NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 3. Wide Receiver Position Rankings for the 2022 NFL Draft

Episode Date: January 27, 2022

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers kick off draft season by going through their top 5 Wide Receivers and debating over who deserves the title of top dog in this year's draft. 0:00 - Intro 3:20 - Connor’s #5: Chris Olave/Jahan Dotson 10:45 - Trevor’s #5: Garrett Wilson 13:45 - Connor’s #4: Jameson Williams 16:40 - Trevor’s #4: Jameson Williams 21:20 - Connor’s #3: Drake London 25:45 - Trevor’s #3: Treylon Burks 29:20 - Connor’s #2: Garrett Wilson 36:30 - Trevor’s #2: George Pickens 41:45 - Connor’s #1: Treylon Burks 46:05 - Trevor’s #1: Drake London 53:00 - Who just missed Connor’s list? 58:55 - Who just missed Trevor’s list?

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 gotten 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. And in this episode, we're going through our top five wide receivers for the 2022 NFL Draft Class. With the NFL evolving every single year, especially on offense,

we're seeing so many different wide receivers of shapes and sizes make big differences throughout the league on a variety of different teams. Whether it's first round, second round, third round, or even some of those late round gems, wide receivers are always coveted. Getting those skill position players is something that every team is looking for. We're gonna go through our wide receiver list,

five through one, and then talk about some guys that just missed it, as well as some gems that you've gotta keep your eyes on for the later rounds i'm trevor sikama with me as always is connor rogers let's get after it what's up everybody welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange. So glad that you guys are hanging out with us here on this podcast. I am Trevor Sikma. That is Connor Rogers. And today we are talking about our top five wide receivers for the 2022 NFL draft class. We told you it was coming.

We told you we were going to get into the scouting reports, into the rankings, into the details of a lot of these guys. And this is the first of many podcasts that is going to be centered around that connor i left it up to you what we were going to start with and you went let's do wide receivers we got to do wide receivers we got to talk about the playmakers in this class so wide receiver got a special place in your heart i guess it does trevor and i think the reason why this is the place to start because these are such early intros we're going to go through our top fives. We're going to go, you know, guys that just didn't make the cut and then players to know and then some data at the end,

which is a great touch on all of this. But I think everyone's rankings are going to be different this year with wide receivers, right? That's why I wanted to start here, because I think that there's going to be certain position groups like edge. It's rare to see people that don't start with some combo of KT and Hutch at the top. And I'm sure there'll be Karloff to stands out there somewhere,

but with wide receiver, you know, you can have a guy at number one that I have at number six and they might both be in our top 40, but it's just a matter of if I'm sitting there and I, if there's, it's going to come down to what flavor you need, right?

Scheme or need, uh, and the talent gap this is a really good group man i for all the people saying like oh this draft class is you know it's okay i am so excited about this wide receiver group sure doesn't have a jamar chase but that doesn't mean it doesn't have it's not loaded with talent it is you mentioned all the different flavors we might have to get creative at some point in this process. Like when we're absolutely loopy out of our minds, have watched so much tape and have so little sleep somewhere in April that we like start comparing the guys in this wide receiver prospect group to like

ice cream flavors. Like, we're just like, okay, this is my flavor here. These are the toppings that he brings. This is when you want it. Like all that kinds of stuff. That's so, maybe that's something that you guys can look forward to down the road. If we lose our sanity that much, we might get to that point with this wide receiver class. But I'm glad that you introed it like that because these guys are so, so, so talented.

So let's get right to it. What we're going to do, like Connor said, we're going to give you our top five as it stands right now. And another reason why we wanted to do this at this point is because with this being a stock market kind of a themed podcast, we're going to do this with wide receiver, edge, offensive tackle, quarterback, corner, safety. We're going to do this with every single position because we want to give you guys a baseline of, hey, this is who we have ranked here at this point in the year.

And then as we get closer to the draft, as we get to tap into our sources and learn more about what the NFL thinks, these prospects see what they do athletically at the combine, all of that, we'll be able to give you our journey of like, Hey, this guy's stock is up. This guy is on the rise. This guy's trending down,

things like that to make sure that you're as prepared as you possibly can to write mock drafts that you want to write, or just pay attention to your team as best as possible. So we'll go from five to one first. We'll talk about the top five guys that we have. But at the end of the podcast, we're going to give a shout out to plenty of the rest of these playmakers and some guys that maybe just didn't make the list. So who's your number five?

Who's your number five receiver here as it stands right now? End of January, heading into all-star circuit for the 2022 NFL draft. So I'm going to start off cheating and go 5A and 5B. That's what we want right away. Locked on NFL draft listeners are going to love the fact that you said that because I always used to do that with Ben. We would start something and I would say, I'd be like, you know what, I'm going to cheat a little bit. And Ben would be like, sure. Yeah. I mean, it's January, Trevor, you're allowed to cheat. In April, I'm not going to allow cheating. In March is when it's like, okay, we should stop cheating. In January, you said this is a baseline for the listeners, for everyone.

So I'm going to cheat because I didn't want to do five without these two, making it six. So 5A and 5B, Chris Alave and Jahan Dotson. And this comes back to the flavor thing, right? You're going to look at these two players and see that they both know how to separate, right? They're really good before the catch. I think both are really good route runners. A lot of a has such a big sample size of doing it. Yeah, I've been on the field for Ohio State at a high level for a couple of years with different quarterbacks. And he's a target that has won vertically for a long time, while doing a lot

of things really, really well. And when you look at Dotson, he's somebody to me that shows really good body control, good vertical speed, really good tracking. I like his hands. I think he can win in the middle of the field while also being able to win on the outside. In that sense, he really reminds me of this year's Elijah Moore, right? A guy that's not a lock for the first round. He's probably going to run in the four threes. He's going to test really well for some teams that prefer size. The 5'10", 5' 511 sub 200s not going to do it for them but he does everything really well he catches the ball he knows how to get open he's got juice after the catch so i like dots and it's a shame it looks like he's off the senior ball roster now

