College Football Recruiting 2013: 1 Weakness for Each Top 10 Receiver Prospect

As we move along in our series of showing one weakness for the top prospects at each position, today we will examine the wide receiver prospects and give you a weakness for the top 10 players at that position. 

These are all 10 amazing wide receiver prospects that all have the talent to be successful collegiate pass-catchers. Yet, nobody's perfect and all players have weaknesses. Let's take this time out to flip the script and get away from speaking about what makes these guys so highly-touted, but rather look at one thing they may need to work on.

10. Steven Mitchell

Mitchell is a 5'11", 176-pound quick receiver from the Los Angeles area. He is committed to USC where he will do his damage in the slot as his RAC skills are excellent.

Mitchell is quicker than he is fast, and it shows on tape. I notice a lack of deep speed in his game that could see him struggle to get on top of secondaries. His doesn't have a second gear to push past deep safeties, so he could be limited to short and intermediate success.

9. James Quick

From Kentucky, Quick is a 6'1", 175-pound perimeter player with good speed, athleticism and playmaking ability. He runs very tough after the catch and is a smooth player.

When Quick gets to college, he will need to put more emphasis on becoming a sharper route runner. He rounds his cuts too often right now and will need to be more disciplined in crafting his patterns vs. better cornerbacks.

8. Ahmad Fulwood

A big receiver at 6'4", 190 pounds, Fulwood is headed to Florida where his size and speed should get him on the field early. He has excellent length to pluck balls all around, and Fulwood also has shown to be a good blocker at times.

My concern for him is in regard to his separation. He shows a lack of burst out of his breaks at junction points in his routes, which will decrease his separation quickness in college. He will need to work on his lateral explosiveness in order to detach from coverage better. 

7. Marquez North

North is from North Carolina and has a great size and speed ratio. He stands 6'3", 210 pounds and can fly around the field. He should become a great deep threat at the next level, and I think he will be in the 225-pound range before he leaves.

North just needs to refine his route running and learn how to shield defenders away from the ball. When he skates around on his underneath routes, he will need to get better at showing the passer his numbers and keeping himself between the football and the defender.

6. Stacy Coley

The common word thrown around Coley's skill set is potential. He's a 6'1", 175-pound speedster from Florida with smooth athleticism and a huge upside, should he work at his craft.

A part of his game that I would like to see him work on is his strength. Right now Coley is not strong enough to make "big-boy" releases on the perimeter, and he also fails to break tackles as a runner.

5. Robbie Rhodes

Rhodes is a very good receiver from Texas at 6'1", 190 pounds. He is a fluid route runner and has speedy but gliding athleticism as well as quickness. He competes for balls and is dominant in passing lanes vs. any cornerback.

He lacks good lateral quickness and is not as sudden as other receivers on this list. Improving his side-to-side short, subtle movement skills should be an area for him to focus on.

4. Laquon Treadwell

At 6'2" and around 200 pounds, Treadwell has become one of the best receivers in the country. He has great size, a long frame and terrific speed. He is explosive and can eat up cushion quickly to get past defensive backs.

The weakness that I notice on his tape is that he takes false steps when he is about to cut in his routes. He needs to get better at being smoother in and out of his breaks. 

3. Derrick Griffin

Griffin is likely going to be a TE in college, but he plays WR right now. He is a huge 6'6", 228-pound pass-catcher with great athleticism, length, hands and leaping ability.

He just isn't sudden, and there's no other way around it. The Texas A&M pledge is not an explosive athlete, and it takes him some time to get up to top speed. He's not going to blow by anyone with surging quickness. 

2. Robert Foster

Foster is almost the polar opposite of Griffin, as he is a super explosive and sudden athlete from Pennsylvania. He stands 6'2", 190 pounds and can flat-out fly. Foster is great as a RAC player and also has return value.

His weakness is that he isn't that strong, especially vs. press coverage. Right now, big cornerbacks can stack, re-route him and hold him up when he tries to release. He can beat jams with explosive lateral quickness, but Foster needs to get stronger. 

1. Ricky Seals-Jones

Seals-Jones is the top WR on my board, but like Griffin, I think he is destined to be a TE in college. He is 6'5", 230 pounds dripping with special athleticism, ball skills, solid speed and playmaking ability.

He needs to refine his route running, but digging deeper into Seals-Jones' game I see that he plays too high when he goes to cut at junction points. He needs to work on sinking his hips lower, which will allow him to spring out of his breaks better thus creating more separation from defenders.

Edwin Weathersby has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects & writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (now ESPN Rise-HS). A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough Inc., a College Football and NFL Draft magazine.