Draft Profile: WR Chase Claypool
There is no doubt who the best player for the Notre Dame offense was during the 2019 season, an honor belongs to wide receiver Chase Claypool. After flashing impact potential during his first three years on campus, Claypool broke out with a dominant senior campaign, hauling in 66 passes for 1,037 yards (15.7 YPC) and 13 touchdowns.
Claypool finished his career with 150 receptions and 19 receiving touchdowns, both of which rank seventh all-time at Notre Dame. Claypool also finished with 2,159 receiving yards and 25 special teams tackles.
Claypool’s Combine Measurables (Position Rank)
HEIGHT: 6-4 1/4 (3rd)
WEIGHT: 238 (1st)
ARM: 32 1/2” (18th)
HANDS: 9 7/8” (7th)
WINGSPAN: 80” (5th)
40 YARD DASH: 4.42 (7th)
VERTICAL JUMP: 40.5” (4th)
BROAD JUMP: 126.0” (10th)
COMBINE REVIEW: Claypool answered a lot of questions at the NFL Scouting Combine when he ran a 4.42 and showed outstanding explosiveness. The former Irish standout thrived during position drills and vaulted his draft stock, and he also silenced most of the “he’s a tight end” conversation.
For a full review of his combine performance click HERE.
Let’s break down Claypool’s game.
STRENGTHS
SIZE/STRENGTH/BALL SKILLS: Claypool’s size provides a number of significant advantages as a wide receiver. Many analysts focus on his inability to get separation (see below), but there isn’t enough emphasis put on how his size can mitigate that.
Claypool’s combination of height and wingspan give him one of the widest catch radius’s in the draft. Even when coverage is tight, Claypool’s length allows him to still make plays on the football. It requires a more accurate quarterback, but Claypool is a hard player to stop because of his size.
Claypool makes this play look much easier than it actually was, and it's a combination of great body control, that wide catch radius I just talked about and his hand strength.
We saw flashes of Claypool using these traits to thrive throughout his career, even going back to his freshman and sophomore seasons. His sideline catch in tight coverage as a sophomore against Michigan State (2017) was one of the best grabs of his career. It really started to become a focal point of his game late in his junior season, but it really took off as a senior.
His strength is also a significant factor in his pass catching ability. Claypool needs a lot of technique work (see below), but his strength makes it hard for corners to knock him off his path, allows him to out-play defenders for the football and gives Claypool the ability to thrive in matchups against linebackers and safeties.
Claypool consistently used his size and ball skills to make plays, even when he was covered well. In the above clip there is zero nuance to Claypool's release and route, and I would never use this for teaching tape with a wide receiver, unless it was an example of what not to do. Yet Claypool turns it into a 26-yard gain simply because he was bigger and better than USC cornerback Olaijah Griffin, a former five-star recruit.
These traits translate to Claypool being a highly effective red zone weapon, a chain mover and in the right offense a legit big play weapon.
Claypool’s size and strength also makes him a highly effective blocker when he’s focused on it. It also factors into why he’s such an effective player on special teams.
ATHLETICISM: When I first started reading outside analysis of Claypool prior to the combine I was shocked to see evaluators mention athleticism as a knock for Claypool. I understand the speed question, which I will address below, but Claypool has shown outstanding athleticism throughout his career. That was evidenced by his testing numbers at the scouting combine when he leaped 40.5” in the vertical jump and 126” in the broad jump.
Claypool is an outstanding athlete in many areas, which makes him an effective wide receiver. According to Pro Football Focus, Claypool generated 14 missed tackles this season and racked up 358 yards after the catch. We saw Claypool finally use his agility to do damage after the catch, and it gives him much better route running potential than he’s shown thus far, which he has flashed with certain routes.
The former Irish standout is an outstanding leaper, and not just because of his ability to jump high. A case could be made that timing and the ability to quickly get off the ground as a leaper is just as important, if not more important, than the actual distance off the ground a receiver gets.
A combination of all three is ideal, and that’s Claypool. He explodes off the ground, gets up quickly and maintains top-notch body control when playing the football. You can see his hoops background in this part of his game.
VERSATILITY: Claypool played all over the field for Notre Dame. He started in the slot as a sophomore, was the outside field receiver as a junior and played mostly in the boundary as a senior. Claypool’s combination of skills (size, strength, athleticism) projects well to all three positions. His size and ball skills make him a tough matchup for corners, and his athleticism and strength allows him to thrive in matchups against linebackers and safeties.
Teams that might view Claypool as a hybrid tight end, or as more of big slot receiver, have film of him thriving in that position and makin plays over the middle. Teams that want him outside have even more film of him thriving outside the numbers. The ability to move Claypool around is something a smart offensive coordinator will love, knowing the matchup advantages he can create against most defenses.
Claypool hasn’t run an extensive route tree at any one of those positions during his career, but the fact he played all three spots gives him a broad base. He can work the sidelines, he has made plays down the field, he can work the quick game effective and he can do damage over the middle of the field. I’m not talking about in theory, he’s done all of that throughout his career.