this is what happens every year guys you know tend to drop out uh alave i know jim nagy has said did not accept an invite so it would have been fun to see these guys but we've seen so much tape of them in the big 10 right that i actually for how many questions this receiver class has, these are two guys that I feel really comfortable in saying what they are. They both project to me as number two wide receivers that know how to get open, that you can move around the field and can be in a high, you know, octane passing attacks offense, a high volume number two option because of how reliable both of them are where are you going with number five and what do you what do you think of that honestly

yeah I'll just start with kind of what you what you brought to the table there I'm really glad that you brought Chris Olave to this because just a little spoiler like Chris Olave right now is six for me and I I hate that he's not going to be in my top five graphics or whatever but it's like you said at the beginning of the podcast Chris Olave is probably going to be a top 40 player for me and he's wide receiver six that's like how much I like this class so I'm really glad that you brought Olave up because you look at the last three years of production for him and I think he checked so many boxes he's a guy who I'm very surprised did not declare for the draft last year and I think me too I think the NFL draft advisory board gave him a grade that he was a little disappointed by I've got to think that's the reason why he came

back because he had such great tape obviously he was able to play so much as a true sophomore even had his junior year and played well again and kind of like that COVID abbreviated year in the Big Ten and you know I think that it's a shame that you look at his stats and something that really shocked me as we were looking up some numbers. And I was refreshing my memory for this podcast. He never had a thousand yards, not once. Now he had like an 800 yard year, a 700 yard year in 2020 with not as many games and then 900 this past year.

So it's not like he was a big disappointment there. It's just, it's, it's just so weird to me that a guy who is good and as productive and plays in the offense that Ohio state had a lot of, I never, never got a thousand yard mark which is pretty crazy not that I really care at all it was just I was pointing that out he's so smooth man he's so great athletically and he understands route running very very well he understands how to attack the blind spots of corners if you got the wrong technique if your hips are pointed the wrong way he's going to manipulate you right to just put his foot in the ground and go left right i mean this guy really knows what he's doing i love the fact that he started off his career as a slot receiver for a very talented wide receiver room at ohio state he was able to get on the field right

away which i also think means a lot towards his scouting report because it means he was able to stand out at such a young age pick things up up, be a big-time athlete difference maker in a very athletic team, athletic program. There's so many great boxes to check with Chris Olave. He's not the biggest dude in the world. He's not the strongest dude in the world. And so do I think that he's going to be this dominant outside number one wide receiver in the NFL?

I think that's where my reservation is. But honestly, who cares? Even saying to myself, who cares the nfl we we talked about this i think it was on either yesterday's podcast or the mock draft podcast on monday the nfl is is having you get wide receivers for four deep five deep like you've got to have all of these really good players it's not just okay we've got a stud guy at the top and now all right we can kind of like trickle in some other wide receivers wide receiver three and four and whatever you are it's an arms race every team in the nfl is in an arms race and we're seeing that some of the best in the nfl are the ones that are winning that race

right now so olave there are some guys that i just i like maybe their physical size profile ceilings more than I like Olave's in that category. But the dude's so good. He's so smooth. He can absolutely be a first round pick and a good wide receiver. So I'm very glad that you brought him up because I just, I thought it was criminal

that I didn't have him there and I had to get that off my chest. No, it's, I mean, you're spot on. And I think, you know, it's not that we've become bored with Chris Olave because he's done it for three years. He's played on special teams. Like you said, he's, I mean, you're spot on. And I think, you know, it's not that we've become bored with Chris Alave because he's done it for three years. He's played on special teams. Like you said, he's played inside, outside, and he's super smooth, right?

He's kind of got that, like, Keenan Allen polish where it's like, okay, he knows how to get off the line of scrimmage, right? Yeah, he knows how to get off the line of scrimmage. He can improvise. He's reliable deep. But you're right. The size is not necessarily the same as a lot of guys that we've evaluated with super high grades coming out where it's just he's very projectable as a number two.

But we've seen so many times with guys like this go somewhere where they're penciled into an offense and they're the number one by default. And it's just easy to wipe them out. And everybody gets so low on them right away. And it's like, well, no, that's not's not you know it's not necessarily what he is and you know when i look at you know just quick kind of landing spot situation like chris alave in the first round to a team that needs so much production i don't know how much i love that but say mike williams walks and the chargers draft chris alave at 48 i love it right so that's the kind of thing where

it's like wow this makes you love the player, but this scenario makes you scared of the player. And that's why he sits at five for me and six for you or five B, whatever it is for me instead of top three for us. Yeah. And another team that I actually really like Chris Alave for is the Raiders. You know, everybody in the first round, they look at Jameson Williams and they kind of like peg Jameson Williams going to the Raiders you know everybody in the first round they look at Jameson Williams and they kind of like peg Jameson Williams going to the Raiders and they say like oh okay there's the speed element that's replacing what they have with rugs I think people are sleeping on how fast Chris Olave is he's going to go to the combine and I think he is going to run close to four threes low four fours for sure that's what I'm expecting from him we might get a uh an official time in the high four

threes from Olave like I think after the combine, people are going to be like, damn, I didn't realize he was that fast. And so then you combine the smoothness of his route running with how much he could be a vertical threat. You mentioned the Chargers. I also would love for him to get on the Raiders. I think that that would be a great selection as well. So number five for me, I'm going to pick his teammate.

I'm going to pick Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson is five for me, and I think this might be blasphemous for some people because a lot of people have Garrett Wilson is wide receiver one. And when you look at this past season, man, what he was able to do and the things that he was able to put on tape when it comes to short area separation, I think is really what has people loving it. Right. He doesn't quite have the feet of Jerry Judy,

but it's that Jerry Judy effect, right? Jerry Judy created separation so easily that people really fell in love with him. he was my wide receiver one coming out that season because he just did it at such an elite level it was just such a gift of his Wilson it brings you a lot of stop start change of direction things that you love his short area being able to turn his hips put his foot in the ground really help you out in the quick game I think that that's great again it's kind of going back to a little bit of my criticism with a lobby the reason why I'm lower on Garrett Wilson than some

of these other guys that I'm going to mention, it's not that he can't do concentrated catches. You know, we saw in that Michigan game, right? Throw it up to him at the pylon. He's going to go up and he can mosh somebody and he can come down with a concentrated catch. I'm not saying that he can't do that, but just a physical profile overall. He's just not as physically gifted size strength wise as some of these other guys. So I think that he's a really great wide receiver and what he does well can be a quarterback's best friend sometimes, especially with how effective he can be in the quick game off press, off the line scrimmage, gaining those quick separation yards to really help out the

quarterback, especially if a pass rush is good that week and it's coming at you hard. So I think that he is a really good wide receiver. He could play inside and out just like Olave. He's got slot experience. He plays on the outside. He's a good wide receiver. But again, this is another guy that I'm, I don't want to say worried about the long speed because worried is definitely not the word, but I think people right now believe that Garrett Wilson is just more athletic than Chris Olave is.

