Dortch did not work out at the Combine after injuring his wrist in his final college game. He told reporters it was an aggravation of the broken scaphoid bone he suffered in 2016.
Dortch was reportedly clocked between 4.49 and 4.52 seconds in the 40-yard dash at Wake Forest’s Pro Day.
Dortch’s time at Wake Forest was brief but productive.
The 3-star recruit redshirted in 2016 but made a big impact in his debut season. Dortch led the 2017 Demon Deacons in catches, receiving yards and TDs — despite playing in just 8 of 13 games. He suffered an abdominal injury in late October that required season-ending surgery.
Dortch returned to play in 12 of 13 games last year, missing the Birmingham Bowl with that wrist injury. He again paced the squad in all major receiving categories. Omitting the bowl game, Dortch soaked up 39.6% of Wake’s catches, 39.3% of the receiving yards and 33.3% of the receiving scores. Those marks rank 1st, 4th and 20th among the 48 WRs invited to this year’s Combine.
Dortch averaged just 12.1 yards per catch in 2018 but hauled in a strong 70.6% of his targets. His 2.67 yards per route run ranked 24th among all draft-eligible WRs, according to Pro Football Focus.
Dortch also served as Wake’s primary return man over the last 2 years, averaging 21.5 yards per kick return and 9.7 yards per punt return with 2 TDs.
Dortch lined up almost exclusively in the slot for Wake, seeing 109 of 126 targets from the inside this past year, per Pro Football Focus. Extremely quick in and out of his breaks, Dortch was simply too much to handle for many of the DBs he saw.
Dortch is also effective on intermediate routes. He has a good feel for finding soft spots in zone coverage and has the route-running ability to separate from man coverage.
And Dortch is willing and able to make catches through contact.
The undersized Dortch doesn’t boast a big catch radius. But he has some of the most reliable hands in the draft class, dropping just 4.3% of his catchable targets in 2018, according to Pro Football Focus.
Wake Forest surprisingly didn’t use Dortch on many screens or quick hitters. But he showed his open-field ability in the return game.
Dortch’s strong career and 2018 market-share numbers make him a potential sleeper in this WR class. He’ll also enter the NFL as a relatively young prospect, turning just 21 in May.
Size is the biggest concern. He checked into the Combine at just 5’7, 173 pounds with sub-5th percentile arm length and wingspan. Dortch doesn’t appear to possess elite athleticism, either. And he dealt with injuries in each of the past 2 seasons.
He’ll be limited to slot duties in the NFL and doesn’t project as a big TD or yards-per-catch guy. So he figures to need significant volume to be a real fantasy asset.