NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 217. 2024 NFL Draft WR Rankings

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their updated Top 15 WRs for the 2024 NFL draft following the college football regular season

This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place, every game, every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with MultiView, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great. I got it this year.

It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. In this episode, we are looking at new wide receiver rankings following the regular season in college football. This has given us a chance to look at a ton of finalized regular season film for so many of these players. We're going to give you our top 15s and beyond for the 2024 NFL Draft. A lot of different conversations, a lot of updated thoughts

and rankings, even from when we were talking about these guys in the summer and through the beginning of the regular season as well. I'm Trevor Sycamore. With me as always is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. I'm Trevor Sikama, that is Connor Rogers, joining you on a very, very exciting midweek episode of the podcast. The regular season of college football is in the books, so we have all of that taped to review of so many of these players. So we're getting back to some of these position re in the books. So we have all of that taped to review of so many of these players. So we're getting back to some of these position re-rankings. We've given you guys our summer scouting.

We've talked about some of these guys throughout the season, some guys that have been moving up and down, but we haven't done these full positional re-evaluations yet. Today, we start that journey. We're starting with everybody's favorite position. The one that everybody's got some sort of opinion on one way or the other probably the deepest position class that we have in 2024 it's wide receivers baby connor i'm very excited about this one we have so many wide receivers to talk about normally we go with ah yeah let's chat about our top fives maybe top tens today

we're getting into like top 15s we're to talk a little bit about guys in like the top 20s top 25s that we have watched. We got a lot of names to throw out there with a lot of film that's been watched. But dude, it's a fun one. That's why we're watching so many of these guys. There's so many good ones to talk about. A lot of fun. And honestly, and I shouldn't have been this way because it's still early.

It's December. We're going to get to see a lot of these guys at the Senior Bowl and the Combine and things can change. But I was a little stressed these last two weeks. Yeah, for real. I just felt like every time I watched somebody, I was like, oh, I really like this player. Oh, I really like this player. And then when I put them all in my updated tab of position rankings and I put all my summer rankings below it so I could see how things change.

Yep. Same. I was pulling hair out of putting this guy over this guy and this guy over this guy when it's not the final rankings, but this is an important step for us, Trevor. And it was, you're right. It was a joy to watch because of the talent. This group blows last year's out of the water.

I think people listening know, you know, some of the obvious at the top, but I think they will be very surprised when we talk about the conversation about the guys in the middle. Yeah. And I think my biggest takeaway, big picture, is that a guy could be 14th today, and he's still easily a top 100 player at the moment right now. Oh, for sure.

That's what's so jarring about this. Top 75. I would agree. I would agree. You talked about this being a challenge for you because you watch so many guys and you liked a lot of them. I was the same way. And it got to the point where I'm sitting here.

Like, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm setting a lot of the details up within my scouting sheet. So that means I'm filling a lot of the columns and the tabs for these guys. And one of them is like,

okay, round grade. And it's not like, like you said, it's not the final eval for these players, but I'm putting in a preliminary round grade, you know, before all-star events, before bowl season, before the senior bowl or before the combine.

And I've got so many of these guys that I'm like, yeah, that's a late first, early second film grade. Yeah, that's a second round film grade. Yeah, that's a second, late second, early third film grade. Like I have so many players that I'm going to have, you mentioned in my top 100 in my top 75 in my top 50 because there's so many of these guys that are able to win in all different shapes and sizes and you mentioned it we like this class a lot better than we liked last year's class we'll try to put it in perspective you and i had jackson smith andigba as our top wide receiver last year.

At some point as we go through these things, I will say like, hey, this is the Jackson Smith and Jigba line. Like this is where I would have had him in this class as kind of it stands today with our first rechecks now that the regular season is done. So how do you want to do this, man? Do you want to start like talking at 15 and working our way down? Do you want to start at 10? Do you want to briefly talk about the top 20 guys? How do you want to do this man do you want to start like talking at 15 and working our way down you want to start at 10 you want to briefly talk about the top 20 guys how do you want to do this i think the easiest format for people to follow is we go 15 to 11 out of the gate maybe let's talk

about that group and then we'll do the countdown from 10 to 1 and then maybe have a discussion at the end about guys that we like but are on the outside looking in. Or it could be a guy that, hey, I know he's going to be in Mobile. Trevor and I are going to be on the practice field. I'm going to be able to answer some questions there or combine questions here. Do you think that's the easiest format to follow? This is why you're a pro.

Because this is just a straightforward format. You're giving the people what they what they want that's beautiful so i'll let you kick it off then okay you go 15 through 11 give me the names we'll have a little reaction and uh i'll let you talk about maybe one or two guys wherever they are in in um in 15 through 11 before I get to my reaction to those players. So 15 to 11 for me, 15, I had Jamari Thrash from Louisville, who I really like a lot. I'm sitting here just appalled that this man is 15th in this class because I've talked a little bit about him on the show. He transferred from Georgia State. He's a big play guy that if you're in an offense that understands how to use guys in motion

and keep hands off of them and create space, this guy's a problem. So I really, really liked him. And then 14, a really interesting player that we will see at the Senior Bowl, Malachi Corley from Western Kentucky. Okay. He's drawing a lot of conversations

about being a Debo usage kind of guy. Yeah, we're going to talk about that because we need to. We do. You and I had a long conversation about Corley on Summer Scouting, so people that have followed this whole journey with us know a lot about Corley already. 13 for me is Xavier Worthy from Texas, the speedster who, once upon a time, Worthy was Texas, the speedster who, you know, once upon a time,

Worthy was looked at as a guy that like, hey, he's going to be a top three to five wide receiver in his class. So this just speaks to the talent in this group. And I think, you know, depending where you have him, we'll have a conversation about Worthy because when a guy is people are seeing him in top fives and I have him outside the top 10. Like I want to explain why at 12, somebody that I think is just such a good player all around. He will get open. He will catch the ball. He's pretty explosive. All things considered, he's just not the biggest guy in the world is Ladd McConkie from Georgia. He's been banged up this year. Um, you know, he might project as an inside guy. So that's one where love the player and feel confident in the player,

but maybe not the same upside that some of these guys have. And it's funny when you have that conversation with yourself because you're like, man, I'm sure a lot of scouts said that about Puka Nakua last year where they're like, well, I don't see the upside in him, but I like what he could be as a number four or five. And you've seen what he's done right away. And now he's a, well, I don't see the upside in him, but I like what he could be as a number four or five. And you've seen what he's done right away. And now he's a, well, I don't want to say number one

because Cooper Cuff's on his team. Number two. Yeah, but obviously he's a stud. And then number 11, somebody that, this is the one that I despise leaving out of the top 10. And he ultimately might be in my top 10 because I think one of my players in the top 10 and he he ultimately might be in my top 10 because I think one of my players in my top 10 could be going back to school and we'll get there but number 11 was A.D. Mitchell

and A.D. Mitchell size and speed touchdown catching machine um he can go find the football but I think there are some shortcomings to his game that the appearance doesn't always match what you would expect to get from him physically. And I do think him and Worthy at times were held back at times by Quinn Ewers. Like, I think I don't I'm not a big Quinn guy. I think Quinn leaves a lot on the field at times. So I think that was frustrating at times watching them but yeah 15 to 11 for me was Jamari Thrash Malachi Corley Xavier Worthy Ladd McConkie and A.D. Mitchell and it's it's wild saying some of those names and they are not in the

top 10 because they are really good players yeah there's there's two of those guys who I am intrigued by and like a decent amount who aren't in my top 15. So I just want to kind of touch on those before we get to a couple of the other guys. Malachi Corley is one who I did not have in my top 15. And I get it. And I, you know, this is somebody who has a really big hive on social media. And I understand why he he does because when you watch western kentucky over the last couple of years he is such a unique player you mentioned it he reminds people of debo samuels type of usage right get this guy the ball in his hands in any way and he is a yards after catch machine i mean more so last year than this year but there were there are reps from the 2022 tape

where he gets that ball in his hand and it's almost like it's like a super mario mushroom for him like yeah he just he like becomes this this monster of a ball carrier and when you think about his background it gives a little context to. And it gives context to some of my concerns, which I do want to talk about here in a second. He actually got to Western Kentucky as a corner back recruit and ends up making the switch over to running back as he gets on campus. So he never actually played corner for them, even though he's a corner recruit, a DB recruit in high school, moves over to running back. So he's playing running back for the first couple of years at Western Kentucky, moves over to wide receiver. So him becoming this running back when he gets the ball in his hands, that's

why he's got a legit running back background. Now, the part where I didn't like Corley as much as some of the other guys in this class, it's not to take anything away from that unique after catch ability he just doesn't have a lot of nuance of playing wide receiver like he doesn't have a lot of experience and efficiency getting off press coverage he doesn't really have a variety of different releases when he is going up against closer press coverage you know the stance and the release it's pretty much the same. It's a typical speed release, or he's kind of struggling to get off of that press close coverage.

His route running is also pretty simple, which is- He's not asked to do a lot. Yeah. And that's like, I don't want to like hold that against him because they're probably just trying to scheme up opportunities to get him in space. But the route running and the route tree, it's very simplistic. And to me, I remember because Debo Samuel was one of my first senior bowls that I got to attend in person. I think it was maybe my second senior bowl, but I remember watching Debo at the senior bowl. And the thing that impressed me the most

wasn't the unique athleticism. It wasn't the yards after catch ability. It was, he was cooking people in red zone drills, like in press coverage situations. He was winning one-on-one with these different releases and getting off of press coverage. And he already showed that going to the pro level. Now he is that on steroids. Not really. Don't drug test him. He's not on steroids, but you guys know what I mean. For Corley, I don't see that same type of route runner going into the NFL. Now, that doesn't mean that he's not going to become a better route runner. He could. It's just that if he doesn't, like if he only gets marginally better at the nuances of playing receiver, I don't know outside of schemed up touches for him in a rotational role, if he's going to be this full-time receiver, even for as special as he is when he gets the ball in his hands.