Like I've seen people say that, like, oh, he's he's a more athletic version of kind of like Chris Olave. And I'm like, everything that I've heard from that Ohio State program is that Chris Olave is one of the fastest dudes on that team. So I actually think that Garrett Wilson, we're confusing or we're not compartmentalizing the athleticism the way that we need to. I think that Garrett Wilson is maybe more short area explosive. Maybe he's got just like more flexibility at the hips to where he can, he can dip and chop his feet and turn a little bit quicker than Chris Olave can. But in terms of like deep down the field, being a blazer, I think he's more of a guy who's going to run kind of in a low four fives.

And so that's where I'm looking at Garrett Wilson fantastic tape this season he's going to be a great wide receiver but that physical profile is still why I'm a little bit lower on him than some of these other wide receivers and I think you're on it with the 40 I don't think he's going to blaze in the 40 and I do agree that the jumps and the three cone might be better suited for him right the stop and start ability the short area explosiveness rather than, Hey, running a straight line down the field, which for wide receivers at the 40 does matter, right? I've gotten away from the 40 being the be all end all, but at some point in the league, you got to be able to run at wide receiver. So it does matter. All right, moving to number four for me and a little bit is injury, but a lot of this is pretty close to where i would have him no matter

what this is jameson williams uh for me the breakout player of this year the guy that you know people are saying if he didn't get hurt would have been the bona fide first wide receiver taken i don't actually know if i agree with that i think that's easy to say after he gets hurt because then if he's not you're like oh it's because he got hurt but it's so it's the ultimate draft talk cop out baby you love to see yeah you're very protected in saying that so with Jamison Williams who was awesome this year right he he's obviously an incredible incredible vertical threat he he's you know very uh tall and slender I think he is a true like almost six foot two um he, he's got obviously, you know, really good catch radius for a player with that kind of speed, that stop and start, especially

on the double move, getting downfield, that's going to work against NFL corners. He has that level of speed. It is real. The ability to, you know, burn down the field. I would say my concerns with him, Trevor and his injury was non-contactact so the injury that he had has nothing to do with this right I do wonder how that frame projects to the next level he is a really slender kind of guy that a couple big hits you go okay is he is he gonna be okay taking those hits across the middle of the field or is he the kind of player that we're gonna put on the outside and really use in the 20 to 30 yards down the field kind of area get him involved on screens and make him work after the catch crossers shallow crossers and catch and run kind of player so love his speed love his you know game changing ability

he can flip the script on you with a 40 yard touchdown in no time i don't have the fears of everybody going well why didn't he get on the field at Ohio state? Uh, because two of the guys were, are in my top five for this draft. And the other guy is probably a top five to top 10 pick in the future. So that's not in this draft class yet. So, and don't they have like Marvin Harrison's kid too? Yes. Marvin Harrison's kid. They've got, I think another five-star wide receiver, like in. Yes, it's ridiculous. And when you get the call from Nick Saban or whoever it was that did call him and said, hey, you want to come away from using that as a cause for concern with Jamison Williams. I just don't see the rounded out game that I'm taking him even pre-injury in the top 10. Now the ceiling's obviously there because of the speed.

So I really like Jamison Williams, a very projectable vertical target, but I don't think he's somebody that comes in and, you you know it's insane to even ask somebody to beat Jamar Chase but I also don't even think he's Jalen Waddell I liked Jalen Waddell more as well yeah so I mean this one's pretty easy for us because Jameson Williams is also my number four and I we are in the same boat here when he was getting a lot of hype as the wide receiver one in this class I didn't see it like that I really didn't I liked him as the player now initially throughout the season especially when Alabama was playing a lot lower level competition yeah he was racking up the yards he had over 1500 yards and he had 15 receiving touchdowns throughout the season

before he got hurt there at the end he's he was he was he was a big time vertical threat for alabama and there was a lot of opportunities where they were able to scheme things up and and there was certain blown coverages and there were just athletes that aren't going to be at the next level that were trying to guard him and i think that that all goes into it and he was really feasting deep down the field in that way and so throughout the season especially like even to the middle of the season and a little bit late in the regular season i was like okay this guy's a great burner but for people to call him wide receiver one in this class a little crazy right i mean when you look at the nfl as it stands today you know i think a lot of people would say okay tyree kill could be wide receiver one in this class, a little crazy, right? I mean, when you look at the NFL as it stands today,

you know, I think a lot of people would say, okay, Tyree Kill could be wide receiver one in the NFL. He could be the top wide receiver. And that I can understand because Hill is, Hill is that rare combination of, he runs basically like low four twos, and yet he's like a dense dude. He's a small dude, but he's also like jacked.

And so Hill is kind of crazy in that regard. And Jameson's a little different. His body is built a little bit different. And when I watched Jameson Williams, and I remember saying this, oh, this must've been for the SEC championship game when he was taking over and he was doing things really well,

which I'll get to in a second. He was taking some pretty big hits after the catch and over the middle. And he was hanging onto the football. And I'll get to in a second. He was taking some pretty, pretty big hits after the catch and over the middle. And he was hanging on to the football. And I was like, damn, man, see, I love to see this from him. I didn't see a ton of this in his tape, but I love seeing that from him. But something that definitely worries me a little bit and not to scout the helmet, if you will.

But I remember watching Henry Ruggs when he was at Alabama and obviously a big time burner when he was at Alabama he could play through contact like Henry Ruggs had contested catches man like he had stuff over the middle he was getting popped in the end zone he was getting popped you know at the numbers or at the logo or whatever and he was just like hanging onto the ball and popping up and that's why I loved Henry Ruggs in that draft because Cause I said, this guy's more than speed. I've seen it on tape. He's got that strength. He can do contested catches.

