Eagles Rookie Scouting Report: Getting to know Shelton Gibson

The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Shelton Gibson in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. In order to learn more about the new Eagles wide receiver, I reached out to SB Nation's West Virginia blog: The Smoking Musket. Mountaineers writer Jake Lantz was kind enough to answer my questions about Gibson.

1) Can you sum up what his college career was like?

Disappointing. Shelton was a 4-star burner out of Ohio and given his speed [4.3s] you would have expected him to break 1,000 yards. He never did though not all of that is his fault. He was playing with Skyler Howard. I don't want to diss Howard because by all accounts he was a hard worker, tough as nails kid who laid it all out every time he played. But Skyler was inaccurate on the intermediate throws and often threw the ball 50 yards high to get it 40 yards downfield. Shelton had every defensive back beat but often had to wait for the ball to come down which limited his yardage. Had Gibson waited a year to come out, there’s no doubt that he would have put up better numbers with Will Grier throwing the ball to him.

2) What are his strengths?

Speed and ball awareness. When the deep ball is thrown, Shelton is going to get the ball. He outran every defensive back in the country when he played. Teams often shaded a safety to him and he still got by them. He is great at tracking the ball over his shoulder. He shows good body awareness to get his feet down while making tough sideline catches.

3) What are his weaknesses?

He struggles with catching the ball against his body on short throws. He dropped more than he should have on curls and comeback routes.

4) Are you surprised where he was drafted? Higher or lower than expected? Just right?

I thought with his speed he might have gone in the 4th round. He ran poorly at the combine and that probably hurt him more than his pro day helped him. I know every year there are guys who are burners but I thought that Gibson displayed enough football skills that he would go higher than the 5th round.

5) How do you see his NFL career playing out?

4th receiver. I think he will be a special teams player for a year or two and see the field sparingly. He will probably break 100 yards once or twice on 2 or 3 catches. I would not expect him to see a second contract.

6) Anything to know about him off the field?

Gibson didn't have any off the field issues. He was never suspended at WVU and there were no reports that he was a problem to the coaches or players.