Carter's Classroom draft profile: Chris Godwin, wide receiver

The departure of Markus Wheaton changes the dynamic of the receiving corps for the Steelers. They had a solid one-two punch with Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant ready for the 2017 season, but questions as to the effectiveness of Sammie Coates, whether Eli Rogers can continue to develop and if Cobi Hamilton or DeMarcus Ayers could develop into the third or fourth option on the team.

Rogers was a solid fill-in for the slot on offense. While he wasn't a blazer with speed, he ran sharp routes and made decent catches over the middle to become a solid underneath option for Ben Roethlisberger.

The Steelers hit a wall in the playoffs when the Patriots schemed to focus on Brown and Roethlisberger could not find a strong connection with his other options on the field. While Bryant and Wheaton were unavailable, Rogers was not able to gain enough separation at times and Coates' hand injuries limited his ability to catch the ball.

Considering the bad luck with injuries the team has had the past several seasons in the playoffs, an investment at a playmaker at wide receiver is not out of the question.

However, with the solid talent the Steelers do have at wide receiver and the dire needs on defense, it would make sense to skip over any talent that would be available in the first round.

That takes us down the list of prospects to study our first player from one of the college teams we cover, with Chris Godwin from Penn State:



Godwin's senior season was his peak as a scorer with the 11 touchdowns he pulled in throughout the year. His 59 catches for 982 yards may not jump off the screen, but he finished strong in Penn State's home stretch averaging over 118 yards per game in the final three games. He only posted three 100-yard games all season, which may have some scouts skeptical about his production, but when he was given the opportunity he capitalized.

Godwin's tape doesn't show a burner with speed, but his combine performance drastically changed that outlook when he ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash. He also put up 19 reps on the bench press, the second most of the wide receiver class, and ran the fastest in the 20 yard shuttle with a 4.00 time.

Couple that combine performance with a solid season at Penn State and you have a top-10 prospect at wide receiver for this draft. Godwin's tape is solid, but don't take it just from me, we also have our Penn State beat reporter, Audrey Snyder, who saw his production first hand.

"The thing that surprised me the most about Godwin and this goes back to when he was a high schooler was his consistency," Snyder said. "He can be that reliable, go-to receiver and he can also take games over when the opportunity is presented. Penn State's offense was pretty terrible Godwin's freshman and sophomore year, but he certainly flashed, especially in every bowl game he played in. That all came together his junior season. He's also deceptively fast and was one of the team's top performers in the weight room."

To give you a glimpse of what Snyder saw all season, here's some of Godwin's better tape:

GOOD BALL SKILLS

One thing you notice with Godwin's tape is how he does a good job locating the ball with his eyes and getting his hands out to make a good play on the ball. Even when a pass could be thrown better, Godwin will attack the ball at its highest point and contest for the ball as well as any other receiver in this draft.

Watch how even when the ball is high and behind Godwin, he is able to pull it in and get his toes down for the catch:



Godwin's body control shows that he's the kind of receiver that can lay out and sacrifice his body for big catches. He doesn't give up on poorly thrown passes and looks to make the best out of every opportunity.

ROUTE RUNNING

Godwin has all-around athleticism that showed up in the combine and it also shows in the different ways he likes to beat defenders. He has decent agility and quick moves to beat defenders in man coverage, as he shows here with the deep in route over the middle:



Godwin's footwork could use some polishing, but he is very good at getting in and out of his breaks against NCAA talent. When matched up one-on-one he often finds a way to present a solid window for his quarterback to target with the throw.

Godwin's route running seems to invest more in setting up his opponents with decent fakes and looking for the ball rather than running as hard and as fast as he can through the route in order to beat them.

Watch how smoothly he sets up this post pattern to fake out the safety, taking his time to show multiple threats as possible routes that the defensive back has to consider. Once he sees the safety slow down to a spot, he bursts to the middle and looks for the ball:



It's also important to note just how Godwin came out of his break. Many receivers that beat a safety like this will break toward the middle speeding to the open space.

