Indianapolis Colts: Deon Cain’s impact as a rookie?

The Indianapolis Colts may have gotten a steal in the 2018 NFL Draft as Deon Cain fell to them in Round 6 as he can be an impact player right away.

The Indianapolis Colts wanted to add a receiver in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft to potentially help quarterback Andrew Luck down the road. They did so in selecting Deon Cain out of Clemson.

During Cain’s three year career with the Tigers in college, he averaged 680 yards receiving, 15.7 yards per catch, and seven touchdowns per season.. These were not gaudy numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but solid to say the least.

Throughout his time at Clemson, the Tigers used Cain in a variety of ways in their explosive offense. One was the vertical route as Cain constantly burned opposing defensive backs down the field.

On the play seen below, Cain displays excellent quickness as he is able to kick into gear and gain separation on the cornerback down the field.

While Cain displays a great ability to outrun a receiver downfield, he is also capable of making the 50-50 grab. On this play here, Cain shows that he is able to box out the defensive back like a power forward and still come down with the ball (first seven seconds).

On additional plays, Cain showed that he can be an asset in the screen game as he excels when the ball is in his hand in open space. Along with this, he is able to make contested catches when he’s thrown into such situations (at the 59-second mark of the linked clip).

Next: NFL 2018: One breakout candidate for each team

Heading into training camp, look for Cain to compete for the third wide receiver spot on the Colts depth chart. If he shows the offensive staff his great capabilities as a wideout, he has a great opportunity to find playing time in this offense and connect with Andrew Luck on a few passes.