But then Henry Ruggs got to the NFL and that like vanished. Like the hits were too much. The guys weighed too much. It was, it was too much of a jump up and right. And it's just, and it truly was different. And so this is kind of a long answer with Jameson Williams, but I obviously like the long speed you love that I think he's the top deep threat in this class I really do when he's healthy

I do think that he rounded out his game especially when Mechie went down and he was able to show what he could be in the quick game you know things that are um in front of 10 yards really getting him the ball in his hands early and that that's tough for speed guys, right? Not everybody who has that explosiveness is able to get that timing down right with their quarterback to where a vertical deep burner can still have that same speed effect on the game when you're going quick game, when you're doing, when you're doing quick little mesh routes or dig routes or, or quick slants that you got to be able to fire it in there right on time, or even like a little comeback routes, things like that. So I think that Jameson rounded out his

game from a speed profile, because I think that he has the long speed and some short speed. But I do still worry about the strength of physicality. So that's why he is still four for me. He's always kind of been around this four or five mark for me, even pre injury. That's kind of been my view on him. It seems like we see him pretty similarly. Who's your number three guy in this list? Yeah, to close the book on Jamison Williams, I think he's in the right era for him where guys are playing in more space and protected.

Like 20 years ago, I don't know if he can get off the line of scrimmage, to be honest with you. And now things are, there'll be times where corners are going to get hands on him and he's going to have to, the play strength is going to have to get better. But it is an era where, I mean, he's our number four receiver. We're not knocking the guy. Like that's high praise in this, really high praise in this class.

But there are things that he needs to work on. So number three for me. Hold on. I just, I just wanted to say, and I'll kind of like categorize it like this. The three guys that we just talked about, or at least that I talked about with Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Jameson Williamss i think could be high-end number twos like i really think that they could be high-end number twos extremely effective wide receivers really good passing weapons in the nfl but these next three guys at least that i'm going to list

are built different if you will and i think they have wide receiver one caliber uh physical gifts i think all around so go ahead who's your three and it's the same for me coming up now we're entering a different tier the guy that everybody that we've mentioned today is in my top 40 but now the next three we're going to talk about a different tier and we're going to start at number three with london um a player that i compare to courtton. I look at him and just see somebody that the above the rim ability will translate to the next level. It's that good where the tracking, the frame, the size, the shielding of defenders, the high pointing the ball,

the I'm open when I'm covered ability. I really do think that will translate at the next level. And there's something with him after the catch where he's got a little bit of that B Martian and where it's like, he's very big. He's not sudden or twitchy, but he'll just run through you with the stiff arms and guys try to go low on him and they bounce off guys try to go high on him and they bounce off. So I mean, I've seen him is after the catch ability for that size is very very impressive to me so when i look at london do i think he's gonna have you know the polish of a guy that's gonna run every route to perfection when he comes in i don't even think trevor his route running is a problem it's just

when you're six foot five when you're that big it's never gonna look like picasso out there i think people really need to distinguish that like when you are that big when you do certain things it's not going to look the same as a 5 foot 11 guy like your feet aren't gonna be you know feathery you're not going to be you're gonna be a little bit more choppy your one shoulder is going to take a little bit longer to come across right Right, right, right. friend be able to put up those kind of similar numbers or whatever from you it's because the leverage is different he's just smaller he's got smaller limbs it just it doesn't work out like that of course like the body is just it's gonna work different for smaller guys and bigger guys so i'm very glad that you said that dude you're spot on funny quick story my first ever usapl

competition in college when i was power lifting. And I'm not over six foot. I'm not tall. You were an official powerlifter? In college, I was. Yeah. So my first ever competition, the guy that was in my weight class, one of two, the guy that won on the West Point team, Trevor, was five foot one. He was five foot one. Five foot one.

So it's like, I don't stand a chance against you because you are literally T-Rex bouncing. He has to bring the weight this far. Dude, it was wild. I was wild. He was built literally just like a boulder, like an actual meatball. And I was like, okay, this isn't going to be like a forever thing for me. This is fun to do right now. So you're a great analogy.

And I have a sad personal experience with that. Yeah, 5'1". fun to do right now. So you're great analogy. And I have a sad personal experience with that. Yeah. My only sad personal experience is that I have long arms. So benching 225 took a lot longer than than I wanted it to while all my other friends were. It was like the SpongeBob meme where I was Squidward just staring out my window, watching all my other friends bench 225. And I was like, I have long arms. Oh, my God. Yeah, it's spot on. So with Drake London, yeah, that's really it.

It's not going to always look like the prettiest, but you have to question, is this going to be effective at the next level? And, you know, the medicals will be another conversation. London's, you know, checks and all those things are going to be important, but I think you would assume he's going to be okay in this era of modern medicine. So I really like Drake London. I think the contested catches translate. Do I think he'll have the easiest time getting wide open at the next level? No, and no one really does. I do think there'll be a lot of situations where he is covered and the quarterback has to trust him to win the football. And I think he will. I think he'll be, he's somebody that should come in

and catch eight touchdowns as a rookie if he's healthy. And I'm not saying he's going to go for 1300 yards. I'm not going to say he's going to have 90 catches or anything like that. But when you watch how Cortland Sutton translated, and that was from SMU, that wasn't from USC. Cortland Sutton knew simply how to win the football and knew how to gain positioning at all times while being fast enough. I don't think London's slow. I'll say that that especially straight line. I think that is the player that is very easily comp as a

translatable skill set in the next level for London. So number three for me and think he should be probably a top 20 pick. I'm going to say more words on Drake London when we get to him in my list. He's not number three for me. Number three for me is Traylon Burks. Traylon Burks, the wide receiver from Arkansas, this ultimate weapon kind of a player, man. I think simply put, he's just unique, right? I mean, like when you look at who he is as a prospect, how big he is, what is he?

