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NFL Draft Scouting Report: Leonte Carroo, Rutgers

Leonte Carroo, a talented reveiver from Rutgers, is profiled and evaluated for the 2016 NFL Draft

Leonte Carroo – Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 211
Year: Senior
Hometown: Edison, NJ
Experience: 22 starts played in 44 games

 

Measurables:

40yd dash: 4.50
Broad jump: 120
Vertical: 35.5
3-cone: NA
20yd. Shuttle: NA
Bench Press: 14

 

Career Notes:

Leonte Carroo was a highly regarded four-star coming out of high school. His senior season he helped lead his team to an undefeated state championship and finished ranked No. 1 in several national polls. He was ranked as the No. 11 WR nationally.

As a freshman, Carroo played in all 13 games, but mostly on special teams and did not record a catch. In the 2013 season opener against Fresno State, Leonte made his first career catch, a 69-yard touchdown. He finished 2013 with 28 catches for 478 yards and led the team with nine touchdowns, eight of which came in the 4th quarter or OT. He took another step in 2014 when he started all 13 games and finished with 55 receptions for 1,086 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He entered 2015 with high expectations, but his season almost ended just as it was getting started. After the second game of the year, Leonte was involved in an altercation outside of the stadium. He supposedly stepped in to break up a fight between an ex-girlfriend and his current girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend accused him of slamming her head into the sidewalk. Carroo was charged with simple assault and suspended indefinitely. Three weeks later the victim dropped the charges. There were conflicting witness statements and cell phone video evidence did not show any contact between Carroo and the woman. With the post Ray Rice spotlight on domestic violence, teams will be digging deep. He didn’t have any other off-the-field issues and reports indicate Leonte handled himself well in interviews at the senior bowl and combine.

After the charges were dropped, Carroo was immediately reinstated and he returned to form against Michigan State with 134 yards and 3 touchdowns against one of the top defenses in the country. He followed that up with 3 more scores and 157 yards against Indiana, but he injured his ankle in the game. The following week against Ohio State he aggravated his ankle and didn’t play in the second half. Carroo sat out two more games before finally returning, but his ankle seemed to bother him the rest of the year. In both games he missed, Rutgers failed to reach 100 yards passing. Carroo set a school record with 29 career touchdowns and an average of nearly 20 yards per catch. 

Injury Report: 

Carroo missed the last 3 games in 2013 with an upper body injury caused by an illegal targeting hit. In 2015, he missed 2.5 games with an ankle injury, and then aggravated that injury during senior bowl practices. Also, suspended 2 games.

 

Career Stats: sports-reference.com

Analysis:

Speed/Quickness: 4.0/5.0 Leonte ran a decent 4.5 second 40, but he looks faster on the field. He has excellent play speed that allowed him to consistently get past DBs for long gains. He has good full stride speed and doesn’t get caught from behind. He outran his quarterback’s range on several throws that would have been touchdowns if he didn’t have to wait for the ball. Carroo gains quick separation on slant routes from the slot. He averaged 20.1 yards per catch in his junior and senior years combined. He has good balance and is able to maintain speed through the catch and attempted tackles.

Route Running: 4.2/5.0 He can run the entire route tree and is capable from the slot or split out wide. He caught touchdowns on go routes, bubble screens and everything in between. Carroo effectively uses a stutter step to freeze the DB and then blows past him. He does an excellent job of releasing at the line of scrimmage and establishing his route to leave room along the sideline for the QB to get him the ball. It doesn’t matter who is covering him, he just gets open. Leonte tracks the ball well and has the agility to adjust to the throw.

Hands: 4.0/5.0 Leonte has excellent, strong hands and only had 2 drops in 96 chances the past two seasons. He can go up in traffic and high-point the ball. He uses his body well to shield the defender on over the should throws and uses late hands to keep defender from realizing the pass is coming until the ball is in his hands, which is something a lot of NFL receivers don’t do.   

YAC Ability: 4.0/5.0 Leonte averaged 7.2 YAC the past two seasons. He is able to force missed tackles with quickness by sidestepping defenders and also with strength and balance. His 58-yard touchdown against Indiana on a wide receiver screen shows his ability to accelerate off the line, work his way through traffic and outrun everyone to the end zone.  

Blocking: 3.0/5.0 He does an adequate job blocking for running plays. His downfield blocking is average, though not very aggressive and he usually just dances with the DB. This can be improved with coaching in the NFL.  

Summary: Leonte Carroo is an excellent playmaker and a true deep threat that can deliver a big play from anywhere on the field. He runs all the routes and can generate big plays no matter where he lines up. Out of 12 go route attempts this year, Carroo caught 8 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. He would have had more touchdowns if passes weren’t underthrown. He was Rutgers only offense last year, defenses knew it, and he was still able to deliver. Questions about his assault charge and injury history need to be answered, but when healthy he was as explosive as any receiver in this draft.         

Overall Grade: 3.8/5.0  

 

If drafted by the Packers:

The Packers wide receiver struggles last year without Jordy are well documented. Statistically, Rodgers had one of his worst seasons. He had career lows in yards per attempt (6.7 vs career average of 8.0) and quarterback rating (92.7 after 6 years in a row above 100). With six receivers on the roster, Nelson coming back, and Janis poised to have a bigger role, the Packers receiving corps could be much improved already. However, I don’t think that should prevent them from drafting another wide receiver. It can only make the group that ends up on the field better. Cobb and Adams need to rebound from a poor year, and there are no guarantees with Nelson’s knee or Janis’s development.

Leonte Carroo excelled in the areas the Packers seriously struggled with last year. He can beat press coverage and stretch the field. He was able to create separation and get open even though the defense rolled safeties toward him. Adding another receiver that can line up anywhere and is a threat to take it the distance would give the offense flexibility. Instead of trying to find a tight end that doesn’t seem to exist, McCarthy could run Jordy on more routes over the middle. Carroo has the talent to go much higher, but right now he is projected to go in the 2nd or 3rd round. At that point he will present an excellent value and could provide a more immediate impact than one of the tight ends that would be available at that same point in the draft. If his background and ankle check out OK, I would love to see this guy in Green Bay’s offense.

Video:

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Comments (3)

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Ibleedgreenmore's picture

March 29, 2016 at 02:48 pm

I thought Adams was the guy but injuries has changed my thinking on this. Can we have another injured as much, it seems we had several get hurt last year.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

March 30, 2016 at 01:47 am

"he [Caroo] just gets open" rather than our current WR who does everything well except get open.

I like Caroo, but he didn't do much in the Senior Bowl, or against Ohio State. I am thinking more in the 4/5th.

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Packmaniac's picture

March 30, 2016 at 09:32 pm

Draft a receiver only if it's truly an open competition, only if they're willing to cut ties with a receiver drafted in recent years. If they're going to automatically give Adams, Janis and\or Abby the benefit of the doubt as guys they expect to "make the jump" then there's no point in wasting a pick on WR when you have Nelson and Cobb as locks and Montgomery as an IR rookie who is absolutely guaranteed to get a chance to rebound in year 2. The math doesn't warrant the pick. Beef up the front 7 and offensive line depth before even thinking about a receiver. Please, pretty please.

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