2024 NFL Draft: The Wide Receiver Class

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Rome Odunze
- Will be 22 years old in June.
- Named Consensus All-American in 2023
- First-Team All-Pac-12 in 2022 and 2023
- Played in 36 games for the Washington Huskies
- In his 2023 season, he had 1,640 receiving yards, averaged 18.5 yards per reception, 1 rushing TD, and 1 kick return.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I think Odunze has slipped ahead of Nabers for the #2 receiver in the draft. Just a month or so back, just about every major mock out there had Nabers ahead of him. Now the majority of more recent mocks I'm seeing shows Odunze in front of Nabers. In any event, both would be solid picks regardless of who gets taken first between the two.

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Brian Thomas Jr,
- Will be 22 in October
- In 2023, he had 1,177 receiving yards, 17 touchdowns, and averaged 17.3 yards per catch.

 

[cwalke3408]

That shouldn’t be an issue.

I’ve never seen three receivers go 1-2-3.

I’d think you’d be safe trading down to 5 or 6 if he’s your target. Unless the scoring sways heavily to receivers.

It's standard scoring with 1 QB.

In my mind, the top 3 should look like:
1. MHJ
2. Nabers
3. TE Bowers

I guess I shouldn't be upset with Bowers since I need TE big time anyway

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Adonai Mitchell
- 21 years old, will be 22 in October
- Played for Georgia for two seasons, and then Texas for one.
- In 2023, he had 846 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns, and 15.4 yards per reception

 

[Battlelyon]

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Xavier Legette
- 23 years old. Will be 24 next January.
- Played for South Carolina Gamecocks between 2019 and 2023
- In his 2023 season, he had 1,255 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

First Round
1. Marvin Harrison Jr, Ohio State - 6'4, 205 pounds
2. Rome Odunze, Washington - 6'3, 215 pounds
3. Malik Nabers, LSU - 6'0, 200 pounds
4. Keon Coleman, FSU - 6'4, 215 pounds
5. Brian Thomas Jr, LSU - 6'4, 196 pounds

Second Round
6. Adonai Mitchell, Texas - 6'4, 194 pounds
7. Xavier Legette, South Carolina - 6'3, 227 pounds
8. Xavier Worthy, Texas - 6'1, 172 pounds
9. Troy Franklin, Oregon - 6'3, 187 pounds
10. Ja'Lynn Polk, Washington - 6'2, 204 pounds
11. Jermaine Burton, Alabama - 6'0, 194 pounds

Third Round
12. Ladd McConkey, Georgia - 6'0, 185 pounds
13. Dovontez Walker, North Carolina - 6'3, 200 pounds
14. Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky - 5'11, 210 pounds

These are your top WR prospects, according to the ESPN and CBS Sports Big Board. Mitchell and Leggette were ranked in both the 1st round and 2nd round, but I placed them in the 2nd round. Same thing for McConkey, Walker and Corley. Both were listed under 2nd round and 3rd round, so I placed them in the 3rd round.

What are your impressions of the WR class? Are there any wide receivers, you feel are under the radar?

I think Troy Franklin is going to just as good as those ranked ahead of him. Strong class of receivers this year. Franklin is one of my draft pet cats.. I doubt he makes it to the 2nd round,especially after the Combine. The knock on Franklin is the route running, which I agree with. His potential as a deep threat is what I like.

 

[Edonidd]

Interesting that the trend recently has been quicker shifter guys. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, Cooper Kupp, Tyreek Hill, Devante Adams, Chris Olave, all 6'1 or less. Even Ceedee Lamb is only 6'2.

6 of the first 7 are CURRENTLY LISTED at 6'3 or more, with four of them being 6'4.

There's one or two big guys every year Quinton Johnson and Drake London and the like. But this is a huge group of big tall WRs like we haven't seen in years.