Six foot three, six foot four, 225, 230 pounds. I mean, like he's just, he's a a monster and Arkansas aligns him in a ton of different ways they'll put him in as a big slot and shoot man you see him try to go up against either safeties or corners that are five nine five ten and like he's just he's he's making him he's making him look like children out there it just feels like he's he's playing a different game and you know I I felt from that perspective I felt the same way about DK Metcalf now I'm not saying that he's totally Metcalf but he's got that kind of vibe to him where in college he was just that physically dominant over so many

people and I think when he gets to the combine I don't know if he's gonna Metcalf numbers especially in a uh in a on a linear plane like with a 40-yard dash and with his jumps and everything like that but he might i mean this dude is super explosive and i think that everybody could really come to love him at the combine i think that just the potential that he has now there's certain polish in his game that i think needs work uh but sure as a from an athletic profile guys like this simply do not come around very often. They really don't. And if you want somebody who's more of a technician than Traylon Burks,

go get Chris Olave. Go get Garrett Wilson. Go get Khalil Shakir. Like, go get some of these, like, route-running studs, these guys who are going to be able to be a little bit more consistent from you in that regard. But Burks does things that basically everyone in this class cannot do. He has this rare combination of size, speed, athletically that really take your team and make a massive difference, as we're seeing with teams like the San Francisco 49ers right now.

Burks is a guy who gives you that potential. He does. I think he's got a long way to go. I think that he is still not nearly as polished as he could be. But from an athletic profile, what he can do when he's got the ball in his hands after the catch, before, shoot, even, you know, before the catch, we're seeing him this season. And it was fantastic because in the first couple of years,

I thought he was really inconsistent. This year, KJ Jefferson was just chucking the ball up to him deep down the sideline. This man was coming down with it. He was making nice contested catches. Obviously, every time he gets his mitts on it, it's rarely coming out of his hands because he's that strong. He'll give you that yards after the catch ability

because he's just such a monster. And, you know, I think that Arkansas showed a little bit this year that you could play him and line him up in a variety of different spots in an age where we're getting more and more creative about how you use uniquely athletically gifted players. It's hard not to think of Traylon Burks as just this next level, next generation, next wave of NFL passing attack studs. So I got Traylon Burks at number three. Like I said, I think that there's, he certainly has a lot of polish to go and consistencies and where you can

really line him up and really get the most out of him. But for what he brings to the table athletically, I think he's a stud. Yeah. And uh i will wax poetic i will talk about burks pretty soon so okay i won't steal the spotlight right now okay all right little little little teaser right now so we got our two guys uh to at the top of this class and of course that we're talking about some uh some guys that we just left off the list as well but before we get to that gotta remind you guys that right now you can get 25 off off any PFF subscription if you use the promo code NFLSE. That's the abbreviations for NFL Stock Exchange.

What do you get with the PFF subscription? So glad that you asked. All the PFFs locked content. You get all the NFL betting dashboards, the green line set up for more betting, player prop tools, which shows you which way we're leaning with over under to help you make some extra cheddar cheese. the nfl draft guide the fantasy football draft guide or and just so

much more that you get when you sign up for a pff subscription uh you can support the pod use the promo code nflsc that would really help us out also with this being the new year something the pff is doing uh is is we're trying to figure out what you guys want to get because nfl stock exchange listeners are obviously the best listeners in the PFF network, we want to help you create a list for what we want to improve on both as a company and for this podcast. So emails, contact at pff.com. That is contact at pff.com with the answers to these two questions.

First one, what feature do you love most about PFF? Whether it's the mock draft machine, the free agency guide, the green line tool, whatever it is, what do you enjoy the most about PFF? Or if you have a subscription, what do you enjoy the most about that? And then what do you want to see? How do you want either those tools to improve or maybe tools that PFF doesn't even have yet? We would love to hear from you. We would love to implement it, make your life even better as a football fan. So tell us which podcast sent you. Let them know the NFL SE sent you if you send them that email to help us out, make a better PFF, and give you even more bang for your buck

when it comes to a PFF subscription. All right, let's get into it. Number two, who is your number two wide receiver? You mastered the PFF ad read. What'd you say? Masterclass in the PFF ad read at this point. Oh, dude, brother, we're just getting started. Wait till I get bored.

That's always when it comes great. Wait till I get bored of all of these ads, and I've got to start really spicing them up. That's when the people are really going to love it. All right, want me to take it away with number two? Yes, let's do it. Number two for me, Garrett Wilson, a player that for me is a comp to Calvin Ridley, almost a clone. I think this is the player comp that I feel best about in this entire draft right now that I've

had. And I think why I use Ridley is, you know, coming out, you look at the three phases of the catch before. Can you get open? Obviously during, can you win the football and three after the catch? Can you make a guy miss and pick up the extra yards or score? And I look at Wilson and think he could do all three right now, right today. I think he can come in and give you a thousand yards out of the gate. I watched somebody I got to see live this year.

And I'll tell you, Trevor, I was really impressed with the physicality in his game, the build. And when he gets the ball can turn into a bulldog with it in his hands, but can also make you miss. I think when you're that rounded, it really creates a nightmare scenario for safeties, corners, linebackers. So I look at Wilson and just love the route tree, love the releases off the line of scrimmage, love the footwork. I think that he just knows how to get open in very crafty ways.

Yeah. And I think that when you know how to get open, the next thing is, because you're not going to walk into a situation where, you know, maybe Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen are always throwing you the ball. How is that body control? How is that concentration? Can you make adjustments? Can you toe tap the sideline? And can you haul it in and turn into a running back with the ball in your hands? And I've seen that from Wilson. So I think in this league where you have a lot of, you know, coaches that just put such a high priority on the ability to get open in space and do something with the ball in your hands. And it's a lot of that is that, you know, the Shanahan tree, all these coaches, whether it's the Niners and you see how they use Debo, but it's not just Debo. You know, obviously

the Jet staff is from San Francisco. They want to do that with Elijah Moore. You've seen it even over on, you see it in McVay's offense all the time with how they use Cup and how they've adapted and really helped OBJ or OBJ's helped them in that offense. So I look at Garrett Wilson and think that he is so translatable, almost to any era, but especially right now, where he's going to win in man coverage. He's going to understand how to beat zone coverage, and he does

enough for you with the ball in his hands that he can make things happen after the catch. So Garrett Wilson to me is the the highest floor wide receiver, I would say in this draft, but he is not my number one wide receiver in this draft. Yeah calvin ridley comp is actually a very interesting one i pulled up calvin ridley's mock draftable scores um which are all like all of his all of his combine numbers for for those of you that aren't avid users of mock draftable which if you're a draft fan you're crazy go to mock draftable.com and you can see so many different um records of combine performances you can see the percentiles that they finished with going into the nfl and then, when you look at Calvin Ridley, there's not a lot of impressive numbers.