So that was my big drawback for Corley and why he wasn't in my top 15. And I agree with you. I think that if you take him, you really need to have a key plan for this guy. I think he's going gonna be one of those players that he's gonna be motioned in that of the backfield i think you're gonna uh it's almost kind of in a way but to a watered down extent what munkin has done at times with zay flowers this year i think that would be sure right like that but i think even zay's got the releases like zay can win down the field at time they can win down the field zay also wins with so much suddenness like right i didn't see

that in corley he corley's not that same type of dude so yeah but i agree with i agree with the role though i do he has 109 screen targets over the last two years. There you go. Screen targets. There you go. That's crazy. Some guys don't see that in their career. It's a pro and a con, right? The pro is he's clearly a beast after the catch, so you want to just get the ball in his hands. But it's a con because it has held back development

from true wide receiver work that you need at the NFL level. And it's tough because I think a lot of people want to just go to Debo. And that's dangerous. The reason why people go to Debo is because he's basically the, one of the only successful stories that you have with that kind of mold. A lot of those other guys who might've been great at that in college, aren't great at that in the NFL. Cause you got to become a little bit more nuanced of a receiver.

You've got to be able to separate in different ways. You've got to have a more diverse route tree, that kind of stuff. So I hope we see that from Corley. And I hope we see that at Senior Bowl. Corley's got a lot on the line in Mobile. Yeah. This is one for me where if I go down there, and it's exactly what I saw on tape to what the scheme limits him to do,

I would probably drop him behind thrash and a couple other guys that were outside my top 15 if he goes down there and he's shown improvement and it's like oh this is an area where i'm allowed to do other things then he'll easily hold this spot and even creep up towards the top 10 who was the other guy um who was the other guy that i wanted to talk about thrash yeah so i i don't have thrash in there i have thrash just on the outside thrash and roman wilson who i also have just outside of my top 15 i like both of those dudes um thrash isn't quite the athlete that roman wilson is so i actually have roman wilson i think one or two spots higher than him but i do like that jamari thr Thrash will show you the different releases,

is comfortable against press coverage. He's got really nice hands. He's strong for 185, 190 pounds. I think he's a really good all-around athlete. I think he's got adequate long speed, change of direction, agility, that kinds of stuff. But I didn't think any of the three were major difference makers. So it's good that he's got a lot of nuance and kind of how he runs routes

and how he gets off the line of scrimmage. Cause I think he needs it. And it's what made him an effective receiver. But I wonder if I'm sleeping on his long speed a little bit. Cause I couldn't really find any information of, Hey, he used to run track in high school. Hey, here's what he was clocked at. Like, here's what the school clocked at like here's what

the school is like clocked him at something like that so combine i think is going to be big for him because right now i think he's an adequate athlete if he's a little bit better than i believe right now then the tape all of a sudden gets really nice because he's proven to be a pretty good vertical thread this year but i i thought the double moves were out of this world yeah right right and he sells them really well oh Oh, that's what I mean. Like it's like it's a win now skill. Yeah, his his double move would win in the NFL today. And I thought some of the double moves in this class with guys ahead of him were horrendous.

They're just so big, long and fast that it didn't matter. So good for them. But not for Ladd McConkie, baby. Oh, man. Ladd is Ladd is quite good, I will say. And once again, a guy that I hated leaving outside of my top 10. Yeah, Ikie, baby. Oh man. Ladd is quite good. I will say. And once again, a guy that I hated leaving outside of my top 10. Yeah, I did too. So much so that I didn't. Nice. Respect. But that means you left somebody else out. That's really, really good as I'm looking at this list. I've got

one name here that we're going to get to in a second that I know that you and I are going to have a little bit of a conversation of because I know he's in your top 10, and I've got him a little bit further outside of my top 10. Okay, so you want me to go 15 through 11? Yeah, go ahead. So 15 for me is Brendan Rice. Jerry Rice's son, USC. I thought the last couple of years he's done really, really well just showing how you can win in the little ways of the position.

He's a little bit bigger, a little bit taller than jerry rice was but you could tell man i mean this guy is he's already got a wide variety of releases he knows when to use them versus inside leverage and outside leverage he's not the fastest dude in the world but man there is no fat on his first step explosiveness how he's getting out of his stance. The hands are so active. You know, some of these guys, like they get off the line of scrimmage and their hands are like down by their hips or their knees. Like they're not coming up at all.

This dude, I mean, the hands are chugging. And the second he hits, he eats up the cushion on off coverage and he gets to where he is even and bumping up with the receiver. That hand is chopping through and he is cleanly getting by him as good as he can i think his stop start ability is pretty nice for a guy who's six foot three over 200 pounds so i like him but he's another dude who combines huge for um where he's and is going to end up being for me this is the surprise player jalen polk i have jalen polk at 14 um i can get into a little bit of this but i think we're going to have a little bit of a conversation so i'll just say jalen Polk is 14.

I would talk about it now because he's number 10 for me. Okay. So, well, hold on. Let me get through finish, but I don't think it's as far off as you, you were expecting there.

So Xavier worthy is 13 for me. I think he was 13 for you. Yeah, there we go. I think Xavier worthy, his speed is, is just such a difference maker. But his strength is an issue, man.

I thought the wind on the field was going to take him out of the stadium at times. And I like him better than I liked Jalen Hyatt last year. But it's sort of like, what? Did you like Hyatt better? I don't know yet. I like Worthy better than I liked Hyatt last year. But it's that same conversation that we're going to have again. Lightning quick player.

Because here's why I like him better than Hyatt. I don't think Hyatt had enough nuance to his game. I thought he was just speed to go along with him being very light. Worthy, I at least think, has more releases, is more confident in getting off press, at least shows a little bit more versatility in his route. So I think Worthy is a better receiver than Hyatt was, but we're having the same conversation about like,

okay, is the strength just that big of a negative? Like, is it really going to impede? Because, dude, I'm watching this Packers this packers giants game a couple nights ago i think the first play of the game they threw to jalen hyatt and he just like dropped the ball because he got hit you know and it's like come on man this is exactly what we were talking about so i'm kind of having this conversation with xavier worthy again i have xavier leguette at 12 um okay extremely unique player who is very tough to place for me i like him struggled too and but he is he is kind of difficult to place and then 11 i don't know if you watch this guy because we talked a little bit before the show and

told me who you watch did you watch jermaine burton from alabama not again i have not seen him since last year dude i like jermaine burton man interesting i again. I have not seen him since last year. Dude, I like Jermaine Burton. Interesting. I'll do. I will do a rewatch. He just fell off the face of the earth to me. And I've seen him on broadcast this year.

Have his moments. Dude, he the footwork, the quickness. Again, I go back to it. If you can win off the line of scrimmage, that is such a plus to me. And he already has a bunch of different releases that he goes to very very confidently he's a really good route runner and he's strong as hell at the catch point he's just a little bit smaller so you put this dude in the slot like whoo yeah i think i think we're cooking with gas like i genuinely believe and we'll get to these guys in a second but like burton uh lad mcconkey emekic buka like i think burton's in that

conversation with those two dudes or yeah he was a summer scouting 2022 guy like heavy was yeah heavy remember he transferred and we were like oh or i don't even know if he transferred but yeah i remember he did no he was at georgia for two years and then he was alabama we talked a lot about him so i i mean i'll definitely get to him that's interesting though so he's 12 he's 11 for me 11 I got him at 11 I just think he he already wins in so many ways that are translatable to the NFL level you put this dude in the slot we're cooking so read those one more time for the good people at home excluding myself Brandon Rice uh 15 Jalen Polk at 14 xavier worthy at 13 xavier leggett at 12 and jermaine burton at 11 yeah okay okay we talking about polk yeah i think it will have the

polk conversation just polk's 10 for you right so i guess this is a good yeah he's he's 10 for me i flipped him and ad mitchell about 45 times genuinely i just sat there on the dock with copy and paste and just kept going back and forth because i think they're totally different that's why it was so hard to do i look at polk and i think the best way to explain his game is like the diet soda version of chris godwin that's how he likes to play in my eyes but i mean he's not there yet don't get me wrong godwin no no i you say you saying diet chris godwin or chris godwin light whatever however you want to say it like i i can see where you're coming from there yeah that's why i really liked uh what he was able to do this year but i mean sure there's just physically

he doesn't have the same gifts as a lot of these guys i think that's probably what you're leaning towards yeah i i don't think he's as much of an athlete as the rest of these guys no he's not this is something that you will notice in my ranking i've been burned a lot before on contested catch only receivers. Well, we'll get there. I think contested catch, I think contested catching ability is jaw dropping, eye popping. It's what gets the people going. It's provocative.

Yeah. But when that, when you don't win in other ways, it is really tough to make a living like that at the pro level. And for Polk, I think he relies too much on that contested catchability. And I think you saw that because in the beginning of the year, this year, he started off hot. He had one, two, three, four, five, six out of his first eight games this year he went over 100 yards and he had six touchdowns seven touchdowns in his first eight games so this dude was absolutely

unconscious for the first six games that that washington played but in the last one, two, three, four, five weeks, he had just one touchdown. And against Oregon State and Washington State, he had zero catches for zero yards on 10 targets. And it's like, okay, when you then pair that with he wasn't really that big of an impactful receiver the previous season now all of a sudden you kind of just have a really small sample size of him winning with some really spectacular strong contested catches and not a lot of consistency outside of that for a two-year stretch. So I think that those things are kind of what floats in my head.

His pre-snap stance is very upright. He doesn't really explode out of his stance. It's not really a loaded stance. You see some guys, what you want is you want to be able to – some guys just load on their back foot anyways. They're more comfortable with it. But ideally, you'd love to be able to – some guys just load on their back foot anyways. They're more comfortable with it. But ideally, you'd love to be able to load your weight on your front foot and be able to just explode off of that and really get into –

get really up the field immediately as fast as you possibly can. Some guys don't do that. It's not the worst thing in the world. But Jalen Polk, it's almost like he's not even really exploding off of either leg. So I don't really love his setup. When he comes off the line of scrimmage, his hands are very low. And so when corners come up to block him, he always is giving up his chest, even though he is a willing blocker and gets his hands up there.

He's late to do it. The low hands also go into him kind of getting off contact as he gets to where corners are in the contact window, especially on the breaks of his routes. He's not as flexible. He doesn't have the best change of direction agility. He doesn't have the best long speed. And so when I take all those things into account,

he's kind of just a contested catch guy. And I still think he's a really good one, but how high am I drafting guys that I feel were only contested catch guys in college and it only gets tougher to separate when you get to the pro level? So that's why I got him at 15. I was surprised I was that low on him when it was all said and done because I really liked him at the beginning of the year. But got to stay true to kind of what I saw throughout the whole regular season.

