PFF scouting report: Shaq Washington, WR, Cincinnati

Below is the PFF draft profile for Cincinnati’s Shaq Washington, which incorporates PFF’s college grades and scouting intel from our team of analysts. To see all of PFF’s 2016 scouting reports, click here.

Position fit:

Slot receiver; 763 of his 768 snaps came from the slot in 2015.

Stats to know:

At +23.5, he had the fifth-highest receiving grade of all receivers in this draft class.

What he does best:

• Good hands; dropped just three passes from 92 catchable targets in 2015, after dropping eight from 74 in 2014.

• Quick footwork; saw 18 receptions on quick screens in 2015, averaging 6.1 yards after the catch on those receptions.

• Forced 15 missed tackles on 66 receptions in 2014. Dropped to nine from 89 in 2015, but we've seen the ability in flashes.

• Graded at +3.1 against Power-5 opposition in Miami (Florida) in Week 5, racking up 106 yards on eight receptions.

• Caught 78 percent of the passes thrown his way on quick outs, utilizing his quickness out of the slot.

Biggest concerns:

• Slot-only player. Size limited him, and he was bullied by stronger corners at times. This impacted usage too, and he caught just five passes on go-routes all year.

• Despite ability to make people miss, he wasn't a game-breaker in 2015. Had one reception on 46 yards, but only one other catch of 30 yards or more.

• Potentially even limited to quick, short passes in the slot. Caught just 62 percent of the passes thrown his way on crossing routes, so going across the middle isn't necessarily a recipe for success.

• Yards per route run average from the slot was just 10th amongst receivers in this draft class.

Bottom line:

Washington isn't the only “slot-only” receiver in this draft class, and while he had success on short quick passes, his overall production out of the slot doesn't exactly wow us. Given that he generally didn't have to face the toughest competition, it was disappointing to see him rank 10th in yards per route run from the slot, something which hurts his value given his only role at the next level is likely to come from the slot.