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Xavier Worthy
- 20 years old. Will be 21 in April
- Played for Texas Longhorns between 2021-2023
- First-Team All-Big-12 in 2021 and 2023
- In his 39 games, he had 26 touchdowns, 2,755 receiving yards, and averaged 14 yards per reception

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Troy Franklin
- Just turned 21 years old on February 6th
- Played for the Oregon Ducks between 2021 and 2023
- First-team All-Pac-12 in 2023
- In 2023, he had 1,383 receiving yards, 14 touchdowns, and averaged 17.1 yards per reception in 13 games

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Dovontez Walker
- Will be 23 years old on June 19th
- Nickname is "Tez"
- Played for the Kent State Golden Flashes in 2021 and 2022, and then North Carolina in 2023
- Named First-Team All-Mac in 2022
- In 8 games for North Carolina, he had 699 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.
- Didn't play the first four games due to a transfer controversy.
Tez vs. Virginia

 

[shopson67]

Interesting that the trend recently has been quicker shifter guys. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, Cooper Kupp, Tyreek Hill, Devante Adams, Chris Olave, all 6'1 or less. Even Ceedee Lamb is only 6'2.

6 of the first 7 are CURRENTLY LISTED at 6'3 or more, with four of them being 6'4.

There's one or two big guys every year Quinton Johnson and Drake London and the like. But this is a huge group of big tall WRs like we haven't seen in years.

It just comes down to who can get separation consistently really. Size is helpful of course, but only if those players take advantage of that size to highpoint passes and/or play physically.

 

[shopson67]

Dovontez Walker
- Will be 23 years old on June 19th
- Nickname is "Tez"
- Played for the Kent State Golden Flashes in 2021 and 2022, and then North Carolina in 2023
- Named First-Team All-Mac in 2022
- In 8 games for North Carolina, he had 699 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.
- Didn't play the first four games due to a transfer controversy.
Tez vs. Virginia

I was on the Tez bandwagon until his rough Senior bowl week, dropping everything. Hopefully that was just a blip.

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

I was on the Tez bandwagon until his rough Senior bowl week, dropping everything. Hopefully that was just a blip.

That seems to be why he's slipping a tad in the rankings. But at the combine, his stock might creep upward if his 40 time is elite.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

That seems to be why he's slipping a tad in the rankings. But at the combine, his stock might creep upward if his 40 time is elite.

There are two things that we can count on to be etched in stone for this WR draft:
1. Marvin Harrison Jr will be the 1st receiver taken.
2. The WR with the fastest 40 combine time will see his stock rise up by 1-2 rounds, regardless if he's worthy or not.

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

There are two things that we can count on to be etched in stone for this WR draft:
1. Marvin Harrison Jr will be the 1st receiver taken.
2. The WR with the fastest 40 combine time will see his stock rise up by 1-2 rounds, regardless if he's worthy or not.

I'll add:
3. The fastest WR will get drafted by the Raiders.

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Ja'Lynn Polk
- Played for Texas Tech in 2020, and the Washington Huskies between 2021 and 2023
- In 2023, he had 1,159 receiving yards, 9 touchdowns, and averaged 16.8 yards per catch

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

Going to do the remaining WR prospects, and then move on to tight ends prospects. We already did Marvin Harrison Jr and Malik Nabers on a separate thread.

Ladd McConkey
- 22 years old, 23 in November
- Played for the Georgia Bulldogs between 2020 and 2023
- In his last two seasons at Georgia (23 games), he had 9 touchdowns, 1,240 receiving yards, and averaged 14.5 yards per reception
Highlights
Player Analysis
2-Minute Drill Take

Jermaine Burton
- 22 years old. Will be 23 in June
- Played for Georgia in 2020-2021, and Alabama in 2022-23
- In his last 26 games for Bama, he had 15 receiving touchdowns, 1475 receiving yards, and averaged 18.7 yards per catch
Highlights
2021 highlights at Georgia

 

[shopson67]

Roman Wilson stuck his foot in the door for an early draft slot with his Senior Bowl week. He probably jumped from a 4th rounder into the 2nd.