So my counter to that, Trevor, and I agree with a lot of what you said, is that I think he's just a total junkyard dog in the middle of the field like I I think he's tough as hell I actually like that shit you bringing up the Chris Godwin thing because that's what Chris Godwin does so well he did so well at Penn State he does it so well in Tampa when they need a 15 yard in route over the middle of the field they go to Chris Godwin every time and if that's bulk fantastic but i have him as like a second third round grade right now and godwin got picked in the third so that was that's like kind of the range that i could see anyways but yeah i didn't

mean no no you're good i mean just jumping in the numbers a little bit in the intermediate um part of the field in the middle of the field so 10 to 20 yard, in the middle of the field. So 10 to 20 yard range in the middle of the field, he caught 10 to 15 targets, 155 yards, two touchdowns. The panics had 140.3 passer rating when targeting there. I think that's where he'll make his bread and butter at the next level, because he's just,

he'll get the absolute stuffing knocked out of him. And I think Cole, he doesn't care and those guys are just a little something different with them and to your point he has to do that because i don't think he is going to run extremely well and i don't think he's wildly explosive um but he's he's got enough and he will do the dirty stuff and he's does it with enough size like a lot of dudes that do that it's like well he's 5'10 and he weighs 180 so he'll last three weeks but this guy he's gonna play over 200 pounds he's over six feet tall easily he could be that bigger slot if you want him to be

and that's where i think he has to make his bread and butter but i think with that you want to move to number 10 yeah so okay so was, that was 10 for me. So, yep. I have, I, so I have 80 Mitchell at 10. Oh, I'm shocked by this. I thought we were going to have to have a conversation and I guess we don't. Cause I am. I am also shocked that I am having 80 Mitchell at 10.

I mean, let's just talk about this. It is, and I have been doing this long enough that I shouldn't feel this way. It is jarring watching college football all year. And I admittedly watched less of it than I used to because Sunday through Friday, I am doing NFL bumper to bumper, like when my eyes open to when I go to sleep. So Saturdays are not what they used to be. But and I just get more out of the tape. And this is where I'm going with this.

Watching all of the tape of these guys compared to what I saw from college football on a down-by-down basis, it's just mind-blowing. What you think of them then and then what you think of them after. And I guess Mitchell is kind of one of those guys of that story.

There is so much that A.D. Mitchell does well. Mm-hmm. So I've got like a i have a second round grade on him right now and i've teetered between that like late first early second grade versus like a just a second round grade and i went back and forth on that a lot because when i look at the the categories of how i grade these guys, he passes a lot of these tests. You know, when we go to some of the more advanced like PFF data, like we have separation percentage, right?

So that's how often you are creating an open target. We also have separation percentage versus single coverage. I think those two are very valuable numbers to have on these players. And for AD Mitchell, his separation percentage, so how often he created an open target. Remember, this is a 6'4", 195, 200-pound receiver. So this is a big receiver. You're not expecting a ton of separation normally from bigger receivers.

75.5% regular separation percentage, which is in the 75th. So the 75th percentile and the way that I will explain this, because I'm going to bring this up for a lot of different players at a lot of different positions. When I bring up percentile, what that is saying is it is a percentile of this player and what he did in college versus receivers who have played a decent amount at the NFL level. So like you would say have have like made it either been consistent rotational players, obviously spot starters, consistent starters, guys like that. So it's him versus those players over the last four to five years and how those players did in college, right? So it's the guys who made it at the NFL level and how they produced and how they played in college versus what A.D. Mitchell is doing right

now. And A.D. Mitchell is obviously just the example. So his separation percentage is in the 75th percentile, his separation percentage versus single coverage, even 74th percentile. And so it's like, damn man, this guy, he moves so well for a big receiver. He's so smooth. He's got a great shoulder dip on a speed release to get upfield and to get vertical. He can, he can handle a double move. He can throttle his speeds in and out. The biggest worry that I have with him is honestly just the fact that he looks so different from play to play. It's kind of like the body language. If he's not the primary receiver, it looks like he's kind of moving at a different speed.

You know how we saw with the old Baylor offenses. Oh, yeah. They just stand there. Yeah. If they weren't part of the half field read, they're literally not even moving. They're just asking the corner like, hey, bro, how you doing? Doing all right? Family good?

Everybody good? Yeah. Things going well? How are classes? All right. Cool. Cool. Yeah, man.

So like that's it's not to that extent. But Mitchell has all the talent in the world he has some of my favorite plays of any receiver in this receiver class for the routes that he has for what kind of a red zone threat he is to how money he has been as a third down option for this Texas team everything that he has been for for that team this year and going back to Georgia I just don't know if he plays with that fire that I want him to play with because there's sometimes he does it's almost like the George Pickens thing right where Pickens on one play looks like an absolute dog and Mitchell's the same way Mitchell has those plays where he looks like a complete dog but then there's other plays where I don't know he's just not the same player so all of the talent in the

world I just don't know exactly what to do with him so it's that's where I've got him funny reading my negative notes because I wrote it as his routes can lack tempo and polish but when you think about it it's really what you said where it's he's like coasting through them it's not like he can't do it no because because we've seen him do it we've seen him do it he had 300 plus yard games um he wins with size and speed there are a couple times where you're like whoa like at that size that move like that but you're right it's it's not always on and i i just walked away from watching him and wanting it's funny i i have him in my top 50 if i released the big board today i think or at least my top 60 and i wanted more and i think that it's almost

a curse if i had never heard of ad mitchell in my life and i watched him i'd be like there's something to this guy but we talked a lot about adD. Mitchell over the summer and we talked a lot about him throughout the season. And then when it came to, you know, crunch time, I just was like, man, I wanted a little more. I want a little bit more. He reminds me of T. Higgins in a lot of ways in his best. Right. When T. Higgins is at his best and when A.D. Mitchell are at their best, they are really fluid movers for players who are six foot four. I think Higgins is at his best and what ad mitchell are at their best they are really fluid movers for players who are six foot four i think higgins is a little bit bigger but i mean they've shown that they could be vertical threats deep down the field great red zone threats good third

down players great great acrobatic work at the sideline with great footwork and we're seeing what t is becoming now as a potential 20 million dollar a year receiver like that is what i feel like ad mitchell kind of is in the mold of and when i i'm not i'm not gonna have like player comps for everybody quite yet but when i have one in this group i'll kind of shout him out so uh that was the one that kind of came to my mind with with higgins and ad mitchell so all right who you got at nine at nine i have somebody you had right outside the top 10 xavier laggett. And I'm sure we see him the same. Leggett is a nice story.

He's a year five breakout. He's going to be 23 when drafted. He has worked his ass off as a special teamer for South Carolina. And then as a fifth year senior this year, he was the offense most of the time. And I think there's something to that because a lot of guys in this era hang it up or it never works for them or they transfer and there's something to this dude that he put his head down and got better year after year after year and he did he took the long road is what i'm saying i think there's also something to that where you're like,

Oh man, like what, you know, what was it that took a while? Right. So the good with Legette, and this is a guy that had over 70 catches over 1200 yards, seven touchdowns and 96 targets.

He's used all over the field, that backfield slot out wide. The offense makes an effort to get him the ball, including using him in motion. And he's six, three, almost 230 pounds. I mean, this guy is a muscle factory. Yeah, he is.

Serious hang time. Can go up and get jump balls. The excellent deep tracking. Like, he just hangs in the air at that size. Can use the big frame to shield defenders at the catch point. He had six games of 110-plus receiving yards this year. So, I mean, he was pretty consistently dominant. Experienced kick returner. He brought a touchdown back in 2022 he's also a gunner yeah hunt coverage like he at a minimum when you draft this guy you are getting

a six foot three at 230 pounds straight line speed gunner that can work off of manufactured touches i think some of the negatives a lot of the separation to me is straight line vertical speed i think he lacks some lateral agility and intermediate routes and um you know it's funny because like i remember saying the same thing at times about dk metcalf who i loved but it just didn't matter at the end of the day for dk metcalf or just never really did some of the adjustments on balls over the middle of the field just look uncomfortable i don't know if it's because he's so big and so muscular that he's not like, and you'd like the throws to be better, but there was just a couple of times where a throw was behind him

and his adjustments didn't look as natural as other guys. And it goes back to, he's going to be 23 when drafted. So he's a late breakout in year five, but physically a very imposing player. A lot to like in terms of intangibles clearly with that work ethic and special teams ability and it's just a matter of is this the trajectory he's on the year year five leap he took because he's going to be i think a really solid number two outside receiver in the nfl if he stays on this trajectory or is he going to plateau and just kind of be the special teamer and the size, speed, number three, number four,

that can win in contested down the field, but there's not really a lot of nuance to his game. You know what I mean, Trevor? Yeah, I mean, that's the way that I would explain him. I have him at number 12, and this is somebody who, let's be clear, every NFL team would want Xavier Leggett. Right. Small career ahead of him.

The size speed combo that he has. I mean, whether he's a wide receiver four or he ends up being a wide receiver two. I don't think he's going to be a wide receiver one. But like whatever range it is, every team in the NFL is going to want him because of what you mentioned. The special teams experience, the willingness. He's a kick returner. He's a gunner. He's somebody who you can get the ball in his hands.

He can be yards after catch guy. He can be a vertical player for you deep down the field with contested catches. He does a lot of those things. Does he win one-on-one? No, not nearly as much. The separation percentage versus single coverage is just in the 55th percentile. So it's not the worst, you know,

there are other guys that we're going to talk about that are worse. But I think that the nuance in his game, you're right. It's something that's just not necessarily there. The routes that they ask him to run are pretty straightforward. It's not like double moves. It's not a lot of deception. His release is getting off the line of scrimmage. Again, pretty simple.

It's pretty much, hey, I'm going to go be bigger and faster and stronger than you. It's okay. I mean, you've got to stick to what you're good at. But if that gets shut down, what are you? And I don't really have an answer for that for Leggett because nobody really at the college level was able to do that this year. It hadn't happened until this year. So that's also something that you kind of got to think about. But there was a quote from Dow Loggins,

who's their offensive coordinator. And he said this about Leggett. I think he said this in the preseason. I don't think the kids missed one single practice since I've been here, which is really hard because if you go that hard all the time, you're going to have nicks and bruises and get beat up, and you're going to have sore hamstrings, things like that. But this guy is built to last, and he's done things the right way.

And I think that that's a really good way to just encapsulate who Xavier Leguette is. So I had him a little bit lower, but I do think that we see him pretty similarly. So that was number nine for me. Yep. Who is number nine for you? All right. You ready?

Yeah. I'm nervous. I'm a little nervous. Yeah, you should be because we're about to have the conversation. I have Keon Coleman at nine. Well, I've met eight. Oh, baby. All right.