But Godwin immediately focuses on finding the ball and slows down to catch a pass that was a little behind him and could have been disastrous had he not slowed down to find the ball.

WORKS AFTER THE ROUTE

This play is probably the best example of what I mean when I say Godwin uses all the tools in his athleticism to beat his opponents. He doesn't just burn with speed, or make quick moves or commit to being stronger than smaller defensive backs. He employs all of those traits.

Watch how he matches up against Adoree' Jackson, a top cornerback we covered that ran a 4.38 at the combine, and beats him on this deep route:



Godwin's speed is kept up with by Jackson, but he uses his decent head-fake skills to get Jackson out of position, which leads to him stumbling, and then is able to get even more open when he uses his arm to get separation from Jackson.

Godwin can use skills from his lower body and his upper body to beat opponents. He's both fast and strong, which provides that many more challenges for him to defensive backs to cover.

BLOCKING

Godwin also uses that strength decently when he blocks out on the edge. There are plenty of plays in which he is seen running down the field to keep up with a long running play just in case that extra defensive back slows down and can get picked off as the final piece to a touchdown.

But on this play, watch how Godwin runs his man to the goal line, then gets good extension with his hands and turns him out of the play:



While receivers are not typically looked at to be good at blocking, Godwin's attention to detail in the blocking game shows the kind of effort he puts forward at all of his talents.

STEELERS STOCK

So how could a talent like Godwin fall to a point where the Steelers could take him? That's a question that goes back and forth pending on the scouting expert. It seems generally agreed upon that of this class, Godwin should rank towards the bottom of the top-10 receivers.

He won't go in the first round, but looks like a talent that may get scooped up in the mid-to-late second or at some point in the third. But he won't slip too far, as our own Snyder will tell you:

"I don't see Godwin staying on the board after the mid part of the third round," Snyder said. "I just can't see him falling beyond that. Before the combine and the Rose Bowl I would've said that he'd probably be a 4th-round guy, but now it seems like the secret is out and Godwin's rising stock can't be ignored or dismissed. Coming out of school early will actually make him a lot of money."

Godwin's lack of super stats and his tape show a good player that didn't flash a lot of big play potential, which is what most top-level receivers display in the NCAA. What it did show was a player that can do what he does so well that he can win when given the opportunity and be a threat.

He's not John Ross that will burn most cornerbacks or Mike Williams that will make the most ridiculous catches in traffic. But he's a receiving option that could fit nicely as a second or third option on any team.

Whether the Steelers will be able to grab rides on their willingness to add to their offensive firepower and how fast the wide receiver talent ahead of Godwin goes. Their best shot at Godwin may be with their second-round pick, as it's late and would give them an opportunity to invest in defense in the first round.

But if they try to wait it out for the third round, Godwin will most likely be gone to another team more desperate for receiving talent like the Eagles.

While I think it would be a wise decision to invest both of the Steelers' first two picks into the defense, adding talent at wide receiver does change the landscape of the roster a bit. It would challenge Bryant to get his act together and put all the younger receivers on notice that their job could be on the line in training camp, as the Steelers can only field so many players on their depth chart.

It would also put the Steelers in an interesting position for their contract negotiations. Because Brown's contract will be taking up anywhere between $13 million and $18.9 million on the Steelers' salary cap over the next five years, it may be difficult for the Steelers to keep around a talented player like Bryant while also needing to sign players like Le'Veon Bell, Ryan Shazier, Stephon Tuitt and Bud Dupree to long-term contracts in the near future.

The addition of Godwin would change the dynamic that by the time Bryant's contract was up, the team would have an experienced athletic option next to Brown and not take as big of a blow from the loss of Bryant.

But whether that luxury is worth a second-round pick in a draft when the Steelers need to address multiple linebacker positions is a consideration that Kevin Colbert will have to take very seriously.