When a team drafts Claypool they aren’t just adding a pass catcher to the roster. Claypool is one of the top non-returner special teams players in the draft. He has a long, four-year history of thriving as a coverage player, and as a senior he came up with multiple clutch plays in coverage.
BLOCKING ABILITY: This was mentioned above, but Claypool is a strong blocker when he wants to be. Like most of his game, consistent focus is something he’ll need to improve, but Claypool is a physical blocker that seems to enjoy embarrassing defensive backs. He can block linebackers effectively and is a strong blocker in the screen game when his focus is right.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
ROUTE RUNNING: You cannot teach speed, but you can teach technique. This is important because poor technique can hinder speed, especially with big receivers, and that is the case with Claypool. Bigger receivers with sloppy technique can lumber off the line more than smaller players, and that’s something that plagued Claypool throughout his career.
Separation, or the lack of, can be about a lack of speed or quickness, but it can also be about poor technique. After watching Claypool the last four years I’m of the opinion that the latter is his issue.
There are snaps where you see him coming off the ball well, but his stance and start technique tends to make him slower off the snap. Far too often he comes off the line with no urgency, something that needs to be corrected. Once he gets going he can cover a lot of ground, which gives him very good deep speed, and that definitely shows up on film.
Claypool’s overall route technique is average to below average, and that affects his playing speed. He came to Notre Dame incredibly raw, and while he’s come a long way there is still plenty of room for improvement. Little things like properly attacking leverage and improving how he attacks defensive backs as he gets to the top end of his routes will make him a far more effective route runner, especially on vertical and speed routes. Claypool also has a tendency to drift upfield on in-breaking routes, which needs to be corrected.
There are snaps where Claypool shows the ability to sink his hips on in-breaking and out-breaking stop routes, but he doesn’t do it consistently enough. Here's a positive example:
I’m of the belief that if a player shows the ability to do something on some snaps he’s capable of doing it on more snaps. This isn’t like a poor shooter in basketball that has a hot game, or a career .230 hitter having a hot week at the plate. That’s more about odds and getting into a groove. With Claypool this is more like a pitcher that throws 97 and has two wicked off-speed pitches but can’t throw strikes as a young player because he has poor technique. Once his technique improves he’s still throwing 97 with wicked off speed stuff, but now he’s throwing strokes, and now he’s an elite thrower.
If Claypool can better learn and implement the nuances of the position into his game his ability to dominate will only improve, even at the professional level. This is why I believe Claypool is far from being a finished product, and if a NFL team sees that and works with him they will be rewarded.
He doesn’t have to turn into Marvin Harrison as a route runner, but he does need to clean up his technique. He won’t be able to simply out-muscle and out-run professional defensive backs, at least not if he wants to be a difference maker, which is something he has the tools to become.
OVERALL TECHNIQUE: Claypool tends to rely on just being bigger, stronger and more athletic than his opponents in all phases of the game. As a senior his motor was constantly on, and that is why he was so dominant. If he wants to be that player in the NFL he’ll need to clean up his game.
This is a perfect example of Claypool's overall raw game. The corner is playing him outside, and Claypool doesn't remotely threaten his leverage. At the top of his stem he just drifts inside, which allows the cornerback to easily recover and get back with him. Claypool also slows up on the look back, which allows the corner to finish the play off.
This isn't about Claypool lack the speed to get deep, it's an all-around technical issue.
Claypool should be highly effective at the line of scrimmage, but he lacks much of a repertoire when it comes to beating the press. He relies on size and strength, which allows bigger corners with strong technique to jam him more effectively than they should. Claypool also doesn't do a good enough job getting back on his stem once he does get post a tight cornerback.
When he does actually use a good release he can be highly effective. The snaps were limited, but there were times when he made defensive backs look silly in press coverage this season.
CONSISTENCY: A major drawback for Claypool throughout his career has been consistency. During his first three seasons it was consistency of focus, technique, finish and effort. During his final season his effort was outstanding, but he did lose focus on the football at times as both a pass catcher and a blocker.
NFL PLAYER COMP: Mike Evans, Tamp Bay Buccaneers
NFL DRAFT RANGE: Rounds 2-3
FINAL ANALYSIS
Claypool has the misfortune of heading to the NFL in what most draft analysts view as one of the deeper wide receiver draft classes in recent history. That could knock him back a bit more than his skills and production would otherwise dictate, but there are parts of his game that are unique in this draft class. Few receivers in this class have his combination of size, strength and speed.
Only Denzel Mims of Baylor can come close to matching Claypool’s all-around tools for a big receiver. Teams have to make a decision with Claypool when they are putting their draft board together. Are they going to rank him based on his overall strengths (size, power, production, testing numbers) and view him as someone that they can refine from a technical standpoint? Or will that team focus more on what he can’t do compared to the other smaller receivers and view him as a finished product.
Teams that are smart enough to do the former will have him high on their board, and the team that pulls the trigger on Claypool will get a player with rare traits. He has a lower floor than other wideouts in the class because of the raw aspects of his game, but if he goes to a team with a patient coaching staff, a strong receivers coach and an accurate quarterback he could turn out to be one of the best offensive players in this draft class.
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Senior Bowl Preview: Chase Claypool
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