And he held on to eight for dear life what i said about polk and mitchell i did with coleman and laguette for three more hours yeah it's there is a um there's a how do i say this i don't know there's just like a blockade of keon Coleman, A.D. Mitchell, Xavier Leguette. Who do you have above who? And if I stare at this list long enough, every single hour you check in on me. Hey, Trev, how you doing? Who you got? One, two, three. I'd tell you a different number. Yeah, I'm on well. Five or six hours until I'm crying in the corner no so keon coleman somebody who we talked about uh early on in the season is somebody who is in my top five in summer scouting or at least immediately right after summer scouting because i i got eyes on him late six foot four 215 pounds just a contested catch

monster over the last couple of years he was in michigan state in 2022 transferred over to florida state this season he's got some of those jaw-dropping plays that we saw in college football this year. His athletic ability, especially as a straight line, like linear athlete, explosiveness, the jumps, the straight line speed, those things are decently impressive. But there is a major lack of separation to his game doesn't exist i mentioned some of the percentiles that like ad mitchell he was in the 74th percentile of a six foot four receiver of what that separation is xavier laguette six foot three six foot four his separation percentile against single coverage 55th percentile Keon Coleman, who is a more explosive athlete than both of those guys, which is hard to say for Xavier Leguette, but it feels like we've seen

some crazy athletic feats from Coleman. So I don't know. Maybe it's close. But 12th percentile. 12th. I mean, the separation doesn't exist in this player's game. So you want to talk about a player. And that's over the last two years, by the way, folks. I forgot to say that at the beginning. When I'm talking about percentiles, bigger sample sizes are always more powerful and more accurate. They tell a more true story. They paint a broader picture.

So I took the last two years that these players were starters. So it's 2022 and 2023. And this is the percentile that they are for both of those seasons. Now, some of these guys missed some time due to injury, like AD Mitchell missed 2022 a lot during injury, but he was still a starter. You know, like Ladd McConkie, we'll get to him. He missed some time in 2023, but he was still still a starter so that volume still kind of counts as much as it can there in a two-year sample size keon coleman had a separation percentage against single coverage of just 12th and that's it's not good we're talking about yards after catch per reception 34th percentile it's just an overall receiving grade over the last two years is just a 76.5 so

it's not as if like oh yeah he kind of struggles to separate like you mentioned it doesn't really exist in his game and it's kind of surprising when that's the case because this dude's a parterner you know like this dude's got some legit athletic ability. He just does not have a lot of nuance in his game outside of being bigger, faster, and stronger than a lot of the players he's going up against right now. Now that works at the pro level. If you're DK Metcalf doesn't really work at the pro level for a lot of other receivers that try to do that.

So what I have for his scouting summary is this Colvin Coleman's eval is a test of how much you prefer contested, what I have for his scouting summary is this. Coleman's eval is a test of how much you prefer contested catch receivers versus athletic separators. He's 6'4", 215 pounds. Sorry, he is a 6'4", 215-pound-plus athlete who is comfortable and even prefers getting physical with defensive backs, constantly catching passes through contact. Where that yields draw-dropping feats of strength,

his lack of separation ability is concerning for the next level. There just aren't a lot of guys who make a living as consistent contested catch players. The ones that do are often some of the best receivers in the league, and Coleman could be that, but it's going to take more nuance in his game for him to continue to get the reps to show that week in and week out there's some stiffness to him there's a little bit of lack of agility and there's not a lot of nuance in his releases and his routes and like I talked about a little bit with Malachi Corley doesn't mean that's going to be the case forever but if it doesn't't change, like if, if what you see is what you get, it's going to be hard to consistently win doing even what he's doing now.

I'm with you, obviously. And I was stunned. I was really stunned. Just couldn't run away from anyone. Um, 200 plus yard games this season. He, uh, So many of the touches are screens and jump balls. There's no tempo in his routes. There's no agility. There's no crispness. I wrote down on my final bad note, was he really banged up throughout this whole season? Or what degree was he hurt? Because it just doesn't look right,

that second half of the season and there's a lot to start falling in love with I mean he's a true above the rim threat he's an acrobat he can make circus catches he's got a big frame that some guys sometimes guys come downhill and they're a little hesitant to hit him and they they miss him and he can keep on running he's that kind of open field you know force at times but if you want to talk about potential here to get up to the plate and completely flail at a curveball and and walk away with your head down like it exists here it really it's scary um it could be a situation where you're like man we fell in love with the highs and we didn't realize the majority of it unfortunately could be lows and i love i still like the idea and potential of keon coleman but he will not be in my top five six seven uh wide receivers in this

draft if he declares this year because there's just so much consistency lacking right now that doesn't exist with the guys ahead of him and there's there's too many guys that get open exactly and why would you reach on someone that can't open yeah why would you reach on someone that simply cannot everybody's big fast and strong in the nfl i mean he goes from and listen he's gonna moss some people people in the NFL yeah he's also gonna get out there and he's gonna go up and see guys that are almost his size and Sir Tan Sauce Gardner Xavier Howard AJ Terrell like those guys don't care they're like oh I'm big like you as well so I have to say on this podcast it was the most disappointed I was out of watching any of these wide receivers.

It's kind of funny when you watch him versus Johnny Wilson, who I have Johnny Wilson outside of my top 15. Me too. But God damn, I love him. Like, Oh, he's going to be a cool player somewhere.

He is. It's so funny watching these two guys because johnny wilson's on the opposite side of him and wilson is six foot six six foot seven he's somewhere in between that range and like 235 240 so if there was anybody of the two him versus keon coleman that wouldn't have nuance wouldn't have wiggle wouldn't have nuance, wouldn't have wiggle, wouldn't have diverse routes, wouldn't have a diverse release bag to go into against press coverage. It would be Wilson. And Wilson's completely the opposite. If Wilson could catch consistently, I'd have him so much higher on this list.

This dude is showing double tap releases he's showing diamond releases he's showing like short burst releases he is doing like he has he has so much nuance in his game that i love for a six foot i would i would love the nuance that he has in his games in fact i do i love the same exact nuance that jamari Thrash has at 50 pounds lighter and five inches shorter. And yet he is showing this kind of thing. The issue is that just like Wilson sometimes like won't catch the football and it pisses you the hell off. It's not natural. Just catch.

I think he's going to the Senior Bowl. So like, I swear to God, if Johnny Wilson makes one contested catch of the senior bowl, I'm going to put him in the top three. I'm going to tell Romo Dunze to hit the, no, I'm not, I'm not, but I just wanted to shout out Johnny Wilson because when you watch these two

guys back to back, cause you're watching a lot of same film, it's just mind blowing to me. I'm like, how is the six foot seven guy moving with more savviness and nuance than the six foot four, 225 pound guy, 215 pounds. I don't know why I keep saying 225, but anyways, I had to go on that rant. OK, I think I wanted Keon Coleman to be Drake London, and I just didn't walk away with that. Oh, God, you're so right.

I went in like, oh, we got another Drake London. This is cool. I loved London. Sure. I loved Drake London. I had London wide receiver one for the longest time in that process. I ended up having a wide receiver two. I put Jameson Williams over him, which I think it was, you know,

I wasn't staying true to myself. Probably should have. But that is a great way to put it, Connor. We wanted, I wanted him to be Drake London. And he is not. All right. So that was me at eight. We weren't ready for that.

When I put him at the back half to the top 10, I was like, I feel like Trevor's going to see what I'm seeing, but I'm still wondering where he stacks them. So who'd you have at eight? Well, I'm going to tell you who I got at eight. Oh, are you? But before I do that, I've got to talk to our friends about our friends at Fabric by Gerber Life.

This time of year, you guys know what it is. It's all about getting in the right routines, the holidays especially. You know, it's a crazy time of year. You got to be able to get into your routine. You got to be able to make sure that you walk through your checklist consistently to stay sane. Well, the number one thing on that checklist should always be securing your family's financial future with our friends over at Fabric from Gerber Life. They make it quick, easy, and affordable to protect your family so you can get back to enjoying life. It was designed by parents for parents to help you get high quality, surprisingly

affordable term life insurance policies in less than 10 minutes. They got all sorts of flexible policies that fit your family's budget, like quality policies for like a million dollars in coverage for less than a dollar a day. You can get your personalized quote in just minutes and apply whenever it is convenient for you all online into your schedule. You can go from start to cover in less than 10 minutes with no health exam required. Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to protect their family and apply today in just minutes at meetfabric.com slash stock exchange. That's meetfabric.com slash stock exchange. Policies issued by Western Southern Life Assurance Company. Not available in certain states.

Price is subject to underwriting and health questions. All right. Who do I have today? Let's pull it up. What do we got here? Oh, all right. I got a Mechig buka number eight we're just on fire right now i haven't met number seven all right so we're i think we're gonna see

a lot of these guys decently similarly i just might have them in a little bit of different order than you when we get kind of like around the top five but uh yeah this is nice similar conversations here we had a lot of variation kind of more in the 11 to 15 range. But Emeka Igbuka, man, I do like him. Six foot one, 205 pounds. I wasn't blown away, right? I think we went into this year, I went into this year, thinking that Igbuka could be a real wide receiver one type in the NFL. I don't feel like it's quite that now.

I have more of a second round grade on him. But I think that he is, you know, some of the pros that I've had written for him, chess piece type of a pre-snap motion player who I love as a true like flanker, you know, let him be off the line of scrimmage, use them in pre-snap motion. You can put a lot of stress on a defense because of how versatile he is. You can put them off the line of scrimmage. You can put them on the line of scrimmage too, but I like him the most when you can put a lot of stress on the defense because of how versatile he is you can put him off the line of scrimmage you put him on the line of scrimmage too but i like him the most when you can kind of like get him in motion and even put him in a slot i think he's probably gonna play mostly in the slot at the next level he's got a pretty impressive change of direction especially from low speeds you know high speeds a little stiffer than i thought and i think that's a big

reason why i've kind of brought him down a little bit, but he's a smooth mover, not super twitchy, but he's a smooth mover. The catch radius is limited with him. He's got shorter arms. So, you know, the leaping ability, I think the explosiveness, I wonder if the vertical jump is going to be something that doesn't look good on a combine report for him. Cause I don't really know what his vert's going to be. I wasn't impressed with it on tape. Maybe it's different when it's at the combine um i mentioned the changing directions at higher speeds isn't as effective as i once thought that it was and i think the vertical speed is kind of just adequate not difference making it could be okay at the nfl level but that's why even though he has a lot of experience on the outside i don't think he's going to be a

full-time outside receiver because i don't think he's going to be that consistent vertical threat so give him the two-way goes, let him be savvy, let him create that separation and zone because you want to talk about separation percentiles. I mean, like this dude's a stud. Okay. Separation percentage. Remember this over the last two years. So I know he was hurt a lot this year. So you go to last year as well. Separation percentage overall, 95th percentile. Separation percentage versus single coverage, 91st percentile. His receiving grade versus zone coverage, 97.5. This dude's fine in the soft spots.

