2020 Browns’ NFL Draft Film Room Series: WR Donovan Peoples-Jones

The Cleveland Browns finished up their busy 2020 NFL Draft by selecting wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones in the sixth round. Peoples-Jones is 6-foot-2, 212 pounds. He came out of high school as one of the more highly touted prospects in his class. He played three seasons at Michigan, contributing in all three years while at Ann Arbor. During his junior season last year, he caught 34 passes for 438 yards and six touchdowns. He posted 14 receiving touchdowns in his career at Michigan. So, what are the Browns getting in their newest wide receiver? In today’s Browns film room, we will examine the strengths and weaknesses of Peoples-Jones’ game. Let’s take a look.

2020 Browns’ NFL Draft Film Room Series: OT Jedrick Wills, S Grant Delpit, IDL Jordan Elliott, LB Jacob Phillips, TE Harrison Bryant, and C Nick Harris

Strengths

Size/Athleticism Combination

At 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, Peoples-Jones is a really good athlete. At the NFL Scouting Combine, he ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash, jumped a 44.5-inch vertical and 139-inch broad jump, with both athletic jump tests being the best amongst all receivers at the Combine. He is an explosive athlete with good straight-line speed. He is also very strong and well-built for a receiver. His strength is an important part of his game, showing up in ball skills, route running, and ball carrying. Here are some plays that showcase his really good size/athleticism combination.

In the first play versus Indiana, Peoples-Jones is faced with man coverage. Peoples-Jones is called to run a streak route. His speed shows out here. From the snap, he runs full effort downfield, swimming around the defensive back. He shows off his speed and leaves the defensive back behind. In the second play against Michigan State, Peoples-Jones receives a swing pass on the right side of the field. He displays his explosive speed when he catches the pass. He is able to shoot past two defenders with his speed as he makes his way into the endzone. In the final play versus SMU, Peoples-Jones once again shows off his speed that he possesses at his size. He runs a deep post route. An inside defender is supposed to pick him up, but Peoples-Jones blows past the defender and the safety is too slow to realize that Peoples-Jones is behind him. His speed earned him that touchdown.

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Ball Skills

Peoples-Jones has excellent ball skills. His body positioning is what makes his ball skills so good. He is able to turn his body quickly and fluidly to get into the best position to make the catch. He can make acrobatic catches. He uses his size and athleticism to high point passes and wins in 50/50 ball situations. He is a hands catcher and can make contested catches. Here are some examples of his excellent ball skills.

In the first play against Indiana, Peoples-Jones is running a fade route into the endzone. He is being tightly covered throughout the route. The pass is thrown and Peoples-Jones displays his great ball skills. He is able to turn his body around and then fully extend out to dive for the pass. He is able to bring in the pass for the touchdown. In the second play versus Ohio State, Peoples-Jones is faced with an off-target pass that is behind him and low. While running his route, he is able to slow down, turn around and then reach low to his shoelaces to grab the pass before it hits the ground. He is able to bring in the wildly off-target pass. In the final play against Wisconsin, Peoples-Jones is targeted on a pass as he runs back upfield and toward the sideline. The pass is highly contested by a defender, who flashed right in front of Peoples-Jones as he is trying to bring the catch. Even with that distraction, Peoples-Jones is able to secure catch and then shows the body control and awareness to tight rope the sideline to make it a good catch in bounds.

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Yards After the Catch

Peoples-Jones can be a playmaker after the catch. He has the speed to break away from the defense. But, his best asset is his strength. He uses his strength to break tackles and continue creating yards after contact. He shows some nice elusive moves, however, his strength and speed are what helps him the most in being dangerous after the catch. Here are some examples of his talents after the catch.

