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Dallas Cowboys: 10 Wide Receivers and Their Fit

By Adithya Prabakaran

COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 16: Wide receiver Deebo Samuel #1 of the South Carolina Gamecocks outruns defenders from the Kentucky Wildcats for a touchdown at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Todd Bennett/GettyImages)
COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 16: Wide receiver Deebo Samuel #1 of the South Carolina Gamecocks outruns defenders from the Kentucky Wildcats for a touchdown at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Todd Bennett/GettyImages) /
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OXFORD, MS – OCTOBER 28: DeMarkus Lodge #5 of the Ole Miss Rebels catches a pass down field during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Hemingway Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 38-37. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS – OCTOBER 28: DeMarkus Lodge #5 of the Ole Miss Rebels catches a pass down field during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Hemingway Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 38-37. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

DaMarkus Lodge, Mississippi

What’s Good: Contested Catches, Play Strength

What Ain’t Good: Route tree, Explosiveness, Drops

There seems to be some hype with Lodge as a late-round sleeper pick, however, I don’t seem to understand where it is coming from. Lodge’s tape is the definition of inconsistency on tape paired with average athleticism at the wide receiver position.

I mentioned this when writing about Dawson Knox, the Ole Miss offense is very elementary. The route tree consists of a few routes; in fact, the whole playbook is only like 30 plays. For this reason, not only is it extremely tedious to watch Ole Miss film, but also it is apparent what each receiver does well.

Lodge isn’t a great route runner. He changes speed to create separation, but he isn’t all that fast. He makes some impressive contested catches, but he also drops a good amount of them as well as relatively simple catches. He plays really strong after the catch, but when pressed at the line he struggles to run past.

Lodge could definitely benefit from a better system and better talent around him, something similar to what he saw at Ole Miss with Metcalf and Brown. The expectation is he’s going to learn a bigger route tree and in order for him to succeed at the next level he will need quite some development.

The things that Lodge does well reminds me of Dez in college. He can make contested catches, he presents decent lateral quickness, he can run people over, and he has good size. However, for that same reason the Cowboys should refrain from drafting the Cedar Hill product.

The Cowboys brought in Lodge for Dallas Day as he is from the Dallas area and I don’t see any further interaction between the two parties. Lodge just isn’t the right type of receiver this team needs with Dak at the helm. In addition, Lodge just isn’t that good. There are better receivers in this draft that will be worth the higher pick compared to Lodge.

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