Eric Rivers

● Big-time speed and loves to run skinny/deep posts ● Legit deep threat (six catches of 50-plus yards over his final 17 college games) ● Tracks and adjusts to the football mid-stride ● Improved route refinement in 2025, helping burst out of his breaks ● Cut down on drops in 2025 (flawless gauntlet at the combine) ● Quick to decipher coverages and attack leverage (former defensive back) ● Has some make-you-miss on film to turn short catches into long plays ● Averaged 11.0 yards per punt return (nine attempts for 99 yards) ● Former walk-on and competes with that underdog mentality in practice and games ● Set single-season FIU records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns

● Undersized, slight frame, with wiry definition ● Smallish target for quarterbacks and has an average catch radius ● Doesn’t have body strength to throw his weight around in contested windows ● Drops decreased but still fights the ball more than you’d ideally want to see ● Has some drift on in-breaking routes ● Refinement improved in 2025, but production fell off ● Meager special teams resume (one muffed punt in 2025) ● Torn labrum while lifting weights, which sidelined him for the 2022 season; battled left shoulder injury during his final season but wore a brace and didn’t miss a game (Rivers: “Coaches told me to just get out of bounds and preserve myself from taking unnecessary hits.”)

A one-year starter at Georgia Tech (and two-year starter overall), Rivers lined up primarily outside (79.2 percent of snaps) in former offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner’s pro-style scheme (motion-heavy, west-coast principles). A former walk-on and defensive back, he put himself on the NFL radar with a highlight-reel 2024 season at FIU, ranking fifth nationally in receiving yards per game (97.7) and touchdowns (12) to become the first All-American in school history. Rivers has field-stretching speed and tracking skills as a deep threat, along with catch-and-go juice as an underneath target. He has crisp footwork at the break point and showed improved detail in his route steps in 2025, compared to his junior tape. However, his 149 Back to table of contents -- 153 of 629 -- production decline in his final season is a concern — touchdown grabs dipped from 12 in 2024 to two in ‘25; receptions of 20-plus yards were down from 21 to seven. Overall, Rivers is undersized and still honing his receiver skills, but he has the jets and professional approach that give him a chance to make it. Proving himself in the slot and as a punt returner will boost his NFL chances.