49ers: 2017 NFL Draft Mid-Round Prospect — Travin Dural

Travin Dural’s Route-Running Ability

Pairing well with his elite speed and quickness is Travin Dural’s route-running ability. By no means has Dural mastered the route tree — there is a lot of room for improvement — but he does excel at some particular routes.

Because of his speed, Dural obviously excels at running the “go” route and, as a result of that deadly speed, he also runs a great “comeback” route.

Defenders have to account for that speed to get deep, and Dural smoothly stops on a dime without much hip movement and comebacks to the ball. In addition to speed, Dural also excels at faking defenders out with both his shoulders and feet. Dural will threaten to blow past a defender pushing towards the sideline with his outside foot before crossing the defenders face to the middle of the field.

Dural has impressed with his “go” and “comeback,” but he struggles a bit running routes over the middle of the field, often times hooking off at the break point of his “dig” and “slant” routes. He has a tendency to sense hits coming and that has resulted in some over the middle drops, but this could be a result of shoddy quarterback play and inconsistent ball placement from the position.

One thing Dural seemed to excel at regardless of the route is both coming to the ball and sitting in windows, as opposed to drifting. Often times young receivers have a tendency to not recognize windows where they are open and can cover themselves by drifting and running themselves into a defender.

Conclusion: Dural has not mastered the route tree, but he is an exceptionally smooth route runner overall. He seems to glide on the field, with great stride length and body control. He projects best as a deep-ball threat on the outside. But with some polishing, he could turn into a complete wide receiver.

And that’s something the 49ers need.