He's a very smart player. He's a very nuanced player. He understands things really well. He wins with his mind as much as he does his athleticism. There's also a stat that we have at PFF that I absolutely love. Anybody who's familiar with baseball, you know, like wins above replacement. PFF has wins above average, so it's kind of that same thing. And Egbuka last year in 2022 had a win above average of 0.37.

So that's actually pretty dang high. That's one of the higher marks that we will talk about here. And so they used him quite often in a lot of different ways i see him as like a bigger amon ross st brown type of a player and that's kind of the way that i view him now as a as a future slot in the nfl i really like him as well he is insanely smart he's a technician he can really work the intermediate area of the field. He's got good feet. I think he gets physical in those routes. I wrote down literally nightmare to deal with in the slot.

Yeah. You know, it's just such a nightmare. He's got, once again, really, really quick feet, really quick releases. He doesn't have, like you said, long arms, but he uses the full extension to pluck the ball out of the air. There's not a lot of alligator arming. He is incredibly bright when he sees zone coverage and how to manipulate it and how to sit in it.

Igbuka's just a really buttoned-up prospect. I know he got banged up this year, as we said, and we wanted more out of him, but I think he's going to run well. I think he plays with a high IQ and is physical enough in his routes. And I think he's just such a helper to a quarterback. So I liked him a lot.

Is he going back? So this is the player I was talking about. He is playing in Cotton Bowl. I believe Ohio State's in. Want to make sure I have that right. I mean, I don't know how much it even matters these days, but Egbuka is he's playing in the Cotton Bowl. And the exact quote I'm seeing from him today is I'm playing in the bowl game.

I think it's important to end the season on the right note with a win against a really good team and excited to have another chance to be on the field with my brothers. Hmm. I mean, typically you would think, and I know he's also said he's undecided. He's got something to gain though, right? He does. He missed time and it's a stacked wide receiver class.

If he has, i i would assume harrison jr is not playing right no he's not yeah we got to assume that marvin harrison jr is not playing so he hasn't announced and like let's come on and jordan fleming's transferring so 14 targets for abuka like if if abuka has the Jackson Smith and Jigba Rose Bowl 200 yard performance that might be the difference between him going in the second round him going to the first round yeah remind everybody who you are right right Ibuka is just really good and you don't have to go very far to find that in 2021 he was a great player so don't only let a guy getting banged up hide you you who he is.

And maybe he does play. It's an interesting thought process, Trevor. I'd heard that, and this is with every player like him, the school is making a significant effort to try to get them to stay. There's NIL packages. There is something to Abuka avoiding this wide receiver class and legitimately going in the top three wide receivers the following year but if i was just scouting today i wouldn't dock him for this year as much as maybe some are and think he's easily wide receiver seven with a better floor than a

lot of guys in this class he's just going to be a productive crafty smart physical um slot at a minimum that can also win outside. By the way, there's no way Ohio State's going to pay Marvin Harrison Jr. Oh my God, stop it. $20 to $25 million. What are we tweeting these days? Like, just, there's no, like, Shador Sanders, because we talked about this on the PFF show earlier earlier this week. Shador Sanders is making like the most NIL money of like anybody right now.

And it's like four million. Well, you're telling me that they're going to pay Marvin Harrison Jr., a non quarterback, five times that much to set the precedent that's going to put every school and every collective completely bankrupt if this were to actually happen you realize how how horrendous this precedent would be that's football that's the issue it would be catastrophic to put it in perspective if marvin harrison got that he'd be paid the same money as DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper. There's just, like you said,

what are we tweeting? Just stop it. What? Go get your, go third overall, get your signing bonus, go start your NFL career and get to free agency earlier because you are going to be a superstar and in three years you'll be paid 30 million dollars a year yeah just go sign with nike you know i don't know people just i i know one of the accounts that

tweeted that i've had them blocked for so long because it's such garbage nonsense um so there's that was my account wasn't me i've had you blocked for day one what a turn that would be yeah there's a reason why we don't play in the show because you've been blocked and i can't see any of your takes so everything's a surprise to me oh man rule one never tweet rule two and two never log off that's three, block your coworkers. Block everyone. Yeah, block the people you enjoy. Block your loved ones.

Block your loved ones. That one's actually not bad. That's not bad because you're hiding them from your disastrous life. That's actually why I deleted Facebook like eight years ago. Yeah, my Facebook has never existed. Okay, seven for me, right? We're up to seven? You're up to seven. My Facebook has never existed. Okay. Seven for me, right? We're up to seven?

You're up to seven. Ibuka was seven for me, eight for you. At some point, we got to hit a snag where you have someone different. Well, I... So, unfortunately, we're going to have the top six the same. But... Oh, yes, we are. The order might be different. And I think the conversations are going to be good.

Seven, I have Lab McConkie. There he is. We've been waiting for it. Listen. I'm all ears. Correct me if I'm wrong. The point of playing wide receiver is to get open catch to football. It certainly is.

And this man can do it. This man can do it. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know if I'm putting way too much stock into this when uh derwin james went on i don't remember if it was i am athlete or pivot or which one it was but they're like listing off they're like oh who's the toughest to guard and they're like was it dk metcalf uh was it amari cooper and then derwin james goes hunter renfro and they're like excuse me and they like almost laughed and they like laughed at him and derwin james like go watch the tape yeah yeah like derwin j i don't know derwin james is safety he's not a

corner so it's a little bit of a different story but derwin james is also a freak athlete and this dude's like hunter renfro go watch the tape so i know we kind of brought that up and we're joking about it during summer scouting when both of us had lad mcconkey in the top 10 there as well yeah we've always loved lad mcconkey dude it's just he just gets open man separation percentage 93rd percentile separation percentage versus single coverage 83rd percentile receiving grade versus zone 97.4 receiving grade versus single coverage 93.5 and those are always a little bit overinflated and so it's not like when you see like 93 it's not like whoa you know his overall receiving grade over the last two years was an 80.6 that's more towards

what people are more familiar with but like how often he was used yards per route run 76 percentile average depth of target's 58 which is good that you're above the 50th percentile and then his average yards after the catch was 66 percentile so like normally if the yards if the um average if the target's above 50th percentile normally the yards after catch is going to be lower it's normally like the higher the a dot the lower the yards have to catch this guy's got high a dot and he's got high yards after the catch he's got a lot of force missed tackles got a lot of explosive plays at 15 yards or more i mean the only real faults that i could find in this game in this dude are okay he's 5'11 185 so he's not a big receiver his catch radius is limited for jump balls just because he's shorter and

his releases do have some false steps in them but he's so quick a false step in a release is not the same for every receiver like some guy's footwork is so quick and explosive and almost just like deceptive in and of its own because of its speed and its agility that sometimes false steps like actually go into what you're doing and for my awesome this was the this was the people that didn't like garet wilson said he took too many false steps and the people that did so sold it that he just slices and dices with his feet and that and that's the thing it's like i i watched lab mcconkey and i go okay you have some wasted steps but it's it's part of your game plan it's kind of like to your advantage you're putting these corners in a blender so the dude can get off a press coverage.

He's successful with that. He's good as a motion receiver, as a flanker. I just think that he's awesome, man. Again, I'll read my scouting summary for him just because I like doing these. It's an easy way to know my thoughts on a player. McConkie is a high nuance player who has the athletic ability and football IQ to be a difference maker in the slot at the NFL level. His footwork and release variation give him advantage against press coverage from the slot or even on the outside. He has good long speed to remain a threat vertically. He's on the small side, but that doesn't curb his willingness to be an impact blocker. Don't expect him to be an X

for jump ball as a jump ball receiver, because outside of that, it's really hard to imagine him just not succeeding in the pros. His game is reminiscent to me of Eddie Royal from Virginia Tech. Maybe not as fast with the long speed as Royal was, but devastating quickness, good in the return game and a strong blocker for his size. Both all three of those things are things that Eddie Royal did really well at Virginia Tech and then also at the NFL level. So that's kind of like how I saw him. And Royal was a difference maker at the end of it.

I mean, like, was he like this takeover, consistent thousand yard receiver? No, but he was somebody who is a really good speed slot option and good special teams returner for a long time. And he got on the field because he was also a good blocker. So McConkie does all those things well. He's great. He also a good blocker. So McConkie does all those things well. He's great. He's a really good player.

And he's, once again, a guy that you know what you're getting from him immediately. Where some of these guys, there's more projection involved. And I didn't see that with McConkie as well. And we really liked him over the summer. I know we put him in a mock draft at some point, the Panthers, I thought, in the second round. Panthers or Browns, something. And I feel like people were surprised by that. And it's like, no, this is.

Bro, McConkie catches 200 balls for this Panthers team. Right, right. Him and Bryce Young are getting an apartment together in downtown Charlotte if he gets drafted by the Panthers. Look out, downtown Charlotte. The two most physically imposing figures are here to tear up the town. The Charlotte social and digital team is just going to do like a reality show of just like Ladd and Bryce just living together.

Okay. So that brings us to number six, I believe. Yeah. Yep. So six is a player that I had watched barely any of besides what I'd seen on just broadcast games. And the tape was great.

And that is Tez Walker. Let's go, baby, man. Yes. Yeah. He's I mean, a lot of people know his story. He transferring from Kent. It's really way longer than this. And maybe during the senior bowl, we'll get into all of it. But he had a transfer issue. He transferred to UNC from Kent. It's really way longer than this. And maybe during the senior bowl, we'll get into all of it.

