The Redskin Report

Limus Sweed was the early favorite in a lot of mock drafts to be selected by the Redskins.  Lately with talk in Washington moving to other prospects, a lot of expert are expecting the Redskins to go elsewhere with their 1st pick.  Sweed is one of the highest rated recievers in the draft and he does possess the size (6′5) that the Redskins covet.  The major issue with Sweed is a wrist injury that hindered for much of his senior year.

DRAFT PROFILES

Scouts Inc

Strengths: Possesses rare size for a wide receiver. He’s tall, well built and extremely fluid for his size. Instinctive route runner; finding soft spots in zone comes very naturally to him. He does an excellent job of finding the ball over his shoulder and adjusting to the deep ball. Displays soft hands and very good concentration. Knows how to use his body to shield defenders and uses his upper body subtly to gain separation from defenders when the ball is in the air (see: TD vs. Oklahoma in 2006). Very difficult to defend one-on-one inside the red zone. Displays good leaping ability, long arms and big, strong hands to challenge for the jump ball. Supremely confident in his ability. Shows good body control along the sideline. He has good quickness and change-of-direction skills for his size. He will consistently make the first defender miss after the catch and he also shows the ability to make sharp cuts in the open field after the catch. Very competitive and hard working player.

Weaknesses: Still has room to improve in terms of consistency as a route runner. Not as sudden in-and-out of breaks as you would like to see from an elite receiver. He’s fluid with very good top-end speed for his size but he lacks ideal initial burst. Durability  specifically his wrist  is now a significant concern. .

Overall: Sweed was redshirted in 2003. In his next three seasons at Texas (2004-’06), he appeared in 37 games (33 consecutive starts) and hauled in a combined 105 receptions for 1,609 yards (15.3 average) and 17 touchdowns. As a senior, he started in the Longhorns’ first six games but was hindered by a wrist injury that had bothered him since spring workouts. He had 19 receptions for 306 yards (16.1 average) and three touchdowns in 2007 before undergoing season-ending surgery. He participated in practice early during Senior Bowl week only to re-aggravate the injury. Sweed suffered the wrist injury during summer camp and attempted to play through the pain. He simply wasn’t the same player during those six games in 2007, which is why the majority of our evaluation is based off his junior tape in 2006. When healthy, Sweed has everything NFL teams look for in a No. 1 receiver, including tremendous athleticism for his size and very soft hands. Lingering concerns regarding his wrist injury as a senior could scare some teams in the top-15 away. Still, Sweed is the most talented all-around receiver in the 2008 class when he’s at full strength, which is why we anticipate him being selected later in the first round.

CBS Sportsline

Positives: Has a tall, well-built and rare-sized frame, with proportioned muscles, good chest and upper body development, nice arm length, large hands and developed legs and calves … Has the straight-line speed and acceleration needed to be effective in the vertical passing game … Not a precise route runner, but his long stride helps him compensate and eat up the defender’s cushion … Possesses good quickness and change-of-direction agility, along with excellent leaping ability, but he must improve his timing competing for jump balls … Fluid in his stride, showing the body control and the ability to adjust to the ball in flight … Has the arm extension and flexibility to elevate and make the acrobatic catches … Has good field awareness and is alert to coverages and locating the soft areas underneath … Displays good toughness and leadership, working hard in practices and studying tapes to gain advantage over his opponents … Has that extra gear needed to gain advantage coming off the snap (when he doesn’t try to get into battles with the press defender) … Smooth into his routes and will get physical with the defender in route progression (feels every thrown ball is his) … Strong runner who might not run crisp routes, but has the natural burst and quickness to separate … Uses his long stride well to quickly close a defender’s cushion, and while he still needs refinement here, when he drops his weight while making cuts he generates much better foot quickness … Needs to figure out how to beat the jam with other moves, but can overpower a smaller defender … Does a nice job of settling in the short area and has the awareness with good body control to work himself free from a crowd … Talented receiver on the boundary, as he is good at finding throwing lanes for his quarterback when attacking the zone … Does gather some in his routes, but flashes good ability to adjust to the coverage, doing a nice job of uncovering … Natural adjuster to off-line throws and can make a great catch while keeping his feet along the sidelines … Displays good ball skills and hands when hauling in the ball with defenders draped on him (will lose concentration at times, but it is not from a lack of courage) … Not the type who will double or body catch, as he is very effective at using his reach to extend for the ball and does a good job of looking the pass in over his outside shoulder … The thing you see on film is his ability to execute the comeback and stay square going for the ball … Has good reaction quickness to look the ball in and will not hesitate to assert himself in order to run unimpeded down the sidelines … Can pluck the ball outside of his frame and make the tough catches … Has the speed and acceleration to stretch the field vertically and the balls skills necessary to haul in the deep pass … Must do a better job of timing his leaps, but he has the flexibility to adjust for the high, low and behind tosses … Likes to overpower defenders after the catch, but does have nifty moves to elude (just doesn’t use them often) … Strong runner, especially when he catches the ball in front of the defender.

Negatives: Has excellent size and good strength, but he is not a face-up blocker and tends to shy away from contact when asked to lead block on sweeps and outside runs … Has had several problems with his left wrist that forced him to undergo mid-season surgery in 2007 and further medical evaluation is advised … Has a very fluid running stride, but is raw in his route running technique and needs to refine his plant-and-drive agility coming out of breaks (takes soft angle cuts, at times) … Also needs to show better stop-and-go action, as he will take a few false steps when trying to redirect back to the quarterback … Breaks off his routes too early when trying to get separation, and while he has a good reach he spends too much time trying to overpower press coverage defenders rather than trying to slip past and avoid … Also likes to combat with the defenders down field in attempts to get them out of their backpedal early, but it also ends up slowing down his route progression … Has had a history of concentration problems which prevents him from getting proper position to make the catch … Must do a better job of looking the ball in and securing it before trying to run with it (leads to dropped balls) … Has good leaping ability, but shows poor timing and arm extension trying to battle for jump balls (left 20 of 39 passes thrown to him behind in 2007) … More of a straight-line runner who can get under the pass nicely running straight-line routes, but lacks the loose hips to get a clean break and is more apt to break arm tackles rather than elude the defender in the open … For some reason, he failed to drop his weight and keep his feet working through pattern progression in 2007.

Compares To: ANDRE JOHNSON-Houston … While Sweed is taller than Johnson and Johnson has better separation ability, both are long striders with a good burst off the line vs. a clean release. He is quick to gobble up the cushion and get behind the defender, but he is not the most polished route runner you will find. With his size and ability to shield the ball from defenders, he does a fine job of getting to the ball in a crowd. However, he must show better concentration skills, as he has left quite a few thrown balls on the ground. When out in front of the defense, he can take the ball to the house, evident by his 20 touchdown catches. If he gets a clean bill of health leading up to the draft, he will be able to secure first-day draft status.

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