Isaiah Hodgins Overview
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 209 pounds
School: Oregon State Beavers
NFL Combine Performance Data
40-yard Dash: 4.61 Seconds
Bench Press: 9 Reps
Vertical Jump: 36.5″
Broad Jump: 10′-4″
Three-cone drill: 7.01 Seconds (sixth best among wide receivers)
20-yard shuttle: 4.12 Seconds (best among wide receivers)
Isaiah Hodgins 2020 NFL Draft Profile
Son of former NFL fullback James Hodgins, Isaiah Hodgins was viewed as a three-star recruit from ESPN.com leaving Berean Christian High School and received 15 offers upon leaving. Eight of these were from Power Five programs with two from Big Ten programs (Michigan and Nebraska). However, the California native rejected colleges such as Washington, Florida State, and Michigan, instead committing to Oregon State to play for the Beavers.
Hodgins had a quiet freshman year starting only six games but did feature in 11 games throughout the season catching at least one pass per game. Overall in his freshman year, Hodgins totaled 31 catches for 275 yards scoring two touchdowns including a game-winning score against Portland State. During his sophomore season made nine starts for the Beavers and led the team in receptions with 59 for 876 yards. Hodgins registered four 100-yard games whilst registering his first two-touchdown games against both Nevada and Colorado earning him an All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
Hodgins’ standout year in college was his most recent junior year where he caught 86 passes for 1,171 yards alongside 13 touchdown passes which becomes the second-most in a single-season at Oregon State. This would also be Hodgins’ most productive year as an Oregon State Beaver as 63 of his 86 receptions secured either a first down or a touchdown. Such a successful season placed Hodgins in Phil Steele’s All-Pac-12 first team, Associated Press All-Pac-12 First team and a Semi-Finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. With a year of eligibility remaining, Hodgins declared for the 2020 NFL draft.
Strengths
- Good height for a Wide Receiver so very useful on the outside;
- Tracks the ball extremely well when moving;
- Protects the ball when catching with his frame;
- Able to create space late when near the sideline;
- When running a fade route Hodgins doesn’t show hands till as late as possible deceiving corners;
- Very efficient when securing first downs and touchdowns;
- Solid footwork and a good route runner.
Weaknesses
- Lacks the speed to worry cornerbacks;
- Taller cornerbacks can be equal to his sideline routes;
- Struggles to win battles at the top of a route;
- Isn’t elusive or agile after the catch;
- Struggles when coming up against press coverage.
NFL Comparison: Brandon Coleman
Teams with need at Position: Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers.
Projection: 3rd-4th Round
Bottom Line
Hodgin’s obvious advantage as an NFL wide receiver would be his 6’4″ frame and ability to win the high ball both in the endzone and on a sideline route. Furthermore, producing more yards year on year in Oregon State shows that Hodgins’ career when it comes to output is on the upwards trajectory which would be attractive for most teams. Although, Hodgins doesn’t have the acceleration nor the pure speed to fly past cornerbacks like some wide receivers in this class and hasn’t yet got the ability to gain lots of yards after the catch he may have to wait his turn to become a starting receiver in the NFL. Most likely Hodgins will be on the depth chart as a wide receiver 3 or 4 straight out of the NFL draft but with improvements over his pro career he has the build to be a starter.
Main photo:
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