Dynasty Rookie Spotlight: Ricardo Louis, WR Cleveland Browns

Rookie Spotlight: Ricardo Louis, WR Cleveland Browns

Height: 6’2″
Weight: 215 Pounds
Hands- 9 1/2″
Bench Press- 18 reps
Vertical Jump- 38″
Broad Jump- 132″
40-time: 4.43

NFL Comparison: Nick Toon, Rashaun Woods, Sammie Coates, Jaelen Strong, Terrell Owens

The Browns undertook a massive overhaul at the receiver position this offseason, adding four rookies from the 2016 NFL Draft alone. There’s been nary a peep out of the maniacal Cleveland sports media about Ricardo Louis through rookie minicamps and OTAs, which is noteworthy because Louis was the second pass-catcher selected of that group (Round 4).

A combine measurables freak and a height-weight-speed specimen, Louis comes from an anemic Auburn passing game that led to underwhelming production. There are a lot of unknowns with Louis. He has the prospect profile of a boom/bust player.

Of course, we are mostly interested in the ‘boom’ potential, and his NFL Combine comps are quite compelling. (Mockdraftable makes physical comparisons to Andre Johnson, Nick Toon, Cordarrelle Patterson, DeVante Parker, Mike Thomas, Miles Austin and Rashaun Woods). We actually see a tiny bit of Terrell Owens to his game in the way that he uses his body to get deep and as blocker in the run game. He also has that same TO short-arm cradle on over the shoulder catches that’s not the softest thing you’ve ever seen.

As for his on-field performance at the combine, Louis was right in the middle of the pack at No. 22 of 37 players graded by the RosterWatch crew from inside Lucas Oil.

Louis is a little high-cut and long legged in his stride but his separation ability is questionable. He’s not overly dynamic after the catch with the ball in his hands, either. His speed his more evident on kick returns and reverses where the field is wide-open. He doesn’t play as explosively as he measures, including his ability to high-point the football.

The good news for Ricardo Louis is he’s fallen into a situation where raw talent may intersect with opportunity. He’s the only HxWxS freak on the team behind Josh Gordon (and who knows when he’ll play again?) Louis could slate to fill some of that role. He excels on the the deep throws down the hash or the seam. He’s certainly a more explosive player than the two rookies drafted behind him Jordan Payton and Rashard Higgins, albeit not nearly as polished in the case of Higgins. Ricardo Louis will be on our watch-list in all formats, he’s worth a late-round rookie flyer in deep dynasty leagues.

Download the 2016 dynasty cheat sheet now!
Cheat Sheet Banner

9 Comments

  1. Post By darkcloud682

    Hey RW, I’m gearing up for my RW Pro season again to lead me to another championship! We’re making one of my leagues a keeper league this year and I’m kind of new to it all. We’re keeping 3 players at the round they were drafted at +1 (3rd rounder will cost me a 2nd round pick) for up to 2 more seasons. So therefore you can’t keep someone who you drafted in the 1st and 2nd round unless you trade draft picks to get 2 1st round picks. Here are my options–I’ll post what I’d have to give up for them, not where they were drafted last year. Who should I keep?

    Full point PPR with return bonus points
    1st Round: Le’Veon Bell, Julio Jones
    2nd Round: DeAndre Hopkins
    3rd Round: Amari Cooper
    6th Round: Doug Martin, Tom Brady
    10th Round: Chris Ivory
    15th Round: Allen Hurns, Buck Allen, Stefon Diggs [multiple players picked here would be 14th & 15th round]

    1. I’m keeping Bell, Hopkins, and Martin in this scenario.Good luck!

  2. agree w/ trashman

    1. Post By darkcloud682

      Thanks guys!

  3. Post By Baron VonIronCock

    Bro’s – I am always working my 2 dynasty leagues.
    I drafted Dixon this yr, and I see you guys are in love with buck allen.
    I have a trade on the table with a Very poor team ( meaning it could amount to fournette next yr )

    TO HIM
    DGB – James white – 2017 3rd
    TO ME
    Buck – a junky IDP – and 2017 1st ( guaranteed top 4 )

    I tried getting Hogan as the throw in but he countered with an IDP guy.

    1- how do you like the trade ?
    2- yall are the only guys in the universe who value buck .. at all.. Why ? Tell me why – youre the only guys sick about buck Allen ?

    Peace

    1. We’ll answer this question on our radio show. It’s a maniacal dynasty plot.

  4. Post By rw-1G3hH9hyx

    Standard scoring, 12 teams. 1 keeper and you lose the round he was drafted in last year. Either Antonio Brown (2) or Allen Robinson (9). Robinson is great value, but Brown is likely the top pick in most drafts. Thoughts?

    1. So hard – we think that Brown is going to have a monster year but that value on ARob might be too much for me to pass up. The good news is you can’t really make a wrong decision. Given the opportunity cost associated with the second round pick (where I can get a guy like Devonta) I’m probably going to say ARob if I had to choose right now.

      1. Post By rw-1G3hH9hyx

        Thanks Alex!

Leave a Reply