NFL draft profile: Baylor WR Corey Coleman, drop-prone deep threat

Shutdown Corner counted down the top 50 prospects in the 2016 NFL draft with a scouting report, quotes from NFL evaluators and a projection where they might be drafted.

22. Baylor WR Corey Coleman
5-foot-11, 194 pounds

Key stat: Improved his receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns and yards per catch in each of his three seasons. As a fourth-year junior, Coleman caught 74 passes for 1,363 yards (18.4 yards per catch) and 20 TDs. That represented about a third of the Bears' passing production and almost half of their passing touchdowns in 2015.

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The skinny: Tightly wound, undersized but explosive speedball who has home-run ability but an annoying penchant for drops. Coleman has emerged as one of the most talented wideouts from a school that cranks them out (Kendall Wright, Josh Gordon, Terrance Williams) and is one of the best playmakers in the entire draft, able to haul in a pass 40 yards downfield or take a short screen a long way.

Hernia surgery kept him out of the team's bowl game and prevented him from running the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. But he responded at his pro day with times of 4.40 and 4.37 seconds on what's regarded as a fast track. That, combined with a good positional workout running NFL routes (many of which he did not read in Baylor's simplified passing game) and all the other strong workout numbers he posted at the combine, and Coleman has put his best foot forward of late.

Best-suited destination: Coleman would be an ideal deep threat for a team that has a good vertical passer, running the kinds of route trees that John Brown does for the Arizona Cardinals or DeSean Jackson for the Washington Redskins. Ideally, Coleman would either help draw safety help away or be a complement to a bigger receiver who can do the same. There is an unfair bias against receivers Coleman's size, and though he might never reach the level of the Steelers' Antonio Brown, he has the explosiveness and downfield ability to be a great pro in time.

Upside

: This is a receiver class that largely is devoid of the vertical speed that Coleman possess, and he's in a tight battle with the bigger but slower Laquon Treadwell (Ole Miss) and Josh Doctson (TCU) for the honor of being the first receiver off the board. Given the wave of success of sub-6-foot receivers in the league the past two seasons, both in the slot and on the outside (and Coleman can do both), his skills should be appreciated in the NFL, and perhaps as high as the mid-first round.

Downside: Some teams still are showing a preference for receivers with more physical frames, not only for jump balls but also for blocking in the run game, maintaining long-term health and getting away from the press coverage and the longer-armed, taller corners that more teams seem to be employing. Coleman's drops could drive a position coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback batty and limit his chances, and some feel he will have an adjustment coming from such a boiled-down system to a more complicated offense.

Scouting hot take: "I've got him well inside [Round 1], and he can play for us. Our receiver coach has coached out drops before. They look like a concentration issue to me, although he does have smaller hands. That's something you can't change.” — AFC college scouting director

Player comp: Golden Tate

Previous profiles

50. Ohio State WR Braxton Miller
49. Indiana OT Jason Spriggs
48. Florida DL Jonathan Bullard
47. Texas Tech OT Le'Raven Clark
46. Arkansas TE Hunter Henry
45. Oklahoma WR Sterling Shepard
44. Michigan State QB Connor Cook
43. West Virginia S Karl Joseph
42. Michigan State DE-OLB Shilique Calhoun
41. Notre Dame WR Will Fuller
40. Pitt WR Tyler Boyd
39. Oklahoma State DE Emmanuel Ogbah
38. Alabama DE-DT A'Shawn Robinson
37. Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott
36. Memphis QB Paxton Lynch
35. Alabama C Ryan Kelly
34. Louisiana Tech DT Vernon Butler
33. Ole Miss DT Robert Nkemdiche
32. Georgia DE-OLB Leonard Floyd
31. USC S-LB Su'a Cravens
30. Alabama LB Reggie Ragland
29. Mississippi State DT-DE Chris Jones
28. Baylor NT Andrew Billings
27. Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith
26. Houston CB William Jackson III
25. Alabama RB Derrick Henry
24. Ohio State CB Eli Apple
23. Eastern Kentucky DE-OLB Noah Spence

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm