While SEC talent typically garners most of the headlines in college football, particularly at the skill position, there is a plethora of pro-ready talent dispersed around the country. Sure, Ja’Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith, and Jaylen Waddle project as instant-impact blue-chippers at the next level. However, one of the nation’s elite receiving options resides in the ACC.
Prior to his season-ending injury, Wake Forest WR Sage Surratt was well on his way to finish his redshirt sophomore campaign atop the receiving leaderboard. Now fully healthy and the team’s unanimous top target, the ascending wide receiver finds himself in prime position to cement his legacy and further improve his draft stock.
Sage Surratt’s emergence as a redshirt freshman
Arriving at Winston-Salem, North Carolina as a highly sought-after recruit from Lincolnton High School, Surratt was expected to make a sudden impact on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons offense. Instead, the three-star recruit earned the redshirt distinction and spent his first collegiate season on the sidelines, mastering the finer nuances of the position.
After a season of inactivity and an offseason spent preparing for his opportunity, Surratt went on to become a prominent contributor on offense in 2018. Appearing in 13 games (nine starts), Surratt hauled in 41 passes for 581 yards and four touchdowns.
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The 6-foot-3, 215-pound pass-catcher enjoyed a memorable college debut. Surratt hauled in 11 receptions for 150 yards in a narrow victory over Tulane. In a late-season affair with the NC State Wolfpack — quarterback Jamie Newman‘s first start — Surratt reeled in nine receptions for 109 yards in the four-point win.
Surratt finished as the Demon Deacons’ second-leading receiver behind Greg Dortch and was named to the All-ACC Academic team.
The WR’s second-year ascension
After bursting onto the scene with a productive first season, Surratt took the college football world by storm in 2019.
With Greg Dortch departing for the professional ranks, Surratt assumed a more sizable role in Wake Forest’s aerial attack. In nine games, the big-bodied pass-catcher reeled in 66 receptions for 1,001 yards and 11 touchdowns. Surratt eclipsed the 100-yard mark five times, and the 150-yard mark four times last season.
In consecutive outings against Florida State and Louisville, Surratt combined for 19 receptions, 366 receiving yards, and three touchdowns. He suffered a season-ending injury on November 9th against Virginia Tech but managed to compile a slew of postseason accolades nevertheless.
Despite logging a complete season, Surratt earned first-team All-ACC recognition and was named one of the 12 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award — a prestigious honor given to the nation’s top pass-catcher.
Sage Surratt’s 2020 outlook
No longer regarded as a sleeping giant, Surratt, already touted as a premier talent in the 2021 NFL Draft, finds himself in the spotlight entering the 2020 campaign. Fully healthy, the 22-year-old will have a chance to parlay a stellar redshirt junior campaign into first-round consideration in April as Wake Forest’s primary receiving option.
Despite the departure of dual-threat quarterback Jamie Newman to the SEC, Surratt’s immediate future figures to be just as bright with the intriguing Sam Hartman behind center. While he’s played in only 13 games since arriving at Wake Forest in 2018, Hartman’s 3,178 yards of offensive output ranks 22nd in program history.
As for Surratt, his skill set and body type fit the prototype of the modern NFL landscape. The lengthy pass-catcher offers the ability to line up on the perimeter or in the slot, plays the game with an ‘above the rim’ mentality, and displays strong hands while attacking the catch-point.
What Surratt lacks in explosiveness and downfield speed, he more than makes up for with his physicality, body control, route running savvy, and innate feel for spacing. If the North Carolina native picks up where he left off pre-injury and elevates the offense, he can firmly entrench himself as a surefire first-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.