Elon WR Aaron Mellette is another guy to watch out for in 2012. He was a basketball player until halfway through High School, which contributed to him being very under the radar in the recruiting process. He grew up in Sanford, North Carolina. He got some interest from some Conference USA and other FBS teams, but nothing from the major programs, and so he decided to go to school at Elon, which is right up the road from where he grew up.
He broke out in 2010 with 86 catches for 1,100 yards and 12 TDs. But then he turned it up a few notches in 2011 with 113 catches for 1,639 yards and 12 TDs. He averaged 10.27 catches and 149.0 yards per game. The games from 2011 that you will probably want to watch are his Appalachian State and Vanderbilt games.
One NFL scout spoke very highly of Mellette and said that if you watch that Appalachian State game, Brian Quick and Aaron Mellette were both on the field that day, and even though Brian Quick went #33 overall to the Rams, Mellette was the better football player that day. He had 14 catches for 236 yards and 1 TD.
As for the Vanderbilt game, it was the first game of the season for Elon and Mellette went off for 11 catches and 180 yards, with 1 TD. The Commodores boasted some secondary talent, too. Sean Richardson is an athletic strong safety that is now in camp with the Packers as a UDFA. Casey Hayward is Vanderbilt's co-record holder for career interceptions with 15, two-time All-SEC selection, All America as a senior, intercepted 7 passes as a senior, was drafted #62 overall in the 2nd round by the Green Bay Packers. Trey Wilson is another corner in that secondary to keep your eye on, as he won SEC Defensive PLayer of the Week after a 2 interception, 2 touchdown performance against Ole Miss. Javon Marshall isn't a bad safety, either. Yet, Aaron Mellette made them all look silly at times.
Here's a record of how leading receivers did against Vanderbilt in 2011:
Team - Season's Top WR, Game's Top WR
Elon - Aaron Mellette 11-180-1, Aaron Mellette 11-180-1
UConn - Kashif Moore 1-14-0, Ryan Griffin 4-47-0
Ole Miss - Donte Moncrief 1-47-1, Ja-Mes Logan 3-48-0
South Carolina - Alshon Jeffery 2-34-0, Ace Sanders 4-75-0
Alabama - Marquis Maze 9-93-0, DeAndrew White 3-58-2
Georgia - Tavarres King 5-57-1, Marlon Brown 4-121-2
Army - Davyd Brooks 0-0-0, Jared Hassin 1-18-0
Arkansas - Jarius Wright 10-135-1, Jarius Wright 10-135-1
Florida - Andre Debose 2-25-0, Omarius Hines 1-40-0
Kentucky - La'Rod King 5-82-0, La'Rod King 5-82-0
Tennessee - Da'Rick Rogers 10-116-2, Da'Rick Rogers 10-116-2
Wake Forest - Chris Givens 4-69-0, Chris Givens 4-69-0
Cincinnati - Anthony McClung 1-8-0, Alex Chisum 1-12-0
What is notable here is not necessarily that the Vandy secondary did not allow receivers to have good days against them, but rather that they did not allow teams' TOP receivers to have great days against them, generally. Guys like Chris Givens, Kashif Moore, Andre Debose, Tavarres King and Alshon Jeffery did not have good days against that Vandy secondary. Da'Rick Rogers did, but then I think Rogers is another terrific receiver talent (unfortunately I hear he's a headcase). Jarius Wright had a great day against Vandy's secondary.
But arguably, Mellette had the best game of any receiver against Vandy this year, and arguably had the biggest bull's eye on his back for the Vandy secondary to game plan against because he was highly productive in 2010, the team's leading receiver, and the guy who caught a lot of balls next to him wasn't there anymore...so you knew Mellette was going to be by far the biggest part of the passing game plan.
The reason you'd want to pay attention to Mellette if you're a Miami fan is just because he really fits what Joe Philbin likes in a receiver, or at least what I perceive to be what he likes in a receiver. Mellette is thought to be a little over 6’3” tall which is actually a little atypical for Joe Philbin from a size standard, but I don’t find that he moves like a tall player, which is why the height will not be considered a detriment to his draft grade. Mellette has solid mass on that frame at about 215 lbs. His movement is very quick, but most importantly it is very balanced. I rarely see him running, cutting or making adjustments without his weight square and balanced, which gives him added quickness and the ability to break through contact after the catch. He gets his feet under himself very quickly and can stop and start very quickly. He tracks the ball in the air as well as you could want, and makes over the shoulder catches look routine. He snatches the ball with his hands when he can and uses his body to shield it when in traffic. He adjusts on the ball with urgency and quickness. The real question with Mellette is just long speed. Going against the level of competition he went against, it is not always easy to see how fast he truly is. I hate to keep bringing up Jordy Nelson but that’s kind of the player I see. Same dimensions, same kind of balance and quickness. The balance creates tackle breaking potential for Mellette just as it does Nelson. And when you get Mellette at the Combine, I could see him running the same 4.51 that Jordy Nelson did.
Josh Buchanon, who does work on small school players for NFL teams and also sells his work publicly, speaks extremely high on Mellette. He's higher on him than he was Brian Quick, who went #33 overall to the Rams. He's alluded to at least one team with multiple championships agreeing with him on Mellette and rating him a 1st rounder so far.
