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Overview:

HT: 6’3″ WT: 207

In an absolutely loaded wide receiver class, Denzel Mims might be the most polarizing name in the group. An athletic specimen, he dominated BIG 12 competition each of the last three years of his exceptional four year career at Baylor. At the same time, he is one of the more unpolished receivers in this class. Will the good outweigh the bad?

Critical Factors:

• Athletic Ability (6)
  • Mims is an athletic freak. His speed to size ratio is unparalleled in this draft class. Throw in an absurd catch radius and his jumping ability and you have someone who at their core is a pure athlete.
  • The one knock is his change of direction and short area burst. This hurts more in the traits of a receiver than it does speak about his overall athleticism.
• Mental Processing (3)
  • Mims displays average processing. Baylor offenses are often very simple and you saw that in his route tree (or lack thereof)
  • Mims struggles at times to get a clean release and part of that is reading the defender and what kind of leverage they are giving him.
• Competitive Toughness (5)
  • Mims competes on every down, it is not his will to win that needs work so much as his technique.
  • Mims was a security blanket for Baylor quarterbacks during his tenure because he fought through coverage to make plays many other cannot.
  • He is a more than willing blocker and could have a role on special teams from day one in the NFL.
• Play Speed (5)
  • Mims has excellent straight line speed and it shows as he wins downfield consistently on deep balls. He has a long stride and enough size to compete with anyone athletically.
• Play Strength (4)
  • For his size, strength is a surprising weakness for Mims. His biggest issue is separating/disengaging from defenders on jump balls or at the end of routes.
  • He has an excellent frame, but clearly needs to tack on more muscle to win at the top of his routes more consistently. More strength will help solve some of his separation inconsistencies.

Check out Mims’s tape from the Oklahoma game!

Position Specific Traits:

• Route Running (2)
  • Mims has some work to do on his route running. First of all, he runs a select few routes, as is common with Baylor wide receivers.
  • The variety is not the biggest problem, Mims has to learn to do a better job selling his routes. When he does a double move or a head fake he rarely convinces the defender enough to make a difference and it forces him to make more difficult catches.
  • Mims is at his best on simple curl/hitches, go/fly/streaks or in/outs.
  • Mims has lined up in the slot, but he isn’t explosive enough coming out of his breaks for his talents to be maximized from the slot. He is far better suited as an outside receiver.
• Release (3)
  • Mims’s short area burst weakness shows in his release as well. When facing off coverage he is fine. On tape he can struggle against press when the defender gets their hands on him.
  • He has improved his release a lot already, as was evident at the Senior Bowl where he routinely dominated one-on-one drills.
  • He has fluid enough hips to learn how to utilize his wiggle and his feet to keep hands off him when he releases. He also needs to get more physical and use his hands to create separation off the line.
• Catching (4)
  • Mims has passable hands, but is inconsistent. He makes circus catches routinely and has an unbelievable catch radius.
  • His timing on catches is great, he excels at back shoulder sideline passes.
  • He does have his fair share of drops and sometimes in crucial situations. He dropped what should have been an easy game winning touchdown against Texas Tech.
• Blocking (5)
  • Mims is an excellent blocker and has very good technique. He does a great job of keeping his hands up and elbows in to sustain downfield blocks.
  • Sometimes he get overpowered and pushed back, but he does a good job of holding the block anyway so that the play can still develop.

Scheme/Fit: Mims likely needs to be in a vertical offense so that he can utilize his size/speed combo to be a field stretcher for teams. It is rare for a player to have his combination of size and speed which makes him an asset for any team, but he will have to have a fixed role depending on the offense ran by that team.

Negatives: The negatives for Mims can be summed up in one term, project receiver. He has all the natural gifts you look for in a wide receiver, but his route running is unrefined; his technique is lacking which translates to getting overpowered; and his hands are inconsistent at best. Whatever team drafts him must have faith that their coaching staff can bring the best out of him. One added negative is that Mims is already 22 years old as a senior, teams like to go younger at receiver typically and senior receivers tend to get a knock when being evaluated as they have had more time to mature already.

Combine Report:

Relevant Numbers: 40 Yard Dash – 4.38; Vertical – 38.5; Broad – 131; 20 Yard Shuttle – 4.43; 3-Cone Drill – 6.66

Denzel Mims was one drill away from one of the most impressive combine performances in years. For a 6’3 receiver, his 40 time, jumps and 3-Cone drill were all exceptional times. The 3-Cone in particular was shockingly elite as only three other receivers completed the drill in under 7 seconds and they each completed it in 6.94 or slower. This makes his 20 yard shuttle result all the more puzzling. A 4.43 is a borderline red flag number.

NFL Player Comparison/Projected Round: Corey Coleman — Round 4

There are a few reasons that Denzel Mims is reminiscent of Corey Coleman. Both coming from Baylor is of course the easy first comparison. Both are/were also viewed as athletic freaks with a lot of kinks to work out in the technical aspects of their game. They ran a similar route tree and are both absolute athletes. As far as their combine measurables, they both had fantastic and eye-popping days.

Coleman, would go on to be a first rounder, despite question marks because of his straight line speed. We could Mims pushed up the board to round 2 or even end of round 1 for similar reasons. I caution against that, we’ve seen these straight line speed receivers time and time again go high and disappoint. Mims will only be a second rounder if any team has faith in its staff’s ability to develop the star potential they’re getting.

As always, we end on a high note, check out Mims’s highlights!