{"id":86497,"date":"2020-04-23T15:19:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T19:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=86497"},"modified":"2021-03-20T08:56:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T12:56:53","slug":"james-proche-2020-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/04\/23\/james-proche-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"James Proche 2020 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>James Proche Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Position: <\/strong>Wide Receiver<br \/>\n<strong>Height: <\/strong>5\u2019-11\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Weight: <\/strong>201 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School: <\/strong>SMU<\/p>\n<p><strong>NFL Combine Performance Data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bench Press: <\/strong>20 reps<br \/>\n<strong>Vertical Jump: <\/strong>34.5\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>3 Cone Drill: <\/strong>7.27 seconds<br \/>\n<strong>20 Yard Shuttle: <\/strong>4.4 seconds<\/p>\n<h2>James Proche 2020 NFL Draft Profile<\/h2>\n<p>After seeing his role grow during each and every last season of his collegiate career, wide receiver <strong>James Proche<\/strong> hopes to take his game to the NFL level. The 5\u2019-11\u201d, 201-pound slot receiver is coming off the most productive season of his career, recording 111 receptions on 164 targets for 1,231 yards and 15 touchdowns. Each one of the aforementioned stats was a career-high, as was his 901 offensive snaps.<\/p>\n<p>Proche initially joined the college football ranks as a three-star recruit. After receiving interesting from multiple top programs, the Texas native eventually agreed to join SMU. Despite being physically capable of contributing out of the gate, Proche had to redshirt in 2015 thanks to academic ineligibility. In 2016, he returned to the field and caught 59 receptions for 721 yards and six touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Proche continued his statistical climb in 2017, recording 40 receptions on 60 targets for 816 yards, six touchdowns, and 20.4 yards-per-reception. He topped that as a redshirt junior, catching 93 passes on 143 targets for 1,199 yards and 12 touchdowns.<\/p>\n<h3>Strengths<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Contested catch specialist with great hands;<\/li>\n<li>Will fearlessly go after the football with seemingly no care for his own well-being;<\/li>\n<li>Plays quicker on tape than his NFL Combine performance would indicate;<\/li>\n<li>Steady improvement during every collegiate season;<\/li>\n<li>Good double move to fake out defenders;<\/li>\n<li>Can create separation in the short portion of the field.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Overall athleticism might not be good enough for the NFL;<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t break many tackles or make plays after the catch;<\/li>\n<li>Struggles to overcome press coverage;<\/li>\n<li>Overall route tree could be improved;<\/li>\n<li>Projects exclusively in the slot at the next level;<\/li>\n<li>Didn\u2019t face great competition and couldn\u2019t overcome the good defenses he did face.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison: <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><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With Need at Position: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/patriots\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New England Patriots<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/eagles\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/packers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Green Bay Packers<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Jets<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/colts\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Indianapolis Colts<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/broncos\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Denver Broncos<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Bills<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Projection: <\/strong>Round 6\/7<\/p>\n<h3>Bottom Line on James Proche<\/h3>\n<p>James Proche is an interesting late-round option that has a chance to stick around the league for a couple of years. Most don\u2019t expect a 5\u2019-11\u201d, 201-pound receiver to win too many jump balls, but Proche\u2019s great ball skills allowed him to outmuscle cornerbacks at the point of attack. He\u2019s not afraid to take a hit over the middle and holds on to just about anything that hits his hands. He got better each and every season of his collegiate career, which implies that he hasn\u2019t yet reached his ceiling. His route running isn\u2019t perfect, but he can get himself open in the short part of the field and can take the top off the defense with his double move.<\/p>\n<p>However, he has a lot to overcome if he wants to make it in the NFL. Proche isn\u2019t the best athlete, and his lack of natural skill showed up against elite college competition. Needless to say, this isn\u2019t going to get better at the NFL level. Because he struggles to beat press coverage, he\u2019s basically limited to the slot at the NFL level. Additionally, he\u2019s not a threat after the catch and probably needs to be an elite route runner in order to overcome the physical limitations of his game. He\u2019s not there yet, and a year or two on the practice squad might be best for his long-term NFL hopes.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"ys1nywkJQUpKQxj1uJbHqA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1217688344\" 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:'ys1nywkJQUpKQxj1uJbHqA',sig:'40-2_ofuzE1VzJgNwUCTvL2cbAjpRW0pIVQcmJ008ic=',w:'594px',h:'446px',items:'1217688344',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>After spending his collegiate career at SMU, wide receiver James Proche hopes to bring his game to the professional level in the 2020 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":86498,"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],"tags":[5273],"class_list":["post-86497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2020-nfl-draft"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86497","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\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}