Alshon Jeffery

ANALYSIS
Jeffery probably can't catch Justin Blackmon, but he is a decent candidate at this point to be the second receiver selected. There are a couple issues to be sorted out before that becomes likely, however. The first and perhaps most manageable is that there's a concern over his weight -- alleged photos of Jeffery surfaced prior to the 2011 season that showed him with a far from flattering build, and this coincided with his per-game yardage average falling from 108.4 to 58.6 from 2010 to 2011. Even if Jeffery was a bit out of shape, however, the decline in his numbers is almost certainly due to worsening quarterback play rather than anything in Jeffery's control. What might be more concerning is that Jeffery doesn't have especially quick feet, and a lot of his best catches at South Carolina didn't involve him generating much separation, so the big wideout might struggle to get open at the NFL level -- it's a thin line between a Dwayne Jarrett/Mike Williams (USC) and a Sidney Rice (not to suggest there's any reason to think Jeffery has character issues like the USC pair did). We're guessing Jeffery is more like Rice, however. While his feet don't possess standout quickness, Jeffery doesn't lack explosiveness in his strides, and he shows a rare ability to elevate quickly when the ball is thrown his way. He also possesses remarkable strength and seems to be able to make catches no matter how well he's covered. As long as Jeffery shows up to predraft workouts in shape and avoids the 4.6 range in the 40-yard dash, we like his chances of going in the first round and succeeding in the NFL.