routes to extend his catching window and prevent a corner from jumping into his route early or sitting on his area to make a play on the ball.
Weaknesses
While Addison does play with great physicality, his size and frame do not necessarily reflect that and you really want him to fill out his under-200-pound frame in order to maintain that physicalness at the next level so he does not get bullied by bigger corners.
He also does not possess elite top-end speed and while separation really isn’t that big of a worry given his skillset, he is not a home run threat on deep routes by any means. Bigger and speedier corners may give him trouble early in his career.
Projection
Jordan Addison is a physical and refined receiver who has been dominant since his Freshman season, his ability to take chunks out of defenses both as a route runner and yard after the catch specialist makes him a real threat to become an “X” receiver in this league. Though his lack of elite speed could make teams hesitant to take him over the guys in the draft who can become that deep threat. If he can fill out his frame, and work on some more nitpicky issues, Addison should have zero issues becoming a consisting Pro Bowl-caliber player and a safety net for whatever quarterback gets to throw him the ball.
Projection: Top 20 Pick
