Wide Receiver Without a Weakness: Michael Gallup – Colorado State

I googled the phrase ‘pet cat’ to find a definition of the slang term because people use it a lot in the draft world and it applies to Michael Gallup for me.  I couldn’t find a definition so I’m going to make one up.

Pet cat – noun (I think?) – a person the world isn’t talking enough about, that Jeff is a huge fan of.  Or something like that.

Michael Gallup is my pet cat in the 2018 NFL Draft so far.  He’s a wide receiver at Colorado State and he doesn’t really have a weakness in his game.  Big enough to play the big receiver game, quick enough to play the small receiver game, good after the catch ability to make guys miss and to run through them.  What more do you want?

He’s a fit for what the Cowboys need to add to their receiver room.  They need guys who have a varied skill set that won’t be pigeonholed in to a role where they’re only going to run a limited number of routes. They also need guys that can create separation for Dak Prescott with their ability to run said routes from any alignment.  Gallup does that.  Screens, slants, posts, back shoulder fades, outs, stops, double moves etc.  He’s got the full route tree.

The people demand gifs, so I bring you gifs to see the guy play a little bit.  Here’s Gallup in screen game showing you balance, burst and after catch ability.

Here’s a look at not being bothered by contact in his route or at the point of the catch.

And a gander at body control and an easy win on a back shoulder ball putting himself between corner and football.

Some guys have what I call ‘easy hands’.  It’s shows up quickly on tape when a guy can pluck the ball naturally and he’s not having to fight to catch the football.  Gallup has some of the easiest hands in this class.  He can finish with one hand, he can win on jump balls and he catches through contact.  There’s a whole lot to like.

He wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school and was a junior college for two years before transferring to Colorado state and putting up these numbers:  76 catches for 1,272 yards with 14 touchdowns two years ago, 100 catches for 1,418 yard and 7 touchdowns this past season.  The production is there.  And his quarterback didn’t exactly help him out.

The measurables for Michael Gallup via the Senior Bowl:

Height: 6007 (6 feet, 7/8 of an inch)

Weight: 198

Estimated 40 time: 4.52

Strengths:

• Very good route runner.  Going to be able to run the full route tree.
• After catch, can make guys miss some and also has power to finish plays and gain extra yards.
• Incredibly easy hands catcher.
• Catch radius is large for his size.  Can catch the ball away from his frame high, low and behind him.
• Burst in the screen game.
• Able to high point the ball down the field.
• Can manipulate speeds and set up corners in his routes.
• Contact at the catch point doesn’t bother him at all.  He’ll catch it while getting hit.
• Body control is a plus; he showcases it on balls up high and on the back shoulder throws.
• Creates separation on the back shoulder with hand usage at the top of the route.
• Can line up inside and out.
• Balance through traffic and would be tacklers.

Weaknesses:

• I saw some plays against Alabama where he struggled against press coverage.  Other snaps did a nice job getting releases but I have to nitpick that game because it’s the best competition he faced.
• Level of competition.  Majority of his tape is against players that won’t be playing on Sundays.
• Athleticism is something I’ll be curious to see at the combine, but he looks pretty solid athletically on tape.

He’s really a player without a weakness that I can point to.  The only question is which trait you can point to as a reason he’s going to be great in the NFL.  He’s good at everything; but before I decide what round grade I’ll put on him, I’ll need to see the final piece of the evaluation: seeing him against good competition at the Senior Bowl and his testing numbers at the combine. At the lowest, that grade will be round two.  I’m dreaming of the Cowboys  …….Gallup’ing up to the podium and picking him with one of their picks.

Editor’s Note: Jeff is going to be made to apologize for this pun in an article coming soon to The Upset Sports. You can hear Jeff on 105.3 The Fan from 10am-3pm as part of the GBag Nation.