Louisville football: 5 players who could be drafted in 2021 NFL Draft

Tutu Atwell – WR

Junior 

When you look across the board in the 2020 NFL draft, one thing that stands out is the sheer amount of wide receivers being selected in the first round. Six of the first 22 players taken were pass-catchers.

Though this has proven to be the exception and not the norm, there is certainly an emphasis in the modern NFL on having electric playmakers out wide and airing it out.

Additionally, there’s no such thing as a prototype NFL wide receiver anymore, as we’ve seen in the last two drafts. The Ravens took game-changer Marquise “Hollywood” Brown with their first pick in 2019, and in 2020 Henry Ruggs III was the first receiver off the board and Ceedee Lamb went soon after. That’s three small, speedy, sure-handed wide receivers that have gone in the first round in a two year span.

The NFL is beginning to value speed at the skill positions as much as imposing size, and that is music to Chatarius “Tutu” Atwell’s ears. The 5’9,” 155-pound speedster out of Miami Northwestern is small in stature, but he’s a force to be reckoned with in the field as an all-around threat.

Atwell’s size hardly matters (at least on the college level) because his in-game speed is so ridiculous and his route running is so methodical. He set the single-season receiving yards record for Louisville football in 2019, and if things go as planned, he could very well end up near that number again in 2020. Starting quarterback Micale Cunningham is back in the fold, and Atwell is primed to tear through the ACC as one of the country’s premier deep-ball threats.

Five years ago, Atwell is a four-year player regardless, but times are changing and he could very well be an enticing choice for some NFL squads in search of playmakers.

One recurring theme with the players on this list is that a lot of them will have questions about size, especially Atwell. Most receivers in the NFL these days range from the 5’10-6’4 range in height while hovering around 180-210 pounds. Clearly, Atwell falls underneath that range at 155 pounds, and many may wonder whether his size would allow him to hold up for the course of a full season as he’s likely to take some big hits playing in the slot.

However, with his ability to line up anywhere on the field (backfield, slot, X/Y spots, even at QB) and his speed – my guess is there will be plenty of teams lining up to draft Atwell. Also, don’t be shocked to see Atwell come close to breaking the NFL’s fastest 40-Yard Dash at the Combine (should he declare), currently owned by Bengals receiver John Ross.

Atwell will have an extremely tough decision to make at the conclusion of the 2020 season. While he’ll likely have another record-setting season at Louisville, his size is going to be a question mark to a lot of GM’s & scouts, and it could cause him to fall. While many receivers would just come back for another season, something that could be an option for Atwell, his size won’t be changing, regardless of his production. That means he’ll have to weigh whether coming back to school for another season will improve his stock or if he’s better off to go after back-to-back monster seasons.