The upcoming NFL Draft offers plenty of help for teams in need of wide receivers, even if the class doesn’t feature an obvious breakout star.
ESPN analyst Jordan Reid said an unusually large number of receivers could come off the board in first three rounds. But in terms of high-end talent, Reid said this group of pass-catchers falls short of other recent drafts.
“It’s not like in years past where we had Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze,” Reid said in a recent pre-draft conference call. “It’s not the star power of that class, but it’s a lot of depth in this year’s class. We don’t have that front end with those blue chippers at the top, in my opinion. We have a lot of No. 2 wide receivers in this year’s class, but that’s OK.”
Teams drafted Harrison, Nabers and Odunze within the first nine picks in 2024. But that wasn’t the only recent draft where multiple high picks were used on wideouts.
A year ago, receivers accounted for two of the top eight selections including two-way player Travis Hunter. In 2022, four of the first 12 picks were receivers.
This year, only Ohio State’s Carnell Tate is projected as a top-10 pick, but a lackluster 40-yard dash time at the combine (4.53 seconds) has dampened his draft hype a little.
The NFL Draft is April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
“We’re not going to have the star-studded power of some of these other classes like we have seen,” Reid said.
Still, Reid stressed that there are very good receivers available in this year’s draft. In a two-round mock updated Friday, Reid projected nine receivers going in the first 63 picks. He had five in the first round. Among them the Pittsburgh Steelers took Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson at No. 21.
“There are some other positions they could look to address (instead),” Reid said of the Steelers. “Somebody in the secondary — corner or safety — and guard. … Needs all over the place. But I would love to see them get another wide receiver opposite of DK Metcalf.”
Reid endorsed the idea of teaming Metcalf with Tyson, who he called “arguably the most talented receiver” in the draft.
“I think both of them complement each other really, really well,” he said.
His latest mock draft predicted Tyson as the third receiver off the board. He had Tate (ninth to the Chiefs) and USC’s Makai Lemon (12th to the Jets) going ahead of Tyson.
His other first-rounder receivers were Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. (24th to the Browns) and Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion (27th to the 49ers).
If a team chooses to wait, Reid said there will be solid options available on Day 2. He predicted Washington’s Denzel Boston, Alabama’s Germie Bernard, Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell II and UConn’s Skyler Bell as second-rounders in his mock draft.
Plus, Reid named Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields and Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt as additional Day 2 options he rates favorably.
“I think this receiver class is going to fly off the board in the second and the third rounds,” Reid said. “We’re going to see a record number go on Day 2. If you want a receiver … that’s really the area where you want to take these guys because they’re going to fly off the board.”
