ALL TWENTY TUESDAY: WIDE RECEIVER CHRIS GODWIN

Two weeks ago, after the 2017 NFL Draft came to a close, I took a look at the Buccaneers draft tracker from NFL.com just to look over what grades they gave each one of the Bucs picks. As I got to the third round, I saw “Rod Godwin, WR, Penn State.”

I thought to myself, “The disrespect!” in an over-dramatized mid-day soap opera voice. They also didn’t even have Stevie T. on there as a selection that even occurred. So, I tweeted out the fact that there were errors on the Buccaneers’ draft tracker from what I assume was a case of the national media not really caring to pay much detail to the team down in Tampa Bay, because, frankly, they haven’t had a reason to for many years. But, after I tweeted it out, someone pointed out to me that “Rod” is actually Godwin’s real first name; Rod Christopher Godwin.

And that’s when – for me – the legend of “Rod God” was born.

On the previous page, we looked over the thoughts of Matt Harmon, creator Reception Perception project, concerning Godwin and how he believes Godwin will succeed at the NFL level.

Let’s get into some of Godwin’s tape ourselves to put those percentages to visual production.

Can You Dig It, Sucka?

Having success on the dig route has layered effects. If a receiver can win over the middle of the field, both with separation and when catching through traffic, they’re a valued asset to any offense.

In the play above, Godwin verified that 90.9 dig route success rate and the 85.7 contested catch rate in the same play. If you watch the route to competition, you can see how explosive Godwin was when turning inside to the middle of the field. This is what created his separation, and if the throw would have been better, Godwin might have been running for a long time.

Evolving from the dig route is the post route, something Godwin also had a high success rate with at 84.6 percent.

The play above once again called for Godwin to put that contested catch percentage to the test. On the previous play, Godwin had to flip his hips entirely at a 45 degree angle to make the catch. That in and of itself is a certain type of agility. In the play above, Godwin isn’t so much flipping, but more of veering at an easier angle. The key on a post route is to maintain speed as you plant your right or left foot (depending which side). Godwin showed that he can, in fact, maintain speed when running a post to the inside and most importantly won’t slow down for incoming contact – he isn’t scared.

Having another player who can catch at such a high rate through contact, especially over the middle, will take a lot of pressure off Mike Evans. Now head coach Dirk Koetter can have Evans run more routes that give him his greatest advantage with height and length while Godwin can still be relied upon for catches in traffic over the middle. Combine that with DeSean Jackson’s speed stretching the defense vertically and you can envision why having different kinds of weapons should help the Buccaneers offense immensely. With Godwin, Evans and Jackson, the Bucs can get every inch of the field vertically and from sideline to sideline.

A variation of the dig route is an out route, which is the same concept, just going to the sideline.

This is where the whole “playing both sides of the field” comes in handy for Godwin because he’s just as explosive turning in and out on the left side as he is the right. That means he can keep a defense guessing regardless of where he’s lined up.

If you play off coverage like Michigan State did in the play above, Godwin will usually be able to flip his hips, turn to the ball and get his feet down before the defender can close in and stop it. Godwin knows how to tightrope a sideline because he’s so quick to flip his hips and turn his head.

Finally, there’s the full turn around with the comeback or curl route, depending on which side Godwin is line up on.

Let’s talk about the obvious first. Godwin displayed the body control to get himself around the the quarterback with three turning steps (which is fast) and was able to recognize, locate, extend and catch a pass that was way off the mark. That’s the obvious good part.

But, there’s a subtle hint to this route that I want you to take note of that is another little factor to his game that makes Godwin such a good route runner. See how he rounded his route to the right a little bit first, and how it wasn’t straight up the field in a line? This didn’t mean that he wasn’t precise in the route. In fact, it meant he was even better.

Watch what happened to the outside cornerback once Godwin did that little veer to the right. See how it forced the corner to flip his hips outside and away from the soft zone Godwin knew he’d be stopping in? That’s a subtle part of creating separation that not all receivers have. Creating the soft zone yourself to catch a pass in is an elite route running trait, and Godwin has it.

The 6 Upside Down It’s A 9 Now

Let’s look over the area of Godwin’s game that he was “worst” in with the Reception Perception project, the nine route, or “go” route – the title of the section is what it is because 1. Drake 2. The dig route’s number in the route tree is 6, and the 9 route is, well, you got it.

Godwin’s lower success rate on 9 routes most likely comes from the same train of thought as to why Koetter didn’t expect Godwin to run as fast as he did in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. Godwin has straight line speed, but he’s just not as comfortable beating someone down the line as he is beating them by planting his feet and changing direction.

However, as made obvious by the play above, Godwin is certainly able to go down the field and get a jump ball.

The play above is one Godwin seems much more comfortable making a move down the field than just running in a straight line.

On that double move, he really baited the safety in with a good head fake and quick hips. The reason why this double move was so successful is because, if you’ll remember in the dig route section of this film review, that out route that Godwin caught was earlier in this game. Because Godwin has so much success on routes like the dig and the out route, it opens up the door for him to really burn defenses with double moves.

The final gif in this section is a personal one since we know the Buccaneers were high on USC cornerback Adoree’ Jackson.

It wasn’t all on Jackson, but in Godwin’s game versus USC, he had nine catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns (this being one of them). This play was a 9 route with some Rod God flavor added to it. In it, he turned Jackson around so much that he got him to trip and lose his balance. That made it easy for him to get the score – and remember, that’s one of the more agile and fluid cornerbacks in all of college football.

Being precise as a route runner isn’t just about running in a straight line. It’s about baiting defenders to look and turn one way, then killing them in the other direction. Separation comes in many different shapes and forms. Godwin separates in his own diverse, elite way.

Sit Down (Be Humble)

Last but certainly not least, let’s recognize why the Buccaneers loved Godwin long before his Combine.

Simply put, this dude will put you on your ass as a blocker. His physical nature that makes him so good at catching the ball in traffic also shows up when being asked to block. When he gets a receiver locked up, he rarely loses a blocking assignment, and when given the chance to take a guy completely out of the play, he’ll gladly do so, as shown above.

Taking out defensive players is kind of Godwin’s thing. The play above is very similar to the one in the Michigan game (no, that wasn’t Jabrill Peppers that he blew up). But, in this USC clip, he blocked his guy so hard that he took out two defenders.

The Buccaneers want complete football players.

That’s why they drafted O.J. Howard.

That’s why they drafted Rod Christopher Godwin.

Rod God.