The Cleveland have selected former Michigan Wolverines wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones in the sixth round with the 187th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Peoples-Jones is the seventh Wolverine to come off the board this weekend with Cesar Ruiz (1st round, New Orleans), Josh Uche (2nd round, New England), Ben Bredeson (4th round, Baltimore), Khaleke Hudson (5th round, Washington), Mike Danna (5th round, Kansas City) and Michael Onwenu (6th round, Patriots) preceding him.
Peoples-Jones was a five-star prospect and the nation’s top wide receiver prospect in the 2017 class. He was a key contributor in all three of his seasons in Ann Arbor, playing in 37 career games and making 26 starts. DPJ was a Freshman All-American as a punter returner and a two-time All-Big Ten honoree as both a wideout and punt returner, as well. He finished his Michigan career with 2,155 all-purpose yards and 16 touchdowns with 14 of them of the receiving variety.
Overview (full scouting report here):
One of the first things that gets brought up when Peoples-Jones is discussed is how he never quite fulfilled his potential at Michigan. A lot of people seem to take that as calling him a bust, but this is a skilled talent that still has his best football ahead of him. Coming out of high school, DPJ was a track star that played football. His freshman season at Michigan was filled with ups and downs, but he took off his second year with Jim McElwain as his position coach at wide receiver. Injuries and a new offense caused him to start slow this past season, but he still was able to fight through it.
This is a player that is going to stick in the league and it would not be a surprise to see him as a better pro than a college player. At the very least, this might be a guy that you can run some gadget plays for in addition to being a good returner, a la Cordarrelle Patterson. Until he proves he can beat press coverage, it might be a case where he is a big slot receiver at the next level. His ceiling depends on the system he winds up in and the player development program, but might be a player like Marvin Jones of the Detroit Lions as a high-end No. 2 wide receiver.
The 2020 NFL Draft takes place all weekend with the first round on Thursday (8 p.m. ET), second and third rounds on Friday (7 p.m. ET) and fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday (12 p.m. ET).