{"id":112260,"date":"2021-04-27T16:45:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T20:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=112260"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:04:13","slug":"rico-bussey-2021-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/04\/27\/rico-bussey-2021-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 NFL Draft: Rico Bussey Player Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Rico Bussey NFL Draft Overview<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Position:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Wide Receiver<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Height: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a06\u2019-0\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Weight: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">186 pounds<br \/>\n<\/span><b>School:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Hawaii<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>2021 NFL Draft Profile: Rico Bussey<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One solid season in college can really create buzz surrounding NFL draft prospects. Rico Bussey declares for the NFL Draft after three seasons at North Texas, then transferring to Hawaii. Bussey\u2019s 2018 tape has flashes of brilliance, but after a serious injury and lackluster senior campaign, Bussey aims to get back to 2018 form if he\u2019s to be successful in the NFL<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A true freshman in 2016, Bussey caught eight passes for 97 yards and one touchdown in six games. Despite still not starting in 2017, Bussey displayed a pattern of production logging 47 receptions, 677 yards, and seven touchdowns in 13 contests. Bussey broke out for North Texas in 2018 amassing 1017 yards on 68 receptions, 12 going for scores. His touchdown total was fifth in the FBS that year. An ACL tear ruined his 2019 season, and soon after Bussey found himself in a Hawaii jersey. Playing for the Rainbow Warriors in 2020, Bussey lost a step from 2018 only notching 31 catches for 274 yards and a lone touchdown.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Strengths<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vertical upside &#8211; as seen in 2018 tape;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Very smooth, sharp cuts;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually eludes first tackler;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gets physical when pressed;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Turns upfield as soon as the catch is made;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Weaknesses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Declined after a serious ACL injury;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Average hands;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thin route tree;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anchors at end of route &#8211; doesn\u2019t return to quarterback;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Has trouble tracking deep balls with eyes;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>NFL Comparison<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HumpAd00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Humphries<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Teams With Need at Position<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/packers\/\" target=\"_self\">Green Bay Packers<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/ravens\/\" target=\"_self\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/saints\/\" target=\"_self\">New Orleans Saints<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Jets<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/lions\/\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Lions,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/giants\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Giants<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Projection<\/strong>: Undrafted Free Agent<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bottom Line on Rico Bussey<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Showcasing his talents at two different schools, Bussey is hoping that his 2018 tape speaks to coaches and that he can return to that form. When healthy, Bussey has skills to be an all purpose pass catcher. His route running seems to be smooth and he breaks tackles at the second level. Bussey may be under 200 pounds, but plays against the press physically. The Hawaii prospect is always looking upfield once he has the ball in his hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The elephant in the room is whether or not Bussey returns to his 2018 form where he shined at North Texas. His production may have been inflated by lack of talent in the conference. A thin route tree exposes Bussey at the NFL level. His skill set is just short of meeting an NFL standard. Coaches may also not like his affinity for catching with his body. Bussey doesn\u2019t always return to the quarterback if the route breaks either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A true boom or bust prospect, Bussey could land on a roster really late in the draft. He is slated to be undrafted, but scouts could see his 2018 tape and feel as if that production could happen again. Teams with thin depth at receiver may reach for Bussey in round seven. The <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/steelers\/\" target=\"_self\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> are a team that drafts receivers throughout seven rounds and invests in the youth. If Bussey goes undrafted all is not lost, teams could give him a call during camps or midseason.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Receiver is seemingly abundant every draft, and Bussey will need to stand out in a packed group to become a pro.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"3eZgnZTWSzNVo280s1fMpw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1230097406\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'3eZgnZTWSzNVo280s1fMpw',sig:'SPFp1McsG33FBTgWvys-96epnt2keTfgHq6d3aIR4zE=',w:'594px',h:'394px',items:'1230097406',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2021 NFL Draft Player Profile: Rico Bussey: One solid season in college can really create buzz surrounding NFL draft prospects. Rico Bussey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3849,"featured_media":112321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,33760],"tags":[2030,8211],"class_list":["post-112260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-profiles","tag-nfl-draft-profiles","tag-rico-bussey"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246829,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112260\/revisions\/246829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}