Chiefs Cornell Powell: A True Value Wide Receiver

The Kansas City Chiefs wide out position grew in importance as Brett Veach’s announced focus were OL, LB and DL. How he targeted and filled out the needs for the OL was Job One. This offseason, each position along the offensive line was a box on the Veach checklist almost day-by-day, ending in trading for Orlando Brown Jr.. A player for RT wasn’t really a position of need, leaving only OC as a targeted role. Brett Veach checked off the box for Center with the 63rd pick in the 2nd round by drafting Creed Humphrey, even though he had signed FA Austin Blythe. Preceding Humphrey, was LB Nick Bolton, who projects as the future inside man calling the plays for the front end group at the Mike position, in the middle the base 4-3 set. Veach had already signed DT Jarran Reed in Free Agency, so other positions rose in import during he draft.

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WR Emerges as a Draft Need and Target

The WR Position having emerged as a targeted position, found Brett Veach selecting Clemson WR Cornell Powell in Round Five, Pick 181. My title suggests that Powell is a “Value” Pick. Let me explain why this is so.

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At Clemson, Powell was sitting behind established receivers on a top ACC team. He had not been able to show-case what he cold do. Suddenly players were injured and Powell was inserted into the lineup. His stats show the explosion which relates to his talent. Once Cornell had the opportunity, he grabbed it and excelled. He never complained, he just worked hard to be in the right shape of body and mind to take advantage of what happened.

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Outsiders who evaluate the draft pick will observe that Powell’s selection is an addition to the WR group which boasts wide outs Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle, not to mention TE Travis Kelce and the capable RB who is adept and skilled in the aerial game, observing that Powell is another tool in the toolshed. While that is true, Powell will have an immediate effect as a contributor on the team. First of all, he will demonstrate his prowess on special teams and also he will get varied and assundry spot insertions in games as a receiver. In other words, not only will he make the 53-man roster, but will have the opportunity to make a splash and be a dynamic player, the kind of WR that Brett Veach drafted.

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Not being inside the coaching crew for the Chiefs, I cannot say exactly how the above notion will unveil itself. I am confident it will happen in 2021. Nor can I say how and why Veach decided Powell was the powerful pick in round five. I can interpret, however, why he was selected by watching game film. Here are the factors:

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• Brett Veach knew that the Chiefs lost a meaningful player to game-play. That player was Sammy Watkins whose speed was top notch, his route running superb, he ranked well in YAC and blocked downfield with a mission to spring fellow receivers. Sammy departed and no WR on the roster filled the skillset that Watkins had on this team.
• I had anticipated who the potential WR’s in the 2021 class were players who could fit that role — and in doing so I was specifically seeking such players as Sammy Watkins.
• The player chosen in the preparation for the draft were those who were not recognized as any in the top 10 because Brett Veach would be using a later pick to fill the missing piece and fitting that player to the mission.
• Veach didn’t worry about player ranking, per se, he worried about fit and the missing ingredient.

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As I observed about many WR’s who might be selected in round 3 and later, this draft was very deep for the position. I had posited as my first pick in the draft as Terrace Marshall who was drafted 46th by the Patriots out of LSU. I knew he would be out of reach for round 4 which is where my conjecture informed me that Brett Veach would be finding a fit. Another player was Tylan Wallace (Okla. St) and a 3rd was Nico Collins (Michigan), and so on. By the time round four rolled in other targets of my attention were selected including Amari Rodgers (Clemson, fellow WR to Powell) who was selected by Green Bay in the 3rd. I still had players that I liked, such as Austin Watkins (UAB) was still available but he fell in the 4th round so my list ran thin. I didn’t anticipate Powell. It was only after it was all said and done that I began to dig in and see why he was Brett Veach’s fit for WR. Keep in mind, the Chiefs need and the player profile that I believe they were looking for was the athleticism and skills of Sammy Watkins as they were deployed in the Chiefs offense. I did not myself anticipate Cornell Powell as being the Brett Veach player of choice. He wasn’t really on my radar. Nor do I think other teams saw Powell either.

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Finding Cornell Powell

Cornell Powell was at Clemson for all four years of his collegiate athletic participation — but he had to red-shirt his sophomore year due to grades so 2020, he was a 5th year Senior, playing behind some top level talent including Amari Rodgers but also Justyn Ross as another example. In fact, PFF goes on to state that if it had not been for the injury to Ross, Powell might have gone undrafted. Things for Powell came to a focus as a Senior when he was inserted as a starting WR last fall. Keep in mind these numbers are not from a full season’s tally as he was not a starter at the beginning. From that point on, he truly emerged making 53 catches for 882 yards and although he wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the season either, he earned it.

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At the Clemson Pro Day, Powell truly achieved national attention. When interviewed he observed for the press when asked about his experience at Clemson and the gaudy numbers he put up that day:

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“That just goes back to my core values and who I am as a man…. you know I’m always a team first guy, team before self, but also I never wanted to run from a challenge. I knew that I was good enough to play on this level, good enough to play against the best of the best… I just put my head down and worked. You know, sometimes the goal or the journey is more fulfilling when you work for it and when you earn it, when you grind.”