But he had a transfer issue. He transferred to UNC from Kent State and there was all kinds of BS and he didn't play the first couple weeks of the season until this was resolved. And the story is a lot longer than that. And if you read into it, you're totally on Walker's side,

who I believe had a sick relative and he wanted to come home and be closer to his grandmother and he's had multiple transfers so the ncaa wanted him to sit it was just an absolute mess what else can you expect from the ncaa at this point but 2023 where he didn't play a full season he plays eight games he finishes with 41 catches 699 yards seven touchdowns he averaged 17 yards per catch he's got lengthy strides that chew up turf for build-up speed uh in the intermediate and deep areas of the field he simply runs by defenders down the field when asked like it's it's just no it's just nothing he he creates space between him and the coverage all the time

high pointing ability knows how to maximize his catch radius he caught 10 of 17 contested catch opportunities no fear of the bill of the field like just i wouldn't call it reckless abandon but they sent him over the middle of the field and he's like i'm i'm big and i'm gonna catch this ball and i don't care who's coming down 100 miles an hour at me good adjuster to the football uh doesn't look at defenders screaming down on him before catching it. Like he's just all about securing the catch. And then whatever happens after that happens,

he has mastered the short out route when corners who respect that speed sit way too far off it. Like him and Drake may, they know what this dude can do down the field. So these corners that sit eight to 10 yards off, and there's a connection where he's like, cool, five yards on the out,

I'll catch it and I'll get to the sideline. And they just do that all the time. And it's, it's crisp. It's, it's really, it tells me that this, this guy is getting it.

Um, he, so he's registered in our system with five drops. These five drops are some of the toughest opportunities I have seen. Not all drops are created equal. He's got really good do i need to talk to somebody do i need no i mean it's fair right if that gets you in the hands it's a drop but i'm just saying me and tommy devito's agent need to talk to somebody oh man you know what

maybe he should represent you you guys would be a good pairing uh he's so funny picture you two together oh man in striped suit. Yeah. Yeah. Fedora, the Italian horn, right? That's what they call it, right?

I'm not Italian, so I don't, the Italian horn. I've never heard that, but that's pretty good. Right? That's what it's called. I don't know.

I look, I don't know. You don't know either. If you're Italian, you're out there listening. Let us know. Is that what it's called? Or are we dumb? Are we just idiots?

All right. A couple of little things I wrote down. The stop and start in the routes is a little clunky. He's a bigger guy. I think he lacks creativity and short area change of direction when the ball is in his hands. He's not this kind of dude where he catches it and everyone's like, whoa, what's he going to do now?

It's pretty simple after the catch. But the bottom line is he has huge plays because of what he could do before the catch and his ability at the catch point, Trevor. And for this guy to be number six, it says so much about what he did in a limited amount of time. I have him at four. Yeah, I get it.

I have him outside of the obvious three that we'll get to in that kind of like first tier or first and second tier depending on how you categorize marvin harrison jr um tez walker is the guy what that i would have next in this class he i mean i so i i go back and i watch i watched a couple of games from 2022 of all these players and then i watched a couple of games from 2022 of all these players, and then I watched a couple of games of 2023, either two or three. And at Kent State, this guy opened the season with Washington, Oklahoma, Georgia. It's Kent State. This program's cashing. I was going to say, they're building a new practice facility with those three games.

I actually watched the Georgia game first. I was like five plays in and I'm like, where have where have I been on this guy? Why has no one held up giant signs with flashing lights in a in a alarm horn saying watch 2022 tez johnson because the only tape that i had watched him at this point and the reason why when we went through the uh patriots episode on monday the reason why tez johnson was so much or tez walker the reason why he was so much further down he was like ranked in the 90s because i only watch his unc stuff and he watches unc stuff and it's not as it's not as crisp it's not as crisp. It's not as confident. You could tell he's, he's, he's just not as confident.

Cause he's like trying to like play in the middle of the season. Right. It's ridiculous. It's understandable, but you could see the long speed. Like you could see the vertical and athletic ability. And I was like, all right, if he gets better as a route runner, if he gets more nuance in his releases, like maybe we got something here because this dude's a hell of an athlete. just didn't see it in the unc tape you go back to kent state his second year in the program and he's going up against these three schools i watched an interview with him afterwards it was actually an interview of him when he got to unc and they were asking him

about these three games and he was like yeah i knew that was my opportunity like he had been through a lot he tore his acl his senior year in high school so um he basically had all of his scholarships taken away from him because he wasn't really heavily recruited before then but then he tore his acl and he didn't have any scholarships so then he went to i think like north carolina central in 2020 because that was the only team that would really like give him a scholarship their 2020 season that first year gets canceled because of COVID. So he ends up trying to like transfer somewhere else. That's how he got to Kent State. And so like he knew he was like,

this is my opportunity to show that I can play with these players. Brother, not only did he look like he belonged against Georgia. And remember, this is 2022 Georgia. This is a sick defense from Georgia. And remember, this is 2022 Georgia. This is a sick defense from Georgia. He looked like the best player on the field at times. I mean, the releases that this dude was displaying against Georgia and then against, again, Oklahoma and Washington when I watched those two games, nuts. I mean, he put Keely Ringo in hell a couple of times. I mean, he was putting the work on Kamari Lassiter at times when they were flipping who was guarding him.

I was blown away by the caliber athlete this player is. And also, when he is confident, the type of nuance that he can play with. 86th percentile separation, 80th percentile separation versus single coverage, 96th percentile average depth of target, 70th percentile yards per route run, which is a great stat to show how much you're getting utilized. And this is at two different schools. This dude is a first round receiver to bet on. I would take him in the back end of the first round easy from what I've seen over the last two years.

I think he's, I think he's a stud man. I think he's, I think he's a year one starter at the NFL level. I'm with you. He's every bit for real. Love the tape. You know,

really a long story with him and him to get here. And he's been through some adversity and he's, I mean, he's what you want from an NFL receiver on the perimeter, this, this size, the ability to threaten down the field, the understanding and nuance to challenge underneath when they're taking

that away from you, just catching the ball in tough situations. I mean, it's, it's all there with him. So we've got a handful of players left so we'll speed it up a little bit here because i don't want to be here all night i know some people listening might want us to be but you know we do have families um kind of are the next two dudes

for you at five and four brian thomas jr and troy franklin, just flipped. Okay, so- Franklin at five, Thomas at four. So I have Troy Franklin at six, I have Brian Thomas Jr. at five, and I have Tez Walker at four. So- So you wanna talk about the burner boys? Yeah, and I mean, I think all of these guys are in the same bucket.

They are late first, early second round grades, but they're players that I could absolutely see elevating themselves into maybe like first round grade status and they're players that i would take in the first round you know like these are these are first round caliber receivers i think um very similar i mean brian thomas jr six foot four 205 pounds troy franklin six foot three 185 pounds i think thomas jr and the reason why i have him at five is because i think he's a little bit better Troy Franklin, six foot three, 185 pounds. I think Thomas Jr. And the reason why I have him at five is because I think he's a little bit better of an athlete. And he's a little bit more of an athlete.

I think he's doing it at 20 pounds heavier and he's a little bit more explosive. But I don't want that to come off as some sort of slight Detroit Franklin because he is also a very smooth mover. Has the second most explosive plays of any receiver in the Pac-12 over the last two years outside of Romo Dunze. He will make you miss. He's got fancy footwork. He's got great release. He's got more nuance in his releases than Brian Thomas does. Although Thomas took so much of a jump in that area from 2022 to 2023 it made me think like okay these guys are basically in the same category like I think that they will be able to achieve a lot of success

in that area the two of them so really good separation players really good long speed players and I think that these are two you know wide receiver two is the next level i i felt like brian thomas jr an early comp that i liked was martavis bryant from him best mark what we've seen from martavis bryant when he was playing really well in the nfl level and um for troy franklin i think his skill set reminds me a lot of christian watson but i think he's more reliable than Christian Watson is right. Like he's got, he's got better hands than Christian Watson does. So that's kind of one that the mold of player stuck out to me in that regard.

But it's like, I think, I think, uh, they hear Dane say that one. Dane might've said, maybe I read that from Dane. I think I read it somewhere and I was like

okay I like that a lot that one makes a ton of sense but he catches better than that so I'm still workshopping that I like the mold it allows people to like see the type of player that we're talking about at the NFL level but I do feel there might be a better comp out there so I'm still working shopping that one but wanted to obviously give Dane a shout out because I heard that first from Dane and he's uh he's great at player comp so that's what i thought of uh franklin and thomas jr they could fly right they can simply fly and they're not they're not small they're a little slender but they're long these guys they can go up and get the ball they have long arms i mean franklin almost had 900 yards and nine touchdowns last year and i felt

like nobody cared and then this year right and he was doing this all while playing on the outside like a lot of these guys in college eat from the slot franklin was just a true outside receiver carving it up in 2022 and then he goes out and does has a massive year this year the length incredibly explosive first step uh he understands leverage i've been complaining about all these guys having no tempo in their deep routes franklin is a master of that frank every rest man every route looks different uh he changes speeds he catches everything in his in what that gets near him he's fast in the short area he's got long speed i mean he could he could fly i think at that weight you're gonna hear some Will Fuller to him.

I really like where you went instead with Christian Watson. I think he's going to be a freak of an athlete. And then Brian Thomas, who I had just one spot above him. I mean, my thing with Thomas Trevor that. I don't know, I should say surprised me because this could get to a different conversation, man. He had a lot of yards left on the field by Jaden Daniels. And I know Jaden Daniels is going to be a very early pick and very well liked.

And I get all of it. There's a lot of balls that were not thrown on time where Thomas would still be running today. And it just goes to show he had over a thousand yards, 15 touchdowns, 18 yards per catch, monster season. And I really think there was, again, he devoured single coverage. Over 500 yards, seven touchdowns on 29 targets against single coverage.

Yeah. He could fly. He can absolutely fly. He is imposing. Yeah, and he hangs in the air forever. Yeah. forever. I think he dropped a couple layups. And I think if he starts selling his routes with his upper body, uses head and shoulder fakes to go with the lower body, he's going to be a nightmare.

