Dante Pettis – Wide Receiver, Washington
For most college football fans, they’ll remember Dante Pettis for his punt returning more than his ability to play receiver. Though that will be a part of his value to NFL teams, I think he can develop into a good receiver as well.
Pettis has the quickness and top-notch route running to become a perfect slot receiver in the pros. When you watch him, you see a guy who is fluid in his movements with a feel for the position that you can’t teach.
He doesn’t win with big-time speed, but he is tough to tackle with the ball in his hands. While at Washington, Pettis broke the Pac-12 record for punt return touchdowns with nine. I see no reason Pettis can’t translate his vision and elusiveness to the pros.
Pettis will need to get stronger to be able to consistently beat physical corners in the NFL. He’ll also need to prove that his inconsistent play at Washington was not solely on him. At Washington, he had one of the better quarterbacks in the Pac-12 in Jake Browning, and he would be getting an even better quarterback in Derek Carr.
I think Pettis is the perfect player to replace Seth Roberts in the slot. Pettis is currently projected as a day three pick by Draftwire, and could go as early as the third round. If the Raiders cannot get another wideout to come to Oakland via free agency, this is a position group they are going to be all over in April.