And I know not at all. That's a really good comp, especially of what you're wanting to get for Garrett Wilson, because of kind of what I said when I ranked him number five, like there's a lot of things that I like about his game. And I believe I either had Calvin Ridley as wide receiver one or wide receiver two in that class. And the reason was because, yeah yeah he wasn't the biggest dude he wasn't the tallest dude he

wasn't the fastest dude he was just the best dude like he was short area quickness he understood playing wide receiver really really well and that's i think a really great way to also describe garrett wilson man when you look at calvin ridley's mock draftable numbers, comes in six foot and a half, 189. I think those are basically the numbers that Garrett Wilson's going to come in at. When you look at the 40-yard dash, 443, which is fine. I think that Garrett Wilson might be a little bit slower than that, but I think that we're in that neighborhood. Vertical jump and broad jump were not good for Calvin Ridley.

I do remember that. That was something that worried me about him because he had a 31 inch vertical jump. What, what is a hundred, 110 inch. What is that off the top of my head? Well, math,

not you're in the wrong place. It's, it's, it's like 10 foot something, which was both of those are in the below 10th percentile for wide receiver seven, which is like a 2% really, really bad, terrible,

terrible, like absolutely terrible. Like, like when you were in the 2% of a percentile for any of these measurements, which is like a two percent really really bad terrible terrible like absolutely terrible like like when you were in the two percent of a percentile for any of these measurements that basically says there is no successful current pros at your position who recorded that like so that was that's super worrisome it's not that he was bad it's that he was like almost like not nfl he's an outlier actually calvin ridley athletically then and then you look at the three cone though six eight eight so that's not too bad. That's 65th percentile. And so

all of that to say that's really not a bad comp of kind of visualizing where you might have concerns with Garrett Wilson as I kind of voice at number five and why maybe that doesn't matter. Now do you want to bet on outliers all the time? No, but there's certainly a path to where when you are so savvy at your craft, maybe even if you aren't the biggest, the strongest, the most athletic guy, you can really make it happen. And I think that Gary Wilson is going to test a little bit better in the explosive areas, the jumps and the three cone. And so I think that it's all going to be fine, but I do think that that was an interesting point for you to make there. Number two, for me, I kind of teased it in the Monday episode. We saw him go number 18 in my most recent mock draft. It's Georgia wide receiver, George Pickens. And you know, that's something that I've been talking about Pickens a

lot. I mentioned in the Monday episode that he was my wide receiver one going into this season before his injury. He got injured in March acl missed most of this past season but the tape that he had prior to this this is a former five-star prospect guy who is six foot three 205 210 pounds he's going to give you the exact size profile that you're looking for for an outside number one dominant receiver you go back to that freshman year and he was basically all that passing offense had. He had over 700 yards in that first season, eight touchdowns, almost 15 yards per catch for Georgia, right? And Georgia's passing attack has sucked over the last couple of years,

but Pickens, his true freshman season stepped in right away as a guy was basically playing an extension of high school ball, came into the SEC and played really well, looked like he belonged athletically, strength-wise, length profile, all of that he had there with him. He had really great tape when it came to contested catches on the sideline, deep dives down the field, stretching the field vertically.

I think there are certainly areas in where he can just show more consistency in a lot of the areas where we've seen flashes already. I don't think he's a complete receiver. And of course him fully coming back from that ACL injury, he was able to play at the end of this year. Uh, but just making sure that he is good in those areas, all of those boxes, you'll check, you know, kind of when you get to the combine and see how he's able to test and what he's able to do and you get medical rechecks on his knee and everything. But so far, we've got three seasons of him, really just two. But if you are someone who subscribes to age domination metrics when it comes to these players, basically it's a way to say

valuing how good a player is the younger they are because it means that they are young and they're also dominating competition especially at the college level which is probably two to three years older than them if you have that kind of domination there that gives you often often that is an indicator that you will be able to step in right away in the nfl and not look lost like not like not look overwhelmed and and if there's anything that I get from George Pickens tape, it is that when he is playing at his best, he ain't going to look overwhelmed in the pros.

I think this is a guy who his ceiling is so high from an athletic strength size standpoint. He's got really great production, though spotty from Georgia spotty passing attack. I think if you get this guy in the NFL, he really works his craft. He puts in the hours to make sure that he can be the best. We're talking about a potential wide receiver to kind of a player. So love the talent. I really do think that he has one of the highest ceilings of anyone in this wide receiver class. Dude, I love you standing on the table for someone that is not in,

let alone a lot of top twos or threes right now, but a lot of top fives. And I'll jump ahead here and say George Pickens was my just missed player. I think he, for me, he's probably my wide receiver seven right now. I will say Trevor, he's probably the player or one of the players. I'm most curious to see how he tests.

And if he comes in, he's, we know he's big, but if he runs better than I expect and just blows the testing out of the waters, he is very projectable considering the lack of tape that exists with him in his current state, in his current age. So I think Pickens, and I said this on the mock draft show when you had him in the first round,

has potential riser written all over him when teams dive in and go, okay, here's the numbers, whatever. But we love his physicality and that's play strength, not just as a blocker, that's play strength as a wide receiver. And now we're seeing elite testing or even upper, you know, above average testing at that size. I think he could have a big, big time rise. So I love that you have him at two. I think it's bold. I really do. And I think that's, that's why we're here. You should be bold. I think, you know, I had a conversation with somebody about wide receivers recently, and they were like, hey, I think of this player,

and it's not a player that's been in a lot of top fives or top tens. I love him. How far off am I? And my response was, there's no correct answers to this. It's not a test. You know what I mean? Right, right. Somebody's got to be wrong at the end of the day,

and some people will be right. And, you know, for anyone that's sitting here listening and going, oh, I haven't seen George Pickens mocked in first round besides with trevor or in the top two rounds look at how many round two three four wide receivers have turned into extremely successful nfl players right now it is probably and i would need to really dive into the numbers on this but a position that the hit rate is higher than most outside of round one. When you get outside of round one, especially with quarterbacks, edge pass rush, the hit rate's a disaster. And with wide receiver, it's not the case.

