Clemson Football: Deon Cain is outplaying his draft position

Former Clemson football wide receiver Deon Cain could be getting a lot of playing time for the Colts in 2018-19. 

Former Clemson receiver Deon Cain was selected No. 185 in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, and he could see lots of playing time this season.

Cain was impressive in the Colts rookie mini camp back in June and thus far, he has been a standout in training camp. The 6-foot-1, 202 pound receiver hasn’t just flashed the 4.43 speed that he used to average 15.7 yards per catch in three years at Clemson, but he has also caught balls in tight coverage.

Right now, he is living up to the pre-draft 2nd round projection.

After his junior season, Cain declared for the draft, but fell to the sixth round because of two suspensions and a drop in production, specifically, touchdowns(from 9 to 6) and a per catch average that dropped from 19.1 to 12.7. Otherwise, his receptions(38 to 58) and yards(724 to 734) were both up from his sophomore year.

But the player other teams passed on, has the Colts players and coaches excited now and thinking about the future.

“Everybody I talked to thought they got a massive steal in getting this youngster because he has already shown some flash in practices, and they are expecting him to become a playmaker,” said Stacy Dales on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football”

He has been impressive enough to line up occasionally with T.Y. Hilton on the first team offense and is expected to get plenty of snaps this season. On the newly released depth chart Ryan Grant is currently No. 2 and Cain and Chester Rogers are dually listed No. 3.

So things are going well for him in Indy, and he may have two people to thank for helping him.

First, he can thank teammate T.J. Green for helping him become a Colt. Green may have put in a good word for his former Clemson teammate during the draft, but Cain’s not 100 percent sure.

“Literally, that same day. Going into the third round, T.J. called me that night and he said I don’t understand why these teams are sleeping on you.” Cain stated in a interview on Colts.com, “I said hey, man, at the end of the day, I can’t do anything. He said man, I need to talk to my people. We need to get you or something.”

Green took to Twitter that night to tweet out a similar statement, and eventually, it was the Colts that called to draft Cain.

He also said in the interview, “Well, maybe he did put in a good word for me or something.”

Cain can also thank Randy Moss, a former NFL All-Pro and Minnesota Vikings great, for some of his success on the field.

He spent a week with Moss working on all aspects of being a receiver. The young colt and the player know as the “Freak” worked on technique, how to gain separation and battle for 50/50 balls and route running. He talked about their interactions with CBS 4 Indy“…..Mostly things about football, but also he taught me things about learning how to be a pro, showing up in meetings, learning how to post different things{on social media} and stuff like that.”

Like Cain, Moss also dropped in the draft. Moss was projected to be a top five or 10 pick in 1988 but fell to 21, largely because of a missed pre-draft meeting with the Chicago Bears, a misdemeanor battery charge(school fight) and a failed drug test.

Obviously, Moss persevered to become one of the best to ever play the game, and he took the ultimate bow on Saturday night, when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins, who became the first Clemson player to enter the Hall.

Cain can only continue to work hard and hope a little help from a teammate and a legend can lead to Canton, Ohio one day.