The Baltimore Ravens selected Devin Duvernay, Wide Receiver, out of the University of Texas. He was the 30th pick in the third round and was the 16th wide receiver drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Biography
Devin Duvernay is 5’11” and 200 pounds. He played four years at Texas and will be 22 years old at the beginning of the 2020 NFL season. Duvernay, a track star in high school, was originally committed to Baylor, but committed to Texas after the school’s sexual assault scandal. He is the cousin of @ff_spaceman crush Kyler Murray. While at Texas, Duvernay endured some poor quarterback play at times.
College Production
Devin Duvernay broke out at the age of 22 (age during their first season with a 20% receiving dominator rating) in his final season for the Longhorns. In his breakout campaign, Duvernay had 106 receptions, for 1,386 receiving yards, and ten scrimmage touchdowns for a receiving dominator rating (average percentage of their team’s receiving yards and receiving touchdowns) of 32.5% (52nd percentile). Duvernay had modest age-adjusted production by averaging 625.5 scrimmage yards (50th percentile) and 4.3 scrimmage touchdowns (39th percentile) per season throughout his career in Austin. He finally emerged in his last season and raised his average scrimmage dominator rating (average percentage of their team’s scrimmage yards and scrimmage touchdowns) per season to 9.2% (33rd percentile). Duvernay was underwhelming from an efficiency perspective as well and averaged 0.64 scrimmage yards per team play (42nd percentile). Duvernay occasionally returned kicks in college. He had 26 returns, for 550 return yards, and zero return touchdowns.
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Athleticism
[profiler]DevinDuvernay[/profiler]
Devin Duvernay has an excellent height-adjusted speed score of 104.7 (81st percentile) after running a 4.39-second 40-yard time at the NFL Combine. He has an average burst score of 121.9 (55th percentile) and a slightly below-average agility score of 11.33 (37th percentile). Duvernay is a speed wide receiver that can play from the slot and will need to rely on his speed in the NFL.
NFL Landing Spot
Baltimore Ravens: Quarterback Lamar Jackson took a huge step forward in 2019, honing his downfield passing in the offseason and finishing with a third best passer rating of 113.3. In a related development, Bill Polian is currently out of the NFL. The 2019 Ravens were simply great, finishing as the NFL’s best offense on the back of Jackson, Mark Ingram and Mark Andrews. The Ravens ran the seventh most plays, but threw a league lowest 44% of the time. For context, the next run heavy team was the 49ers, who still passed on 50.8% of their plays. Second year tight end Mark Andrews broke out with a team high 98 targets. This was the fifth highest target count amongst tight ends and propelled him to finish as the TE4. First round pick Marquise Brown showed his potential, but was injured for a lot of the season. Despite those limitations, he still managed a 16% target share. But beyond these two, no other player had 50 or more targets. Willie Snead and Miles Boykin sit behind Brown on the depth chart. Boykin is a rookie who profiles as someone with potential. Despite the lack of passing production, a stat worth noting is that the Ravens targeted their RBs the least of any team in football. Andrews will remain a favorite of Jackson’s, proven by the Ravens trading away the higher draft capital Hayden Hurst, and Brown is an unbelievable deep threat, but there is ample room for a receiver who can dominate short and intermediate routes to come in and carve out a nice piece for themselves.
Rivals’ Rapid Analysis
Devin Duvernay is a speed wide receiver that can also do a lot of damage after the catch. While he had below-average age-adjusted production, Duvernay did put up big numbers in his final season. It will be interesting to see how his speed and burst translate against NFL level competition. The Ravens invested third round draft capital into Duvernay. He has a good degree of opportunity and will compete with Andrews, Brown and Boykin for targets from Jackson.
Devin Duvernay is in Dave’s fourth wide receiver tier, his WR16-WR19 depending on landing spots, and his 30th-33rd rookie overall. Dave would target Duvernay in the mid-late-third round of superflex rookie drafts (mid-third-round in single QB). Duvernay is a fast wide-receiver that fits in with the vertical offense Greg Roman is running in Baltimore. He had modest production in college, great speed and burst, combined with a landing spot with not a lot of competition. However, Baltimore is not a very high volume offense. Duvernay slots in as a boom-bust type wide receiver. If the second and third tier of running backs are off the board, he’s an appropriate flier at the end of the third round in dynasty rookie drafts.
Devin Duvernay is in Shawn’s fourth wide receiver tier, Shawns WR15, and Shawn’s Overall Rookie Rank 24. Shawn would target Duvernay in early-to-mid third round in superflex rookie drafts (early third round Round in single QB). Duvernay isn’t the most exciting prospect. His lack of production prior to his senior year is a major cause of concern. But the fact remains that Duvernay possesses a great skill set for this offense. A track athlete, Duvernay can break away and provide an explosive element to an already fast-paced offense. Red flags and excitement aside, the bottom line is that Duvernay just landed in a spot that has plenty of opportunity. Andrews should remain the primary pass catcher, and sophomore receiver Marquise Brown should see an expanded role as he (hopefully) logs a healthy season. Yes, this isn’t a team that throws a lot. But behind Andrews and Brown sits very little. Snead is a role player at best and is out after this season. 2019 pick Boykin didn’t show much last year. Duvernay has the tools and opportunity to slide into the WR2 role for this team, earning some fantasy viability as a fringe WR3/WR4.
This article was written in collaboration with Shawn Kennedy. For more analysis check out Dave and Shawn’s previous articles at Dynasty Football Factory. Additionally, you can also find Dave’s dynasty superflex rankings at Dynasty Football Factory. Stay tuned for more rookie wide receiver rapid reaction articles from us throughout the entire NFL Draft. We will also give you instant reactions for priority UDFA wide receivers to help you try and find the next Adam Thielen. Interact with Dave and Shawn on Twitter @ff_spaceman and @ff_walrus. You can listen to our rivalry on our podcast @ATaleofTwoRivals with @ff_banterman.
Information found in this article was gathered from @ff_spaceman’s College Prospect Database, PlayerProfiler.com, Sports-Reference.com, AirYards.com, and a prospect’s college team website.