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I use Possession Receiver, Craig uses “X” WR. Point should be taken that all the above attributes that Craig provides are what I am writing about when I write about Powell. Daniel Harms wrote about Cornell Powell in a tweet on February 24th saying:

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“The curious case of Cornell Powell… why did it take so long for him to break out? He averaged 120 yards PER GAME over the last six games of the season and showed off some superb route running. Small sample size, but possible late round stud?”

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Daniel Harms nailed it in February and I wasn’t listening. I wrote him back and said that’s always been my problem. Daniel wrote back and said, “Both ex-wives told me, you don’t hear good and don’t listen good neither.”

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Pro Day Numbers:

• Height: 6-foot-2, 204 lbs.
• 40 yards: 4.47 — 2.69 split
• Vertical: 36.5″
• Broad Jump: 10-foot-8″
• Bench: 16 Reps — 225 lbs.
• 3-cone: 4.53 — Note: Amari Rogers had a 4.51

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Cornell Powell played top notch football at the Sugar Bowl vs OSU and like what I saw.

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I appreciate many aspects about Powell, the young man and his attitude towards the game. One of them is his quote about what and whom he modeled his play after:

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“I try to take a lot from a lot of different guys. Keenan Allen’s route running, Stefon Diggs savviness, Davante Adams footwork, DK Metcalf’s physicality on runs and Nuk’s (DeAndre Hopkins) hands. Man he just catches everything, but his hands goes back to what we preach at Clemson, making the 50/50 balls 80/20, and when you can do that you can separate yourself.”

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For me, this says a bunch about the type of player Powell intends to be and how he worked for it this past season. Take for example a single play and his route running ability on that play. Powell is scary enough with his game speed, but view what he did in the play versus CB Shaun Wade, who was drafted by the Ravens:

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Cornell Powell shows smooth controlled route execution plus a double move. He doesn’t let passes get into his body as he does here, using his hands while getting ready to make a move on Wade (if they were on a basketball court, they’d call that an ankle breaking move), showing off his run after catch ability. I like Powell a lot and these skills show up consistently when you watch his tape.

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You can also watch his Clemson Highlights here:

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Powell had emerged as a top route runner and this can be seen in an analysis of Powell’s Senior Bowl Practice tape, by First Down Sports. Note the sweep of his hands to fend off any attempt by the defender to hold him up at the line of scrimmage.

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Here’s an interview of Cornell Powell after he was drafted by the Chiefs. Powell says in the interview by KC area journalists —“The Ultimate goal is to win Super Bowls” — note he uses the plural in this remark:

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What Does A True Value Pick Mean?

Powell is a chiseled player who has potential to reach great heights in the NFL. As a 5th round pick, he can be expected to gradually emerge or, he could, as many late choices do, sparkle and then fizzle. I don’t expect that to be the case, in fact I insist it won’t be. He stuck it out at Clemson when he could have opted out and gone to another school to get more opportunity, but Powell was steeped in the Clemson tradition. He was a late bloomer, but the blossom was large and wonderful. From every thing that I examined about Cornell Powell, it is my belief that once he has the playbook firmly imbedded in his brain, he’ll excel. He plays the game as a tough competitor so he should fulfill the need for a true Possession Receiver. I look forward to this prediction coming to fruition and believe we’ll see Powell show flashes in 2021. How much more and how much greater his ability to succeed is the only question that I really have.

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Could Cornell Powell be the

Sterling Sharpe of the Chiefs?

J P Priester at SI.com wrote an article called, “Cornell Powell Draws Sterling Sharpe Comparison” and in it he explains,

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“Clemson’s Associate AD of Football and head coach Dabo Swinney’s right hand man, told Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy last summer to keep an eye out for Powell in 2020. “I have to give Woody McCorvey, Coach McCorvey there at Clemson a lot of credit,” Nagy said. “He put Cornell on our radar last summer and said ‘Listen, Jim, this is a guy, he hasn’t played a lot for us yet, but he’s really talented, we believe in him. We think he’s gonna have a breakout year.'” … ‘You hear a lot of player comps right now. Woody had the best one. He said, ‘Jim, this guy’s Sterling Sharpe to me.’ You don’t hear that many Sterling Sharpe references these days.'”

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Nagy also tweeted about Powell, “So this is what a draft Sleeper looks like.” (Photo accompanying Nagy’s tweet)

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“It looks like Cornell Powell hasn’t

had a carb in a decade”

-PFF

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One more on Cornell Powell. From a tweet by Marc Poust@fatpoust·Mar 11

(Editor’s Note: This Tweet was edited due to it’s vulgar language,

but the paragraph is included as is the video).

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“While Etienne getting up to 215lbs snatches the headline, Cornell Powell running 4.47 built like a brick sk*thouse is equally intriguing. Flashing his athleticism and route-running savviness at the Senior Bowl, Powell’s best football has yet to come.”

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Here at ArrowheadOne, I am buying it. Proof? I offer you 6 consecutive games with 120 yards or more. I offer you a 16.6 yards per catch rate in his senior year. I offer you his 3-TD performance at the Sugar Bowl, against Ohio State no less. My cards are on the table and I am making my bet that –> “Cornell Powell Goes Wild in 2021.” Right here, right now!

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What do you say? What do you think?

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David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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