But that's what's head and shoulders, head and shoulders. There you go. Sponsor the show. Thank you. And I thought with Thomas, he's clearly more comfortable working the vertical game than everything else in the route tree like you watch it vertically you're like man he's feeling it like he's he's like an iso a basketball player with the ball in his hands yeah I'm shooting it yes like yeah right like that's what it felt like so if he I think he has room to grow and that's what's so incredibly exciting about him I love him in Franklin I'd take either in the first round

the NFL is about speed i love it's a bonus that they have length they are true perimeter players you talked about him being a iso player uh he played both basketball and football in high school and as a state championship in basketball that's right i think he was the player of the game uh yes he was named the most outstanding player in his state championship game there you go so this dude wasn't just out there you know throwing towels and waters to people the the way that i have it uh ranked i i have these guys very similar same bucket um franklin i have at six even though i think he's the more nuanced player uh of the three i think that thomas

jr is a little bit more of an athlete than he is at an even bigger size. And then I think that Devontae Walker is an even better athlete than Brian Thomas Jr. is. So I have them ordered 6-5-4, leaning most on athleticism as the differentiating factor. But man, these are three really really nice football players so we're going to get to three two and one the top three players that we have for the 2024

nfl draft and i'm curious who you have at three um because that is the debate here and we will get to that after we shout out our friends over at prize picks eli is back our producer eli is back and uh he's he's taking another stab at the prize picks entry so you know how it goes he gives three entries and these are the official pff prize pick entries uh he's been so close on on all of these so if you flexed any of them you're making money and so if you're sticking with eli he's got the sound judgment this week for this week's nfl games these are his three entries that he is wrapping all up into one. Jamar Chase, over 64 and a half receiving yards. Debo Samuel, over 65 and a half receiving yards. And then Kyron Williams, more than 80 and a half rushing yards. The explanation is simple. Jamar's gone

over to this number two of his last three games. Debo's gone over that line four straight games. Kyron's gone over that line in three straight games. The trends are going this way. And it's a lot of fun to be able to bet on price picks because they have a lot of really cool things. One of the cool things they have is if you're into multiple sports, if you like to bet on basketball and football, you can now do combo projections across both leagues

in the special leagues tab. It's a league can now do combo projections across both leagues in the special leagues tab it's a league created specifically for combo projections that includes two or more players from these different sports leagues for example i've talked about this before you can do lebron james and travis kelsey more than 10 and a half combined three pointers made in receptions and so when those games are done if you like both of those lines be able to make some you know unique money off it that's why price picks are really cool they're one of those lines be able to make some you know unique money off of it that's why price picks is really cool they're they're one of the only places out there that does that they're also the only place out there that does a reboot policy um that way your entries stay in

play even if one of your players gets injured for football and basketball if you got a player who goes out in the first half does not return for the second that player is automatically rebooted price picks only daily fantasy sports platform with an injury insurance policy so you never have to worry about anything like that. Go to PricePicks.com, backslash NFLSC, use the promo code NFLSC, and get a $100 match from them. You know you're going to bet anyways. Just get the free $100, all right?

Go to PricePicks.com, NFLSC, use the promo code NFLSC. You get that $100 match, and start having some fun. Let us know. Ride with Eli. He's so close, he's going to hit it got faith i got faith this week we're trending in the right direction the arrow's pointing up i got faith we're riding with him um my kids my kids christmas gifts depend on it eli so don't screw this up yeah if my dog doesn't get a christmas gift i don't have kids i'm just gonna blame you yeah we just Dogs are the kids. That's literally the kid.

All right, who you got at three? Roma Dunze. I don't think this is a surprise, although maybe some people will see it differently. I think there is a tier of the next two guys on their own. Oh. So do you have Rome in his own tier? Yeah.

Okay, so you have... All right, all right. So Rome Rome in his own tier yeah okay so you have all right all right so yeah we'll see I think I'll do the tiers for the final ranking show because it's easier to break them down as we go Rome closer to neighbors and uh and Marvin Harrison Jr's tier or is he closer to closer to Franklin and Thomas Jr. and Walker okay they're all in the first round which is unbelievable all right all right Rome had an amazing season and the improvements he made when catching like in the contested catch situations and muddy areas. And I mean, it's a jarring improvement and it was so important for him because I saw none of this over summer.

You and I didn't love him during the summer. No. And he was, yeah. I mean, he, I had him so much better this year. I had him as wide receiver five over the summer.

Where did I have him? I had him as wide receiver nine. Last year, I agree with you. I didn't think that he was the receiver he needed to be. No, I'll tell you right now. I just had it up. He caught four of 16 contested targets last year. He was way better this year.

Yeah, I didn't think he was physically dominant. I thought his leaps were not timed well. i didn't think he extended his arms naturally um and he did all those things this year he did all those things so i mean he's somebody that was penix's go-to target he was so reliable those back shoulder balls he can win in the red zone by being the bigger guy i love the strides on double moves there's explosive playability with that catch radius once again these are some of the things i wrote down from summer and confirmed by re-watching him this year and he's a big perimeter wide receiver that can eat targets at all three levels of the field. And the only thing I think that he's behind on with the two guys ahead of him, he to me will not be a big threat after the catch of the NFL.

You're right. Like, not as much. There will be plenty of times where he's running like a backside dig or he's like a deep crosser and you'll get the ball and he'll be able to run an extra 15 20 yards because he's an athlete but he won't create no as many yards after the after the catches i think the other two guys yeah he forced 12 missed tackles this year um he's just not he's not going to really run over people or be very elusive with the ball in his hands i think he's a very different athlete without the ball in his hands because he could use his long strides but and this is a guy with a sprinting background but i think that it that doesn't that part of his game doesn't exist now that doesn't mean he can't

be a number one wide receiver because once again he is so effective at all three areas of the field he can get off the line of scrimmage. He's got good size. He hit the hands were phenomenal this year, Trevor. They really, really were like he just snagged everything this year. And the timing with Pennix was so impressive to me. So and I know he got hurt at one point this season. So he's been playing injured towards the end of this year. And it shows his toughness. Sixty six first downs he caught.

So Dunes a first round player uh and my wide receiver three he's i mean he's this past year's tape was so good uh you know i mentioned the wins above average metric that we have at pff and quarterbacks as you would expect will have wins above average like in the twos or like something like that like the three the best ones will have it like in the twos and threes and things like that i could be off but like it's over one there's basically no other position in the nfl that has over one full win above replacement because it's so hard to have that cut type of it that's insane romo dunes a this year had a wins above average score of 0.58 that's higher than

basically every other receiver that was not named malik neighbors or marvin harrison jr malik neighbors had a 0.65 this year and Marvin Harrison jr had a 0.64 in 2022 so I tried to take like okay what was the highest score of wins above average over the last two years and Odunze like to be in that conversation it's just it tells you how impactful he is as a receiver I saw Ray G say this on Twitter and I love this comp from him he said he's a super-sized Chris lave and i kind of feel the same way about it that's yeah that that checks out to me and i don't think a lot of it could do anything after the catch either but everything before it was beautiful right and a lot of people like some people talk about like keenan allen but i don't

think he's i don't think he's quite keenan allen i think they say that just because keenan is such a great route runner for his size and i would say the same thing about Adunze. Go watch that. Anybody else, anybody who hasn't seen it yet, go watch the touchdown catch against Oregon State. I mean, he sauces this corner in the red zone in a way that you are not supposed to do at six foot three, 215 pounds or whatever he's going to weigh in at.

I mean, he just absolutely puts it on him with so much nuance and so much savviness, so much deception, so much flexibility for a player of that size. I mean, it's just an encapsulation of what makes him so special because at that size, he is able to have that kind of flexibility. And it's just, it's not very often you get a player like this easy first round grade for me from what we saw from him this season. He's great.

I think he's a wide receiver one at the next level. And that means that we have Malik neighbors from LSU. We both him, we have him at number two. So go ahead and talk about neighbors as well. Neighbors is a freak show and a wide receiver one in any class doesn't have a total monster that is marvin harrison jr i mean i had written over summer i thought he's dj more and i don't even know that might be low barring it and i think more is an incredible nfl player

i just look at neighbors the acceleration is out of this world he is a master of the slot fade i don't know if i've seen a guy in the nfl running the slot fade this good he's a season always open he's always he's always open and from 2022 we had over a thousand yards his routes in 2023 became so much more crisp yep like this is a guy that got drastically better and he was already a great player he trevor this this blew my mind 43 of his 86 catches this year went for 15 or more yards that's 50 if you're doing the math at home uh which i wasn't so half the time he caught the ball it was an explosive play. It was an explosive play. That's insanity.

Yeah. So he forced 21 missed tackles in 2022. He forced 30 this year. I think he'll run through guys. Like, it's not even just I'm faster or I'm more agile. I'm also, like, I also have that dog in me where I will run through guys. He'll grind out yards on slants everything in the book is is there for Malik neighbors everything in the book you want to

do the manufactured touches the pitch passes the screens you want to get him in motion and just dump the ball in the flat he can beat you over the top he can beat you on the slot fade he can run the full route tree the body control is Honestly, he could be a top five player for me in this draft. Yeah. In this draft, it is Olu Fashanu, Caleb Williams, Drake May. Malik Neighbors is phenomenal. He's phenomenal. He will constantly separate.

He's excellent after the catch of the ball in his hands. He's excellent in contested situations at his size. His body control is out of this world it's like some of the stuff at the catch before and before and at the catch is Garrett Wilson and then after the catch is DJ Moore that's not supposed to happen right he's a phenomenal player it's almost sickening that he he's not the consensus wide receiver one in his class but that's how good marv is yeah yeah i agree with you man so i what did you what did you say the you like dj you had dj more i wrote dj more down in a mock draft i did over the summer and i don't think i'll ever change it so i have a different name and the reason why i have a different name is because the thing that's the most impressive about neighbors is kind of what you led off with to me. And that is the speed and the change of direction speed

that this guy has. I mean, from the lightning quick feet on his releases, which he has a variety of different releases, but he is deadly when it comes to split stance releases and also speed releases where he's just dipping the shoulder and getting by people i mean the way that this guy is able to change direction and yet continue to accelerate does not happen that is that that is the rarity of malik neighbors that is a it is a trump card in his game if you will the the player comp that i have because of that reason is antonio brown like antonio brown like antonio brown is one of the few players that i've watched that it was able to accelerate while changing direction and that's why he was so unstoppable right antonio brown is even a little bit smaller than malik neighbors like antonio brown's like five foot ten 185 pounds and yet this dude was the

best wide receiver in football and look i'm not saying that malik neighbors is going to have the exact career that antonio brown had but i'm talking about this is this is the type of athlete that is such a difference maker in this way that so many other players weren't the reason why antonio brown was able to be the best receiver in the nfl for like a four or five year stretch is because nobody could touch the dude. Nobody could cover him. Right. Because as he's changing directions,

not only is he great off the line scrimmage, not only was he great with his footwork and his routes and his nuance and everything, but as he was making his breaks on his route, he's speeding up. He's, he's given these NFL athletes no chance to keep up with him. Now you get to that point with a lot of hard work a lot

of repetition and that is still must be the case for neighbors and i always have to like say this context when i give a crazy comp like this because i i think that in this wide receiver class alone we're talking about some like really big time names some great nfl players but we mentioned this is how good we think this wide receiver class is. So the way that neighbors moves reminds me of just the uniqueness of what made Antonio Brown so unguardable. Because it felt like, certainly this year, Malik neighbors was unguardable. Nobody had an answer. Nobody had an answer for him and i just if he continues to diversify the releases that he has when to use them mastering okay this is the inside release this is the outside release this is where i am on the

field here i'm in the slot here i'm on the outside this is the it's it's off coverage it's press coverage if he continues to master that and then he continues to just be a master of like how he deceives people. Even just like, dude, for Malik neighbors, even the smallest little head fake shoulder fake could create the smallest amount of space in which boom, I'm gone. There we go. There's a throwing window. Easy as pie. And like not every receiver has that even the receivers who are really great at those little deception or manipulation parts of route running can't do what malik neighbors does next after you do those things and that's he's just he's just a special football he's gifted like he's he's genuinely gifted but he's also obviously put in the work with how much craft is in his game. And it's just, my God. All right.

