Twitter Film Study Pt. 6: Six WRs Speeding Onto Everyone’s Radar
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Part six of ‘Twitter Film Study’ zeroes in on a group of wide receivers who are quickly becoming essential names for scouts, fans, and opponents alike. These six athletes bring more than just speed to the table; they have tools…
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Continue ReadingPart six of ‘Twitter Film Study’ zeroes in on a group of wide receivers who are quickly becoming essential names for scouts, fans, and opponents alike. These six athletes bring more than just speed to the table; they have tools like elite route-running, reliable hands, and the ability to turn a routine catch into an explosive play. Let’s break down these six impressive athletes!
Crew Leavitt
Crew Leavitt
Crew Leavitt is a real speedster on the outside for Queen Creek. He has excellent quickness to go with the top-end speed as well. Within his first few steps off the line of scrimmage, he’s immediately up to speed. His cuts aren’t the sharpest, but he can make up for it by running by his defenders consistently. With an offseason to improve his lateral quickness and agility to crisp up his route running, Leavitt is bound to see his stock rise on the offensive end. On defense, Leavitt plays with that same speed and uses it to make himself a very physical player. He can cover so much ground on that end and plays with great feel. He excels when covering screens, using his good instinct and great speed to consistently blow them up. The type of corner that other receivers can’t get away from, he can single-handedly take a receiver out of the game in man-to-man situations. With this type of versatility, and adding his incredible vision as a kick returner (he finished the season with 784 kick return yards), Leavitt is a player who can help a program in all three phases.
John Asaro
John Asaro
Another speedster from this group of players is John Asaro from Higley. He’s an explosive play just waiting to happen. As a decent route runner, he’s quick out of his breaks and creates really nice separation. Asaro has this ability to bounce off defenders and keep his balance that’s beyond impressive. He’ll make a great grab and run right into traffic, hit off defenders like a pinball, and catch his footing as he gets back up to speed coming out of the traffic. Asaro is extremely impressive after the catch; he’s both shifty and tough, willing to fight for those tough extra yards. One thing that really stood out when watching Asaro was how good he is at helping out his quarterback when he’s in trouble. He does a great job of adjusting his route and seems to be on the same page as his quarterback. As he grows and develops, Asaro is a receiver that will start to garner some real attention as he gets to show his skillset more on the varsity stage.
It’s truly refreshing to come across players as enthusiastic and passionate about the game as Trey Smith Trey Smith 5’11” | 170 lbs | DB Apollo | 2024 State AZ clearly is. It’s even moreso when they show that passion and enthusiasm when blocking as well. As a wide receiver, it’s uncommon, but that’s exactly what he does. You can tell he wants to help his running backs and make an impact on each and every play – even without the ball. He’ll come around the edge lead blocking or push his press defender back onto the sideline. When he does get the ball, Smith is an explosive player who makes defenders miss with ease. He’s a real vertical threat where he uses that shiftiness to fool defenders and create tons of separation. He runs incredibly sharp routes as a freshman and that will only improve with experience against smarter zone defenses. Listed at 5’11” 155 lbs, he has time to add some armor to his frame to be able to take bigger hits over the middle; and when he does, he’ll be nearly impossible for even the best defenses to stop.
Highlights
Deriece Brown
Deriece Brown
Listed at 6’3” 190 lbs, Deriece Brown is certainly a big body wide receiver, and plays like one too. He uses that size well to box out defenders on the way to the ball. In a position where the defenders can’t get around him, Brown does a great job of making his massive catch radius available for his quarterback. Once he gets the ball in his hands he’s extremely hard to bring down, especially for the back end of opposing defenses. As a naturally athletic player, he shows that athleticism on both sides of the ball. On defense Brown shines with his active hands and his feel for routes developing all over the field. He won’t hesitate to come off his receiver to make a play on someone else, and his gut rarely steers him wrong. With his imposing physical stature, I’d love to see him be a little more physical with receivers at the line of scrimmage when he’s up at the line of scrimmage. Brown’s strength and length could stuff players at the line of scrimmage and really throw off the timing of the offense. Brown is a player you don’t want to miss as he gears up for his senior year.
A’koa Purdie is an electrifying receiver coming out of Perry, and he can do more than just catch the ball. Finding a variety of ways to get the ball in his hands (deep passes, screens, handoffs, kick returns) Purdie makes the most of his opportunities, rarely ever going down to the first tackle attempt. What really sets Purdie’s game apart is his route running. His routes are pristine. Making sure to cut with a purpose, using leverage well, and understanding the weak points, are all extremely mature for a player who’s just finished his freshman season. Being only 5’9” 130 lbs, you’d never know by the way he plays. For a player without much length, he still manages to provide a decent catch radius. Pairing that with his incredibly quick and secure hands makes for the perfect slot receiver tool-belt. He seems to have really fine-tuned his out-and-up route when he runs it from the slot, and defenses never had much of a chance at stopping it. He’s too fast for inside linebackers/safeties to keep up with as he heads toward the sideline, after flipping his hips and turning upfield he immediately finds himself standing in a massive hole in the defense. This route showed up multiple times throughout his film and was run to perfection every time. Purdie already has a skillset that should scare defenses, and it’s only going to continue to develop; as will his size. When that happens, coaches will be lining up to talk to him.
Highlights
Daniel Kiza
Daniel Kiza
Daniel Kiza missed his sophomore year with a mix of the transfer rule and injury, but his film from his freshman year showed plenty of promise. As an extremely twitchy athlete, he’s incredibly hard to bring down – even in heavy traffic. His agility and quickness are a dangerous combination in open space. It’s evident that Kiza does track once he gets some green grass in front of him. Not only does he have impressive straight-line speed, but he runs with great form. He also spent some time returning kicks and punts which really allowed him to show just how easily he can make players miss. When Kiza steps out with the defense, he really leans on his athleticism. Able to effortlessly stick with receivers while keeping his eyes glued to the quarterback. There are times when he can rely a little too heavily on that athleticism and let the receiver get some extra separation. He has the make-up speed to make it right, but against speedy wideouts and intelligent quarterbacks, it can be much harder to make up that ground. If he can focus on staying in his backpedal as long as possible while keeping the receiver in front of him, Kiza could end up being as disruptive a force on defense as he is on offense. Kiza’s a dynamic player who can change the game every time he touches the ball.