In the first play versus Ohio State, Peoples-Jones catches a swing pass on the right side of the field. Michigan needs two yards for the first down in this third-down situation. The swing pass is quickly recognized by the defensive back covering him. That defender closes on the receiver at the line of scrimmage and another defender closes off the edge. So, both defenders close in on him, but Peoples-Jones shows off his strength and balance to take on their contact and to continue for a few more yards to get the first down. In the second play against Penn State, Peoples-Jones catches another swing pass to the right. He catches and is able to speed past the first tackle attempt at the line of scrimmage. He then speeds down the sideline, breaking through an arm tackle by another defender. He is eventually brought down after a nice gain. In the final play versus Rutgers, Peoples-Jones catches a slant pass in the middle of the field. He catches it and turns downfield past the first defender and then down the right hash. He is met by numerous defenders, but he remains upright and going forward as he carries the numerous defenders downfield for ten or so yards.

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Returning Ability

Peoples-Jones was a highly productive punt returner at Michigan. In three seasons as a punt returner, he had 89 returns for a total of 743 yards (8.3 yards per return) and two touchdowns. He uses his speed and strength to create big plays as a returner. Here are some examples of his returning ability.

In the first punt return versus Air Force, Peoples-Jones gets the touchdown due to his speed and vision. He catches the punt and speeds to the left at first but then crosses the field to continue running downfield. He is able to get to the right sideline and break through the arm tackle of the punter to finish off the touchdown return. He was only touched once in the return and that was at the end by the punter. In the second punt return against Ohio State, Peoples-Jones catches the return and immediately eludes a diving defender. He tries to head down the right sideline, but he has to stop the gas and turn inside to elude another defender. Once around that defender, he heads back down the right sideline, running through ankle tackles, when he meets another defender right in front of him. Peoples-Jones lowers his shoulders and takes on the defender, withstanding the contact and allowing him to continue to run downfield. He cuts back inside, eluding one more tackle attempt, and he is finally caught by a trailing defender. In the last punt return versus Nebraska, he pulls off another touchdown return using his speed. He catches the punt and speeds to the right where he runs past numerous defenders before he has to cut inside. When he cuts inside he sees a defender right in front of him, so he pulls off a great spin move to elude the defender, and then continues across the field to the endzone.

Weaknesses

Short Area Quickness

Peoples-Jones is a player with limited short-area quickness. He lacks the wiggle and agility to make the quick moves that can leave defenders behind. This lack of quickness shows up in his route running. He can struggle to get away from corners in press coverage because he doesn’t have the necessary foot quickness to get separation. In the NFL against elite athletes at cornerback, this could be a big problem for him. As a runner, he will also not be a guy who will juke defenders or elude them with the quickness. Here are some examples of his short-area quickness limitations.

In the first play against Indiana, Peoples-Jones is running a wheel route from the right slot position. He tries to pull off a quick cut to the outside to gain separation from the corner covering him in man coverage, but the corner is able to stick with him throughout the wheel route without losing any ground to the receiver. In the second play versus Penn State, Peoples-Jones is faced with press coverage on the right side of the field. The receiver tries to run a slant route. He begins the route trying to showcase a quick deceptive move that will fool the defender, but the defender does not get fooled. Peoples-Jones is tightly covered as he heads downfield and then his cut inside is once again easily covered by the corner. In the final play against Ohio State, Peoples-Jones is running a streak route against the press coverage in the left slot. The receiver starts the route off with a move that tried to gain him the over the top advantage against the corner. But, when he makes the footwork to fake inside advantage, he is too slow to follow it up with a move back outside to get behind the corner. The slowness to this move allows the corner to keep a hand on the receiver and to turn around to stay close with the receiver as he heads downfield.

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Production/Inconsistency

Even with all the athletic ability and talent, Peoples-Jones lacked great production at Michigan over his three years. He never had a game of 100 receiving yards or more in college. In his career, he caught just 103 passes for 1327 yards and 14 touchdowns, which are numbers some of the top receivers nearly had in one season. He struggled with inconsistency throughout his game. He would show flashes and then disappear at times. Yes, he had a horrible quarterback play during his college career, but his lack of production cannot be blamed solely on that.