Round 6 • Pick 33 (210) • WR Demario Douglas

[Mugsy’s Walk-Off Bunt]

Patriots.com's Evan Lazar happy about this small school, speedy little wideout, too:

The Patriots won me over with the sixth-rounders at wide receivers, especially Douglas. After an in-person viewing at the Shrine Bowl, Douglas's vertical burst with 4.44-second speed and fluidity through his cuts give him NFL-caliber separation talent. According to SportSource Analytics, Douglas's open receiver rate of 83% ranked ten percent above the FBS average. He's a smaller slot-only type and needs to be more precise with his routes. But Douglas has the quick-twitch movement skills to uncover, making DBs at his level of competition look silly at times. New England passing on shifty slots such as Zay Flowers and Josh Downs led them to Douglas. His vertical burst and double moves are similar to Flowers.

 

[JM3]

View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1653111663380385794
View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1653131937639288832/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1653131937639288832&currentTweetUser=ezlazar

 

[Arroyoyo]

I was watching some of his highlight tape too. He’s insanely shifty and has that joystick-like ability like Hill. If he’s 50% of TH (and 1,000% the human), the Pats may have a sneaky-useful late round toy to work with here.

 

[brendan f]

I think he's pretty interesting and realistically might have a better chance to make the team than Boutte. One guy he's worth comparing to is Josh Downs, the receiver from UNC, whom the Pats passed on earlier in the draft. Both are on the smaller side but while Downs plays exclusively in the slot, Douglas can also line up on the outside so I wonder if that's something that stood out to them. Also, Douglas posted an amazing vertical (91%) and insane broad jump (99%). If you watch his highlights, there are a few plays where he actually leaps over defenders.

One problem with Downs is his weight. He's very lean and I wonder if the Pats thought he wouldn't be able to block. Douglas is actually smaller but weighs slightly more. The problem with Douglas is that while he looks shifty on some highlights he performed poorly in the 3 cone (34%) and shuttle (35%) so not sure what to make of that.

 

[brendan f]

Lazar thinks he compares better to Flowers....

View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1652731938103230472?s=20

 

[BillMuellerFanClub]

Based on his highlights his burst is a huge threat so his twitchy nature makes players miss, even without elite 3-cone times. I want to see this guy running jet sweeps and reverses in preseason.

 

[brendan f]

Based on his highlights his burst is a huge threat so his twitchy nature makes players miss, even without elite 3-cone times. I want to see this guy running jet sweeps and reverses in preseason.

Yeah, early on he could be used as a gadget guy, and also has experience returning punts and kickoffs. Here's a good article on the ways the Pats might use him:

https://www.clnsmedia.com/patriots-draft-douglas

Also, a funny anecdote, can't remember where I read it but when Flowers got injured at the Shrine Bowl and Douglas subbed in for him, Flowers looked on and said [paraphrasing] , "Who is that guy? He looks like me out there."