Cornell Powell keeps the Clemson-to-NFL receiver pipeline flowing
Cornell Powell was once buried on Clemson’s depth chart at receiver. Now he’s headed to the NFL.
The Kansas City Chiefs picked Powell on Saturday during in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Powell is the second Clemson receiver picked in this year’s draft. Amari Rodgers went to the Green Bay Packers in the third round on Friday. He is Clemson’s 11th draft pick at receiver since 2013. The Tigers have had a receiver taken in the last six drafts.
Powell was a highly-routed recruit coming out of high school but got buried on depth chart behind guys like Tee Higgins, Justyn Ross, Hunter Renfrow and Rodgers.
The 6-foot Powell had a breakout season this year with 53 receptions for 882 yards and seven touchdowns.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlin had Powell projected to go in the third or fourth round.
“Unique evaluation as a wideout who came into the program as a four-star recruit, never beat out talent in front of him and then put together impressive tape in his single season as full-time starter. Powell is well-skilled beyond the career production as he’s clearly taken in the coaching and learned from others at the position,” Zierlin said of his evaluation of Powell. “ He’s smooth but will have to win with route polish and competitiveness as his long speed and separation burst appear to be very average, which could lead to a higher number of contested catches outside the Clemson offense. The tape is good but the testing will be important as teams grapple with the single season of production. Powell will be an NFL backup, at worst.”
Clemson 2021 NFL Draft picks
Round 1, Pick 1: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville
Round 1, Pick 25: Travis Etienne, RB, Jacksonville
Round 2, Pick 46: Jackson Carman, OL, Cincinnati
Round 3, Pick 84: Amari Rodgers, WR, Green Bay
Round 5, Pick 181: Cornell Powell, WR, Kansas City
Clemson undrafted free agent signing
Gage Cervenka, OL, Chicago
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 3:35 PM.