Dynasty drafts are going to be fun this year. Oh, baby, are they ever. I picked a really good year to be bad in our Dynasty League. Oh, baby, did I pick a good year to be bad. I've been number one seed in that league. And then my other Dynasty League, my team is certified cheeks. Like, I need to i've been begging people in this other league to take tyreek hill the best football fantasy football player and this was months ago and they're like well i don't want to really you know

trade too much here and i'm like he's the future if you want to win a championship right you win the league yeah um anyway Anyway, that's that. So, all right. You start with Marv because I got to just go wild over neighbors. So take it away, the number one wide receiver. Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison Sr. Yeah, he was solid.

Yeah, he wasn't too bad. It's hard to find too much of a flaw in Marvin Harrison Jr. If I go to the weaknesses category of my outline of him, I have sometimes he has a little too much arm extension to push off to create separation, but that was much more of a concern in 2022 than it was in 2023 you didn't see nearly as much of that and then i said he's got adequate yards after catch speed but even the yards after catch element was much more limited in 2022 than it was 2023 those are basically the only concerns i had about this guy now that's not to say he's going to be

the second coming of calvin johnson but it is to say, like, it's hard to ask him to be more. Do I wish maybe he was faster than he is? Because I think his long speed is good. I don't think he's like a 4'3 guy, you know? So, like, he could be faster, but I think his long speed is good enough and it's especially good enough when you talk about the masterful route runner that this guy i'm just kidding you know what i'm just gonna read the blurb i'm just gonna read the blurb we're gonna stick with the blurb we're gonna do that it's the best way to do it harrison jr is one of the most complete prospects that you will find first and foremost he's just displays an understanding of how to win at the position like few college players do when they become nfl prospects he is well beyond his years and releases, in his route tree, and in his IQ to set up and manipulate defenders for maximum speed or for maximum throwing windows. For a player as tall as he is at 6'4", his footwork, change of direction, and long speed

are excellent. Throw in very reliable hands, great hand-eye coordination, and you have a future wide receiver one and a player who has the mold of being a tier one nfl receiver so the way that i kind of have my like round grades are i have a like a generational tab like a generational prospect tab i have a like this player is a top five player which means they can be tier one at their position in the NFL level. I feel like they have that potential. Next, I have, okay, this is a player who I think could be an all pro at the NFL level. And then I get into first round grade, late first, early second.

And then I kind of have like roles and player tabs with that. I had Malik Neighbors as a top 10 grade, which is an all pro type of player. And I have Marvin Harrison jr. As a top five grade, which is a tier one position talent, which means I believe that this player could someday be in the conversation that we have now with Tyree kill, Justin Jefferson and Devante Adams,

guys like that, who is like, we're making a case for these players as tier one in the NFL. That's kind of the way that I look at this dude and how good he can be. I mean, I'm with you all the way. He was my top player out of summer. He hasn't moved. He only got better. He dealt with, you know, a big step back in the quarterback play this year and still made it happen. It's a creative wide receiver in a lab. The route tree is tremendous.

I think if I have to nitpick literally anything, I think sometimes the releases off the line of scrimmage are not perfect, but he's a bigger guy, so it's not always going to look as sharp with these bigger wide receivers. They're not going to move like the 6'2", 200-pound guys. This is a player that's going to play at 6'4", I think 215, honestly, when all is said and done.

He doesn't drop the ball. The fight through contact is just out of this world. They'll be pass interference, and rather than just throwing his arms up and throwing a fit, he's like, nah, I'll still catch the ball with one hand. It's like, okay. The catch against Michigan was just stupid. He tried to will them to a win against Michigan.

Wasn't that Will Johnson who was guarding him too? Was it? Obviously, we're going to talk about him. Will's good. And whoever it was, it was basically like the wrap your arms around the guy under the basket in basketball. Like, we're not going to give this guy a delay. It was like when Hodor was carrying Bran.

We're going to carry him. It's like and he still caught the ball somebody please get the video and just the whole door hold the door hold the door and it's just him just in slow motion just catching the ball while getting draped by the mich defender. Oh, man. Yeah. And one last note on him. He is so good also when the play breaks down at understanding how to improvise with his quarterback. Like a lot of guys, they're just out there. They drift.

He's like, oh, this is my time again. It's always Marvin Harrison Jr.'s time. But when the play breaks down, he understands how to work back to his quarterback or the area of the field that he can find some space to make a play he's just you never want to call anyone a perfect prospect because that's impossible but this dude when he gets into the league is the closest thing you get to a day one star I agree he is so good that we're going to have the conversations of who do you take him or a quarterback?

And that is almost unheard of. Unheard of. These parts. Because you won't feel good about it sometimes. What do you mean? Like me. Talking about it? No, just that, you know, a superstar is out there and in the volatility of drafting quarterbacks.

Right. Where it's like it's hard to pass on a guy that like i said like when i give him a tab of like hey i think this guy could be a tier one wide receiver in the league it's really hard to to pass on that player even with positional value taken into account sure so but the nfo draft is more of a game than necessarily that and that's why i think the conversations of what do you do at the very top of the draft are going to be a lot of fun. All right,

let's go. I'll quick read my guys. I'll go 20 to one, just cause I got these guys ranked at 20 and I just gave you the names here. 20. I got Tori Horton from Colorado state, 19 Roman Wilson from Michigan, 18 Johnny Wilson from Florida state,

17 J Jalen McMillan from Washington, 16 Ricky Pearsall, Florida. Good football player, folks. Senior role. You want to talk to me about Ricky Pearsall? Get in the comments. We'll talk for a while. Good football player.

15, I got Brandon Rice from USC. 14, Jalen Polk from Washington. 13, Xavier Worthy from Texas. 12, Xavier Leggett from South Carolina. 11, Jermaine Burton from Alabama. 10, A.D. Mitchell from Texas. 9, Keon Coleman from Florida State. 8, Emeka Ibuka from South Carolina. 11, Jermaine Burton from Alabama. 10, A.D. Mitchell from Texas. 9, Keon Coleman from Florida State. 8, Emeka Ibuka from Ohio State.

7, Lab McConkie from Georgia. 6, Troy Franklin from Oregon. 5, Brian Thomas Jr. from LSU. 4, Devontaez Walker from North Carolina. 3, Romo Dunze from Washington. 2, Malik Neighbors from LSU. And 1, Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State. All right, 15 for me.

Jamari Thrash from Louisville. Malachi Corley at. from Ohio State. All right, 15 for me, Jamari Thrash from Louisville, Malachi Corley at 14 from Western Kentucky. At 13, Xavier Worthy from Texas. At 12, Ladd McConkie from Georgia. At 11, A.D. Mitchell from Texas. At 10, Jalen Polk from Washington. 9, Xavier Leggett from South Carolina. 8, Keon Coleman from Florida State.

7, Emeka B Coleman from Florida State, seven Emeka Buka from Ohio State. At number six, Devontez Walker from UNC. At number five, Troy Franklin from Oregon. At number four, Ryan Thomas Jr. from LSU. At number three, Roma Dunze from Washington. And at number two, Malik Neighbors from LSU. Number one, Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohioio state we would love to hear from you this was a 41 hour 45 minute podcast about

just the top 20 guys in this wide receiver class and we know that there are some players that we didn't even get to that we'll get to talk about next time we revisit this position probably sometime after the combine you know maybe maybe we'll do it a little bit before the combine a little bit after the combine whenever we end up doing it i'll do comps after the combine that's why i like that yeah you get the official height and weight and test which is good which is good i mean you need that for comps you know these are kind of again a lot of what we're saying here preliminary stuff we're watching the regular season film but it's a long draft process where we get to figure out a lot more about these players uh see how they test athletically, what the real measurables are, and some all-star performances, all that good stuff. But anyways, we would love to hear from you. Let us know what

you thought of our wide receiver rankings. Give us your wide receiver rankings as well. Best way to do that, YouTube comments, youtube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange. If you're watching this video, we would appreciate it if you subscribe to it, if you like it, if you comment, it really helps blow this bad boy up. We're almost at 15K subscribers, which, holy cow, we love you all so much. This is so much fun for us to not just do these podcasts, get our draft takes off, but also read everything from you guys. The last mock drafts we did, the Fix Your Franchises, you guys are getting involved with your theories and what you would do,

and that's what makes this all so much fun. So we appreciate you all. We love you all so much. If you're audio only, you can do. And like, that's what makes this all so much fun. So we appreciate y'all. We love y'all so much. If you're audio only, you can still hit us up at Tampa Bay Trey at Connor J. Rogers on both Instagram and Twitter. I had a couple of people hit me up with their Patriots, like what they would do. And that was fun, man.

It was fun to read you guys going so in-depth about what you would do, different things from what we would do, all the good stuff. We love to hear it all. So make sure that you hit us up. Not sure what we're doing Monday, but we're going to do,

maybe we'll do another fixture franchise. You you know if you want to comment on this and bear today which one you got cardinals bears cardinal you know uh raiders like we got a lot of ranch though y'all hit us up hit us up in the comments which fits your franchise that you want to see next but next week we're also going to get to the next position ranking to be determined yet we have a soft schedule, but we might talk about it literally after we hang up this podcast, so that might change. But it's going to be another position ranking.

We're going to do this, I think, throughout the next month or so, throughout the holiday season as we get into Shrine Bowl, Senior Bowl season, all that good stuff. Connor, got anything else before we get out of here? No, always a blast, my friend. Two hours with you going through these wide receivers. I hope everybody enjoys it as much as we did. We love this position group, and it's a beauty.

It's an absolute beauty. It's a beauty. It's a beast. It's all the above. I'm Trevor Sycamore. That is Connor Rogers. Thank you guys so much for watching and listening to this long, extended version of the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast.

We will see you guys again on Monday. Bye.