2019 NFL Draft: WR prospects for Ravens in each round
Round 3: Hakeem Butler
Remember early when I mentioned that a cure for inaccurate quarterbacks is to give them big bodied targets? Take that statement and apply it to Hakeem Butler.
Butler is a massive man to put it lightly, standing at an insane 6’6″ 225-lbs. Butler is the receiver that you have already generalized him as: a huge body who goes up and snags touchdowns. Is he a savvy route runner? No, not particularly, but he doesn’t have to be when he can simply out-jump his competition.
2019 NFL Draft: Predicting the Ravens top 1st round targets. light. Related Story
If you need an example of the kind of production Butler can give you, just look at his box scores here. The man scored 18 touchdowns in 34 career games while averaging almost 20.0 YPR. While I would almost always advise against box-score scouting, Butler’s production comes from his big-frame and his tape and numbers match together perfectly.
If his numbers are so great, why isn’t he being valued higher in the 2019 NFL Draft? There are plenty of reasons, but for him personally it’s the fact that he has stone hands. For all the great plays Butler makes, he has mental lapses and drops easy passes. I know that’s probably turning some Ravens fans off, but he’d come cheaper than his clone, Michael Crabtree, and is much younger and can learn to outgrow these bad-habits.
Butler is no means perfect, but he’s the kind of boundary receiver Lamar Jackson could use to grow with. Butler is a fantastic red-zone monster for the team and could lead the Ravens in touchdown receptions as a rookie.