Opportunity goes into that as well, right? I mean, we're talking about three, four wide receivers on the field at one time, so there's a lot more chances to prove yourself. But I agree. And then that's also an argument why some people say, hey, don't reach for wide receiver in the first round. Now, some playmakers you think are going to be worth it,

and that's why you see a handful of guys still go round one. But there's no doubt about it. You can definitely get some steals at wide receiver in rounds two and three as well. All right, so number one for me is Shailen Burks. He was number three for you. Oh, you got Burks at one. Nice. Burks at one. Yeah, Burks at one.

Like I said, Wilson a little bit more of a more projectable player, higher floor. Burks, though, I love the ceiling. And I really do like the floor right now. I will be honest with you. I think that, you know, like London, he might not be as sudden. He might not be as, you know, twitchy. He might not flash the short area ability that you look at, you know,

before the catch and go, wow, this is a guy that's going to always be open at the next level. But I'm with what you said at three, that it got a lot better this year. There was times where he was on the outside and he was getting a step or two on guys, and then with an underthrown ball, he would make a play at the catch point. So with Burks, I actually view him as a player that when he goes into a better situation with quarterback next year,

he will be an even better wide receiver as a player that when he goes into a better situation with quarterback next year, he will be a even better wide receiver as a whole. You don't have to do as much stuff with him as, you know, there was times they even used him like more inline H back early on in his career, just to get them the ball and those dump off passes. And that stuff's great. And he's somebody that can take a jet sweep 60 yards to the house because it's 6'2", 230 pounds. He's got legit speed. I think he's going to run a 4'4", that size, which is remarkable. So he's an incredible blocker, great effort player. And I love his story, Trevor.

This is a guy, and you got to love starting something with this is a guy, but this is a dude that is from Arkansas. Here's a guy. It's a dude from Arkansas that had offers to go play at more established programs. I think when he got his offer from Arkansas, they had won three games that year. And he leaves Arkansas with the season they just had, where they were a legit team in the SEC. And I think that speaks to his character,

that he decided to stay home and build something. And I think that's very hard to do in this era, where there's, you know, and the NIL didn't exist when he was a recruit but in this era where there's NIL better opportunities at other places there's places that you you know you're going to be in a championship contention right Alabama Georgia Clemson Ohio State like to me it speaks to his character that he really reset the tone for that program known as a weight room legend. I think he comes into the NFL and does not look like a guy that I need a year or two

to get used to the size, strength, speed. I think he is the size, strength, speed. So Traylon Burks, number one wide receiver. I'd use him, a top 10 pick on him, no problem. For anyone that thinks this wide receiver class doesn't have like a dude that can be a number one, I completely disagree. These last three guys I think could be number ones,

but Traylon Burks is the one that excites me the most. Yeah, I mean, Traylon, you know, when the ball gets in his hands, I mean, magic can happen, no doubt about it. I do worry a little bit. Not that he will be overwhelmed size, strength, speed-wise in the NFL. I think athletically he checks all those boxes, and I don't think you have a worry there. I worry about kind of what I was saying with him being my number three the just the technicalities of it you know him making sure that he's getting off press the way that he needs to you know where it's like okay in the SEC in college football he might have been

able to just you know like bully people and that's about it you know somebody somebody tries to get their their hands on him in press and whatever and he's just like okay this is a fly that I'm swatting away. In the NFL, it's a little different. These guys are a little bit more precise in how they're attacking you, where they're putting their hands, how they're mirroring you, what they're doing off the line of scrimmage. And I just think that that's going to be an area of his game

that's really going to determine just how good he is. Because you mentioned it when you talked about Drake London. There's just sort of a lack of flexibility with bigger guys. I mean, he's 6 six foot three 225 pounds like he's just going to have visibly less flexibility than some of these other guys and I think I think he's a little bit stiff but again if he's as good as like Metcalf is then it won't matter because you're just that good vertically and being a sideline outside kind of a wide receiver. But it's hard when there aren't many examples for you to point to. But then again, there aren't many examples of the kind of athlete

Traylon Burks is at 6'3", 225 pounds. So there's just so much unique intrigue with Traylon Burks that goes into it. You certainly see the ceiling. I'm a little bit worried about the technicalities of it and him being great at the small details that can allow those big differences with his athleticism to really shine. So that's kind of where I am with Burks. My number one guy, you mentioned him.

I think that he was your number three, Drake London, the wide receiver from USC. I love Drake London, man. I think that he is. I think that people are looking at him and they're thinking, okay, this is a contested catch wide receiver. Here we go again. 2019 NFL draft class, JJ Ortega, Whiteside, Nikhil Harry, Hakeem Butler, Calvin Harmon,

right? This is another one of these guys that's not going to pan out. And I think the Drake London's different, man. I really do. It's not going to pan out and i think that drake london's different man i really do it's not that he's just a contested catch wide receiver it's that this dude led college football in all contested catches and he only played eight games before he got hurt he's still at the season's end and we're talking about we're talking about with bowl games involved in championship games involved some of these wide receivers to play 13 or 12 13 14 and he made it to the national championship even 15 games this season drake london was the

number one in contested catches all season long and he played in just eight games his numbers are stupid in that regard it's not just that he's a contested catch receiver it's that he is a contested catch god he was unbelievable for Keaton Slovis and that entire USC offense they went to him whenever they possibly could now he got on the field early on and I love this as well got on the field early on at USC being a big slot baby he understands that role well that versatility is certainly there for him when you see the NFL guys like Julio Jones guys like Mike Evans guys like DeAndre Hopkins well not DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona as much but you rotate a lot of these guys Devonta Adams is another one you see them these big wide receivers these number one wide receivers be able to move into the slot

to give some of these nickel defenders and some of these nickel sets on defense a lot of fits because all of a sudden you're giving that wide receiver a two-way go in a lot of different ways and just a lot more space and I think that Drake London really understands how to set those things up and do things well. And people are going to talk about his speed. Yes. He's not going to be as fast as Wanda Robinson, as Calvin Austin, as Chris Olave, as Jameson Williams. He's not, but you know what else he is? He's six foot four, six foot five, 220 pounds. And he's bringing something to the table that those guys aren't. The catch radius is huge for him, and he makes the most of it. You know what is a funny stat that I looked up here, Connor?

