Chris GivensWake Forest
Ht. 6-0 Wt. 195
Strengths: Givens was a highly productive underclassman at Wake that has solid size for the position. Givens is a savvy route runner that sells fakes well with his shoulders and head. He excels in the vertical game as he adjusts well to the ball in the air and has great awareness of the sideline. He shows the burst and fluidity in the open field to make defenders miss. He has a good first step and gets to top speed quickly. He makes some tough catches look easy and at times is a contortionist.
Weaknesses: Givens doesn’t have explosive speed and won’t run by anyone. He often times is bumped off routes because of a lack of physicality. He doesn’t use his hands well to keep defenders off his body which slows up the route. He will be susceptible to the jam in the NFL by some of the more physical corners and may have a hard time working his way off press man coverage. He lets too many balls get into his body despite having solid hands.
Bottom Line: Givens has some upside but shouldn’t be counted on early in his career. He will have to get more physical to avoid being bumped off routes in the NFL. The worry is that he lacks the physicality to line up on the outside in the NFL and may be relegated to play inside at the next level. Givens really needed another season of college ball to work on some of his weaknesses
Draft Projection: 3
