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Penn State WR Chris Godwin could go as high as second round in NFL draft

Receiver opened some eyes with his time in the 40 at the combine

When wide receiver Chris Godwin announced he would give up his senior season at Penn State to enter the NFL draft, he held some positive reviews from scouts concerning his route running, physical play, and ability to win one-on-one duels with defenders.

Speed was not near the top of the reports, at least not before the 6-foot-1, 209-pound Godwin lined up for the 40-yard dash last month at the NFL combine and ran a personal-best 4.42 seconds, a time beaten by only four of the 51 wideouts who participated.

The time drew renewed attention from scouts to his overall skills. Going into this week's draft, the Philadelphia-born Godwin could go as high as the second round, but he won't pay attention to mock drafts or the accompanying hype.

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"The only thing that really matters is what actually happens on draft day, so I try to stay away from that as much as possible," he said. "I'd rather take things day by day. I'm trying not to think too much about the draft and when I may get the call, but obviously as we get closer, the harder and harder that becomes."

Godwin said his overall performance at the combine was "pretty much right on with my expectations" based on his training. That included a few days working out in Pensacola, Fla., with former Detroit Lions superstar Calvin Johnson.

"It left a huge impact, just the fact that he was one of the guys I really looked up to growing up as one of the best receivers of his generation," he said. "It was awesome to get the chance to talk to him and pick his brain and just understand how he was so successful and hopefully try to implement some of those things into my game."

Godwin, 21, declared for the draft a few days after the Rose Bowl, in which he caught nine passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in Penn State's 52-49 loss. He finished the season with 59 receptions, 982 yards, and 11 TDs, with 18 of his catches covering 20 or more yards in the Nittany Lions' new up-tempo offense.

NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock likes what he sees in Godwin.

"I think you're always looking for competitors, No. 1, and Penn State did some nice stuff with him giving him a chance to go catch the football," Mayock said. "All of that factors into an NFL team's conversation. I think what he has going for him is he's a tough kid with some physicality and a pretty good catch radius."

However, the general view of Godwin seems to vary. He is ranked fifth at his position by NFL Draft Scout but 13th by Sports Illustrated. ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay has him as a late second-round pick, but Mayock lists his "over-under" for Godwin as fourth round.

Mayock said Godwin's 40-yard time at the NFL combine was the source of a lot of conversation in draft rooms across the country.

"His combine speed didn't measure up to what I saw on tape," he said. "I called a bunch of teams and found out pretty much everybody feels the same way. So it sets up kind of an interesting conversation in what you're really getting when you draft him as far as speed goes, what's his functional playing speed."

Godwin said he has worked out for 10 to 15 teams. He received a lot of positive feedback carrying out what clubs wanted him to do, showing the ability to run the routes they normally utilize.

"If there was something I wasn't able to do, I was able to learn it relatively fast, just basically learning from them and being open to coaching," he said.

Godwin has trained mostly at Penn State with the blessing of head coach James Franklin, and will watch the draft in State College with family and friends. He said he imagines there will be "some kind of nerves" when that day arrives.

"Honestly, I'm just really excited," he said. "It's been a dream since I was a child. The fact that it's almost here is kind of surreal to me. You always dream about being in this position, but you don't know what it's really going to feel like until it's actually here."

jjuliano@phillynews.com

@joejulesinq