Ryan Broyles 2012 NFL Draft quick report

This year I wrote the player rankings and evaluations for the USA Today 2012 NFL Draft magazine. It’s on newsstands now and available online here. Leading up to the draft, I’ll be reprinting some of my quick reports here.

Strengths: Possesses exceptional hands and routinely catches the ball outside his frame. Tough for a player of his size. Doesn’t mind getting hit when working the middle. Has returned punts. Broyles is at his best playing out of the slot when he can work over the middle, underneath.

Weaknesses: The big, obvious negative that holds Broyles down is his size. He can have trouble getting open over the top, isn’t a jump ball target and won’t break many tackles. Has an injury history (torn ACL in 2011, broken collarbone in 2009) and character issues (arrested for stealing gas as a freshman).

Combine quotable: (On his size) God gave me this body for a reason. 5-10. Maybe if I was a few inches taller I couldn’t produce the way I did. There’s really no telling. I just work with what I have. The hands I have. The feet that I have. I’m just very blessed to be in the position to make it to the next step and be a professional athlete in the NFL. I don’t worry too much about where I’m going to be placed. That might be one thing people might think I’m hanging my head on. But I just want a spot. I just want a chance to shine. So I’m just looking forward to that opportunity.