Chris Godwin: The NFL Draft’s Fastest Riser

Every year, Los Angeles Rams’ fans scour the free agency market as well as the pool of NFL Draft prospects, trying to find a wide receiver who can make an impact on their offense. And every year it seems as though they fail to find a difference maker; which may explain why they went without a 1,000-yard receiver for a decade.

And 2017 is no exception in the Rams’ seemingly never-ending search for a viable WR. If you haven’t already been introduced, let’s get to know the NFL Draft’s biggest riser at the position: Chris Godwin.

As a three-year player at Penn State, Godwin amassed 154 receptions, 2,400+ yards, and 18 TD’s. As he was very productive his final two years at Penn State, you’re not necessarily making a huge gamble for him — as there are some guys that only have one year worth of starts or stats. Here was my scouting report on Godwin, which was created prior to the combine:

As you can see, my biggest concern with Godwin was his speed. It doesn’t always show up on tape, and I was worried if he ran slow he may not be able to consistently separate, as well as take the top off of defenses.

As he was invited to the combine, Godwin - like all the other players - was measured top down. He’s a 6’1” - 209 lb. WR whose hands measured in at 9 1/8” with arms that came in at 31 5/8”. Now that’s all well and good, but at the end of the day the measurements make up a very tiny particle of the spectrum.

How he tested at the combine was far superior to how he measured. Godwin was a top-5 performer in the 40-yard dash, bench press, and the short shuttle. He ranked in the top half of all of the categories compared to his peers at the position. Arguably though, the biggest drill for Godwin was his 40-yard dash. His tape was great and his hands were solid, but the biggest question I, and many others, had for Godwin was his speed — and his 4.42 was potentially the most impressive finish at the combine, as no-one was really expecting it.

All that being said, Godwin still won’t “wow” people as a physical specimen. He’s an average looking WR, but his polish is where his skills lie. Not only does he have a terrific set of hands, according to Matt Harmon of NFL.com and The Fantasy Footballers, Godwin had the highest contested catch percentage out of all the WR’s tested for this year’s draft. That’s incredible considering he’s only 6’1” and typically people associate the ability to bring down contested catches with bigger WR’s.

As if that wasn’t enough to convince you, Zach Whitman of 3 Sigma Athlete, collects all the data from the combine to formulate a “pSPARQ” score, as well as a “z-score” and “NFL%”, and Godwin measures far above the average NFL WR, and ranks third in this class of WR’s.

The Mockdraftable web for Godwin was not lacking either. His web seemed to produce a WR with a score somewhere in the 80th percentile:

Prior to the combine I had Godwin land on my rankings as WR5, and I do believe he will shortly be moving up into the WR4 spot:

After answering the questions I had on him at the combine in fine fashion, he strikes me as a pro-ready WR capable of starting outside the numbers on day one. Godwin should absolutely be in play, and may actually be the leader in the clubhouse, for the Rams with the 37th overall pick.

Editor’s Note: TST is happy to welcome Sosa to our staff. An Ontario Canada resident, Sosa has been a Rams’ fan for as long as he can remember. He’s only 22, so it’s way too early to be having memory loss issues — though as a Rams’ fan, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Sosa loves talking all aspects of football, including X’s and O’s, salary cap, but he truly loves diving in on college football prospects during draft season. He likes a nice cold adult libation every now and then too. Cheers!

We welcome you to TST, Sosa. I pray you never look in the comments section. Ever.