His team was already leading by seven points, but Demario Douglas wanted more.
Liberty had a one-touchdown advantage over Arkansas in an FBS matchup last season, and the Flames were just 20 yards from scoring again. Douglas, a Liberty wide receiver, lined up in the slot with no defender directly across from him.
Douglas sprinted forward toward the end zone with his body turned toward the middle of the field. A defensive back stayed on that side of him, anticipating he would go that way.
Instead, Douglas spun toward the sideline and hauled in an easy touchdown catch a moment later.
In an instant, Douglas can provide a spark for the New England Patriots now that he’s in the NFL.
What Team Drafted Demario Douglas?
Douglas was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round with the 210th overall pick.
Through seven games in the 2023 season, he has caught 19 passes for 222 yards on 30 targets. He’s also rushed for 29 yards on three carries.
Demario Douglas Stats And Highlights
Douglas was 15th in the country with 79 receptions and 33rd with 993 receiving yards to go with six touchdown catches. He also returned 18 punts for 74 yards and 14 kickoffs for 291 yards.
In 2021, he paced Liberty in catches (52) and receiving yards (701) while adding another six touchdowns. The year before, he totaled 363 yards and three touchdowns on 32 receptions while ranking ninth in the nation with 11.1 yards per punt return.
He made the Paul Hornung Award watch list the last two seasons, an accolade that goes to the most versatile player in the country.
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Demario Douglas Draft Profile
At 5-foot-8, 179 pounds, Douglas will likely spend most of his time in the NFL in the slot. He can cause defenses a lot of problems from there.
According to Pro Football Focus, Douglas lined up in the slot 84.5% of the time in 2022. And that’s a role that suited him, as he tied Tank Dell of Houston at 23rd in PFF’s overall offensive grades for wide receivers while ranking 17th for pass routes.
His average depth of target was 12.3 yards, and he was graded in the top 20 among wideouts in the country on passes behind the line of scrimmage. He caught every pass thrown his way in that area and 23.2% of his targets occurred behind the line.
But he can be relied on for downfield passing plays as well. He was graded in the top 10 for passes 20 yards down the field or more as 27.7% of his targets, 416 of his yards, and four of his touchdowns were in that area.
At the NFL Combine, Douglas tied for fourth among all positions with a broad jump of 11 feet, 2 inches. Among wide receivers, he also tied for fifth with a 39.5-inch vertical jump. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds with a 1.54-second 10-yard split and a time of 4.29 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle.
These numbers illustrate how quickly Douglas can accelerate and why he can help teams on returns or even in the run game with jet sweeps.
He was elusive in college, often thinking a step ahead of defenders. His impressive field vision helped him rank 19th in the country with 469 yards after catch as he tied for ninth with 20 missed tackles forced after reception.
Douglas could be more crisp with his routes, but he usually maintains good balance which helps him manipulate defensive backs and break off routes quickly. He also makes good decisions when his quarterback is scrambling and he needs to improvise.
Douglas dropped just four passes last season. That, combined with all of his other abilities, shows how consistent he is and how much an NFL quarterback could rely on him.
