Chargers Roster Breakdowns, 90-in-90: WR Artavis Scott

Player Factfile:

Name: Artavis Scott

Age: 22

Position: WR

College: Clemson

NFL games played: 0

Games played for the Chargers: 0

Fun fact: Artavis Scott is the all-time leader for Clemson in receptions, with 245 in just three years, placing him above WRs like Mike Williams, Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins.

Artavis Scott is a really hard prospect to work out.

He doesn't have prototypical size for a WR in the NFL, standing at just 5'10 and 193 lbs. He doesn't have the speed teams look for in a WR, running just a 4.61 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine. He's not particularly good at running routes, either. Lance Zierlein described him as "Too small and slow on the outside and lacks the suddenness and shiftiness that teams like from the slot."

Even despite that negative report, Zierlein still thought Scott would go in the 5th or 6th, and other scouting reports had him going at any point between the 4th-6th round. Considering he's been universally judged to not be a good enough athlete to properly compete in the NFL, why was it such a surprise that Artavis Scott went undrafted?

Athleticism might be a huge part of the NFL, but it's not the only thing that matters. Tevin Reese was taken in the 7th round of the 2014 Draft for the Chargers because of his blistering speed but didn't have the hands to match and never played a game in the NFL.

When I read reports of Artavis Scott and watch his tape, the name that comes to my mind is Danny Amendola. The now Patriots WR went undrafted in 2008 - he'd put up big numbers in college for Texas Tech, but was just 5'10 and had only run a 4.68 40 at the combine. Amendola - just like Scott - hasn't been gifted with athleticism, but has become one of the better WRs in the NFL (he's possibly got the most reliable hands out of any WR in the league right now) and has two Superbowl rings to show for it.

I'm not saying Scott is going to be the next Amendola, but they're the same mold of player. Scott's a reliable catcher who's got some quickness, and if he can develop his route running I could definitely see him sticking around in the NFL for a few years and having a fairly productive career.

Problem is, Amendola was cut by two teams before he settled in the NFL, and I don't see Scott making the 53 for the Chargers either. If they only go with 5 WRs, he's already got no chance, because Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, Mike Williams, Travis Benjamin and Dontrelle Inman are all making the roster. If they take six, he's got to beat out some serious competition, because that would be one spot left with seven guys competing for it.

That's not a situation that works in Scott's favor; but then again, that just seems to be the story of Artavis Scott's life.

According to TampaBay.com, who did an excellent report on him, Scott's biological father has been incarcerated four times. (I did my own search to see if I could find out the range of his offenses, but I wasn't 100% certain that I had the right Antwon Scott, so I'm not going to post them here).

Scott was raised by his mother and stepfather, but it was a battle. Scott had anger problems - he wouldn't hit people, but "he'd more or less be a pain to the teacher" and "he was argumentative, and he would yell." Scott was placed in Emotional/Behavioural Disorder classes in elementary school, where every Friday they'd play 30 minutes of football - if they'd behaved themselves during the week. Scott's mother borrowed that idea, and when Scott became too unruly she stopped him playing football for an entire season.

That tough love helped steer Scott on the right path, and he was set firmly straight by his teacher in Eighth Grade, who let her frustrations with Scott wasting his athletic talents boil over into tears. An onlooker would have seen Scott put his head on her shoulder and cry right back. The lightbulb in his head had been switched on.

The teacher had Scott placed back in mainstream classes the next day, and he never looked back. He moved to East Lake High School, where he'd amass 5,330 All-Purpose yards and 51 total TDs. According to a scientific study, EBD students are 3x as likely to be arrested before leaving school, and only 40% of students previously in EBD graduate High School. Scott graduated with a 3.0 GPA as the #9 football player in the state of Florida and the #8 WR in the country.

He committed to Clemson, where he'd team up with DeShaun Watson, who he'd previously met at a Rivals Camp in Chicago. They roomed together their entire college life (and became best friends), both became starters midway through their true freshmen season, and both graduated with a degree in Communications - in just three years. That's an unbelievable feat - and when Scott took part in the 2017 Senior Bowl (who invite underclassmen if they've graduated), Scott became the first-ever Senior Bowl participant to have only spent three years in college.

That's Artavis Scott, the 'problem' child. The child taken out of mainstream classes. The child who, statistically, shouldn't have even graduated High School.

Artavis Scott, the college graduate.

Artavis Scott - NFL player.