Here is the PFF draft profile for Arizona State's Devin Lucien, which incorporates PFF’s college grades and scouting intel from our team of analysts. To see all of PFF’s 2016 scouting reports, click here.
Position fit:
Outside receiver
Stat to know:
Had just three dropped passes on 98 targets in 2015 and two drops in 2014.
What he does best:
• Lucien may have the best hands in the draft. He dropped just five passes over the past two seasons, despite QB play that made most receptions a challenge. Even “accurate” passes were all over the place from a ball-location standpoint, forcing Lucien to make impressive catches on relatively routine receptions.
• In addition to being reliable with his hands, Lucien is capable of the spectacular catch, something which is again brought out by his poor QB play over the last season or two.
• He has good run-after-the-catch ability, gained 365 of his yards after the catch this season, breaking nine tackles with the ball in his hands. Lucien will bounce off would-be tacklers at times in a way somebody of his size (6-foot, 195 pounds), probably shouldn’t be able to.
• With good route-running and the ability to separate, he is a player that does most things well without doing any one thing spectacularly (with the possible exception of his hands).
• Lucien was very effective on shorter routes, catching all 10 slants for 101 yards and a score in 2015, and 12-of-16 hitch routes for 160 yards and three scores.
Biggest concern:
• Questionable top end speed: he doesn’t run away from players when he has position on them, and at times doesn’t separate as it looks like he should on the play.
• Lucien needs to get better defeating physicality at the line from corners. He doesn’t get a clean release at times, and far too often finds himself squeezed to the sideline with no space to work in. This is something that could prove to be an even bigger problem at the next level if NFL corners latch on to this weakness.
• He perhaps doesn’t have any one special trait outside of hands—Lucien is good enough at everything to defeat college defensive backs, but may struggle more at the next level.
Pro style comparison:
Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings. Like Lucien, Diggs is a player that didn’t do anything spectacularly, but showed that simply being good at everything would still work at the NFL level if you had a competent quarterback. Diggs dropped just two passes as a rookie and flashed plenty of production before slowing down late in the season.
Bottom line:
He may not be good enough to rival the top players at receiver in this draft, but Devin Lucien is a productive, talented player who deserves far more hype than he is currently receiving. He may have the best hands in the draft, and is good enough at everything else to be able to contribute at the NFL level and be productive. Fixing his quarterback situation alone should dramatically improve his impact.