2018 Prospect Preview: SMU WR Courtland Sutton can burn defenses on a bevy of routes

SMU WR Courtland Sutton enters the 2017 college football season as one of the top draft prospects at the position. Sutton earned All-AAC honours last season which has earned him a PFF Day 1 projection and among the top three WRs on the PFF draft board.
Sutton is one of the best deep threats in college football as he ranked No. 2 among draft-eligible receivers with 16 receptions on deep passes a season ago. He dropped only one of the 17 catchable deep passes thrown his way and his 574 yards ranked No. 5 in the class (a deep pass is any pass targeted 20 or more yards downfield).
Last season, Sutton’s best three routes by passer rating when targeted were on Go routes, hitches and slants. SMU quarterbacks achieved a passer rating of 98.5 (+11.2 vs NCAA average) on Go routes, 99.9 (+13.8) on hitches and 133.3 (+41.3) on slant routes, all when targeting Sutton.
Sutton returns to SMU as the third highest overall graded FBS receiver from last season with a PFF overall grade of 84.3. His receiving grade of 84.9 also ranked third in 2016.