Amari Rodgers: The 'Perfect Prospect'
Amari Rodgers has been destined for an NFL career since the moment he stepped foot on the Clemson campus.
According to one ACC Network analyst, he knew how successful the wideout was going to be even before he caught his first pass as a Tiger.
"I think he's the perfect prospect. You talk about a guy that's coming out of college and getting right into the NFL," E.J. Manuel said during Clemson's Pro Day telecast. "I had a chance to work out with him when I was still playing and when was I was trying to get back in the league and I didn't know who he was at the time. But I think he was leaving high school, and this dude, it's like he was a 24 year old, you know, four year, five year vet in the NFL, when you're talking about the maturity in how he carries himself."
The versatile wideout did it all while with the Tigers. He played on the outside his first two seasons, before sliding inside to the slot for his final two, and Manuel said there is very little Rodgers can not do.
"I think it's just really also about his hands and his versatility," Manuel said. "When you can catch the ball across the middle, he can run around fades, he can ISO up on a linebacker and run past him, he can ISO up on a nickel back and run past him, he can ISO on an outside corner and run past him. So I think he's the perfect prospect, especially talking about a guy that's gonna play slot for a longtime in the NFL."
Rodgers, who unofficially ran a 4.45 forty, was also seen taking handoffs with running backs Travis Etienne and Adam Choice. Fellow ACC Network analyst Roddy Jones said the speedy wideout's versatility is what will make him a hot commodity for some teams when the NFL Draft rolls around.
"I think he's a guy that can sort of be the piece that you move around," Roddy Jones said. You can line him up in the backfield and have him take running back snaps. Like Cordarrelle Patterson, like what they used to do with him in Minnesota and in Chicago, moving him all over the place as a receiver and sometimes as a running back. I think he's a guy that you can put in the slot and obviously be really, really dynamic, but his ability to fight through contact, his play strength, his ability to catch the ball in traffic is really what makes him excel at that slot receiver position."
