Film Evaluation: Kaden Saunders

Penn State picked up its first Class of 2022 commitment over the weekend in Ohio wide receiver Kaden Saunders. The rising junior already possesses many of the critical skills in order to be a successful receiver in his career. A three-sport athlete from Westerville South, Saunders can already run a bevy of routes and has the potential to be a high-quality addition to the Nittany Lion’s receiving corps in the future.

*Important Note: Scouting notes are based on highlight videos. They should not be seen as a complete picture of the strengths and weaknesses of a prospect. As these young men are still in the early stages of their development, projections are based on potential and development.

Route Running: Saunders has some impressive skills that he presents on his highlight tape for someone who's only a sophomore. He shows quite a few advanced moves for the receiver position, including the ability to get off the press at the line of scrimmage, head fakes at the top of his route stem and hard cuts to create separation. All of these things are the building blocks of a receiver who creates separation on a regular basis, presenting an easy target for the quarterback. His moves are so decisive and effective that it allows him to dominate his current opponents, even if they aren’t up to his caliber. This is a fantastic sign for a player who's still in the early stages of his maturation. Not only does he have the physical tools, but he’s learning the nuances of the position early in his career.

Change of Direction: While he’s an all-around athlete, Saunders’ chief skill is his ability to change directions at high speed. His agility, flexibility in his lower-half, and explosive movements are all outstanding. This is why he’s capable of running precise routes. He shows the ability to make speed cuts on short routes and explode out of double moves in order to create a large window for the quarterback down the field on vertical routes. This skill also shows up on the limited number of plays that Saunders included on defense. He’s got exceptional feet that would make him a fantastic man coverage player at the next level. Throw on top of that his fluid, natural stride in the open field and he’s an exciting prospect that will be fun to watch develop over the next two seasons.

Run After Catch: The main theme of Kaden Saunders’ highlight film is making plays with the ball in his hands. His offensive coordinator can dial up screens, shallow crossing routes, or seam routes and Saunders can make something happen with the ball in his hands at any level on the field. He’s also an exciting kick returner, showing the ability to make players miss in very small spaces. Part of this is that Saunders is just hard to get a hand on, the other half is his ability to find holes and accelerate through them either on offense or special teams.

Catch Radius: One aspect of Saunders’ tape that is notably missing is his ability to find the ball outside of his frame. Whether it's contested catches or simply jumping to snag errant passes, these skills are an unknown for the sophomore from Ohio. Showing these skills isn’t completely necessary, but they would round out his skill set into a player that could be seen as a complete wide receiver who can win in any situation.

Strength: As always, this is a skill that comes with work over time and is not something that Saunders should be good at yet. Saunders is listed at 170 pounds, which is a great place for a player heading into his junior year. He will naturally grow and become stronger as long as he continues to focus on proper lifting and weight training. With increased strength, he’ll be able to break tackles instead of just eluding them. That will make him even more dangerous with the ball in his hands.

Precision: Getting better as a player isn’t always about working on weaknesses. Saunders already has very good skills as a route runner and continuing to focus on that will be a key to his development as a football player. There are incredibly impressive examples of his route running on film, but consistency and the ability to make those plays regularly is important for his development and production long-term. It’s not about doing it once, it’s about doing it every time.

Slot Receiver: A shifty route runner with exceptional quickness and separation skills? The natural fit is clearly as a slot receiver. With a lack of evidence that he can win in contested situations or grab balls outside of his frame, this is the most comfortable fit for Saunders at the moment.

Boundary Receiver: At 5-11 - and growing based on his film - it’s not at all out of the picture that Saunders could develop into the type of receiver that can line up at any position, including the boundary. He has the time, frame, and growth potential to become a well-rounded receiver. He’s a fantastic prospect and one that Penn State fans should be excited about heading into the future.

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