Chris Canaday NFL Draft Profile and Scouting Report

 

Chris Canaday Scouting Report: WR Wheeling University

 

Another day, another sleeper for the NFL Draft from your friends at DraftDive.

 

2023 NFL Draft Measurements

6’0” 190 lbs.

Chris Canaday 40 time: 4.5 (estimate)

 

Strengths

 

Hands

Chris Canaday has excellent hands, and he showcased them in a number of different ways. He’s great at high pointing the ball and catching it at its peak. It probably helps that he has a 41 inch vertical. He catches the ball with his hands away from his body naturally. This allows him to make some one handed circus catches as he reaches out for the ball. 

 

Explosiveness

I don’t know quite how he does it, but Canaday goes from catching the ball on a slant route to exploding upfield instantly. He does this even on balls he has to adjust to make the catch. I’m used to seeing receivers catch the ball and their momentum carries them into a defender. Canaday turns his hips upfield and is accelerating almost instantly. It really shows off his body control, acceleration and ability to change directions on a dime. Because of this, he averaged 16.3 yards per catch.

 

Return Ability

With Chris Canaday not only do you get a talented receiver, but a talented return man as well. Canaday averaged 25.7 yards per kick return and 8.6 yards per punt return. The explosive athleticism I previously talked about probably helps his return ability quite a bit.

 

Room To Develop

Chris Canaday has only been a receiver for three years, which I would not have guessed when watching his tape. His freshman year at Central Methodist he was a cornerback and even secured one interception. This means he can still be coached up. He clearly has elite ability but he should also be able to improve, especially with top level coaching. 

 

Chris Canaday Draft Stock

I would expect Chris Canaday to be an UDFA as of now. He could be taken on day three by a team looking for a returner, a wide receiver to coach up, or both.

 

Chris Canaday NFL Comparison

Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson. He’s a little bigger than Johnson, but they were both versatile weapons in college. They used their explosive athleticism to play either inside or outside with quick movements. They had pretty similar workout numbers, but Canaday actually outperformed Johnson in several categories.