In this past season, Drake London had more yards after contact than Traylon Burks did. It's pretty crazy. He had one more yard, so they're the same thing. They're basically the same thing. But again, Drake London played in – But you don't have to say that second part by the way if you're selling i could use the car you know for your pitch you don't have to say that it is it's one more yard difference just stop right there it's true that's true that's true that's

true i didn't want to i didn't i didn't want to shoot on trillium works too much which so yeah that's kind of why i threw it in there but he had you know people people act like oh he's a big wide receiver you know like once he catches the ball you know, people, people act like, oh, he's a big wide receiver. You know, like once he catches the ball, you know, he's going to get tackled. He doesn't have that. Because that's the thing. They worry about the separation, right? So you get the yards after the catch and you get yards after contact and whatever.

And yes, he's not naturally creating that separation. But Drake London is clearly showing that when he gets that ball and when somebody's contacting him at the catch, he has that mentality to throw that boy off of him and keep running with the football. Go get first downs. Go get those extra yards. He definitely has that mentality. Some people are rolling their eyes saying, oh, you know, he's going to he's going to run somewhere in the four fives. OK, well, you know who else ran in the four fives? Like you mentioned, Brandon Marshall, mike evans he's six or five right like like that's you know if he obviously the ankle injury is a worry i don't know how

healthy he's going to be i wonder if he i don't think he'll run trevor right i don't think he's going to run either so i don't think we're ever going to get the answer to this question but good it would be annoying anyway listen it would be annoying good so i i love drake london for those reasons man i think that you can align him anywhere on the field um i think he's comfortable with that i think he became even better as a route runner this past season he was absolutely their go-to love his mentality for everything after the catch yes he's a contested catch receiver yes it's where his bread is always going to be buttered yes that is risky going into the nfl but i don't think he is super limited as an athlete to where

it like a lot of these other guys just got swallowed up i don't think he has that kind of mentality instead when i watch drake london i watch a wide receiver who is certainly athletically athletic enough right he he played basketball growing up as much as he did football he was even on usc's basketball team as a power forward played a little bit i think he played in two games before it was like, that's crazy. Okay. I can't do both of these things, but like, that's, you know, the kind of athleticism,

the start and stop and playing basketball and changing direction and all that, like, man, it's, I think he is a great athlete for his size. I think he has a fantastic mentality as a wide receiver. The versatility is there. That's why he's my wide receiver one. And I think it just brings up a great conversation that like you know for people listening that are want to get into scouting or new to the draft or even if you're not and i know most of you don't do this but you need to evaluate size and speed differently right like if somebody's five foot nine and runs a four, like that's awesome. But if somebody's six foot five, you know, two 15

and runs a four or five, like that's a, that's incredible. Like, I think people don't realize that enough. Like that is build up speed down the, that's really fast at that size, really fast at that size. So it's a, you know, the metrics are, are the way they're viewed, right? Like a static number that is like four or three always gets you excited. But what is the profile, the physical profile? And I look at London and Berks and see guys that are just built so differently are so physical. And Pickens has that play strength too. It's just, he doesn't have this, this sample size of those other two, but he has the play strength as well, where if he runs sub four or five,

you're like, whoa, like that's real. So there's our top five receivers. I did six because I'm a cheat. It was fun. I want to know your just missed. Well, hold on. Before we get into the just missed, I snuck in mine.

I'll recap the top fives here, and then I have everybody's favorite ad read that I got to get to. Conor's five. He kind of tied there between chris olava and johan dodson his number four jameson williams number three drake london number two garrett wilson and number one he had trailing burks my top five i had five garrett wilson at five jameson williams the same there at number four trailing burks at three and i had george picks at two and Drake London at one. I think, I think my theme here for my top three wide receivers is the old, the old football adage motto, big people beat up little people. And I think that that's, you know, a wide receiver, you can get production out of so many different shapes and sizes, but those are the guys that I

had at the top. And now that I'm looking at this list, I guess that's, that's kind of why it stood out for me because those guys, a lot of these guys bring a great athletic profile. But those guys brought a size and strength profile that I think the other ones are a little bit lower on the list. It did not. Roses are red. Violets are blue. Don't let a wild pube wreck you. That's right.

I said it. Valentine's Day is just around the corner. And our sponsors at Manscaped are here for you with the best tools to get your balls ready for that special occasion. This Valentine's Day, time to join the 4 million men worldwide who trust Manscaped, the leader in below the waist grooming. With our exclusive offer, go to manscaped.com, use the promo code PFF, get yourself 20% off and free shipping. Holidays went by so quickly. Did you remember to take care of your package while you were worrying about other packages? With the best tools for the job. The Performance Package 4.0 from Manscaped is just the thing that every guy needs in their life to make each day a little bit more special. Austin said this on his ad read

because I saw the video of it because it was floating around. But there is also a part of this ad read where you can have the option to say, Manscaped created their products for a night just like Valentine's Day and will make your V-Day special when your date says, wow, great set of balls you have there. That is in the script. The Manscaped ad reads a choose your own adventure book. I did not know that. Yes, it is. No, it is. It is definitely a choose your own adventure book. I did not know that. Yes, it is. No, it is.

It is definitely a choose your own adventure. You've got to choose paths. And sometimes those paths end in a location where you never really thought they would go. But you're midway through the sentence and you got to power through it. So there we were. I just had to I had to throw that out to the people. Maybe I'll actually throw that in there. Yeah, I was going to say.

I don't know if like ironically is the way, but the way, but I got to come up with a way to really get that one in there confidently to sell at home. But that's like difficulty level. That's like through the fire and flames guitar hero level difficulty. So I got to work on that before I get to that one. Get 20% off and free shipping with the promo code PFF over at manscaped.com.

That's 20% off free shipping at manscaped.com. Use the promo code PFF. Join manscaped.com. That's 20% off free shipping at manscaped.com. Use the promo code PFF. Join Cuban and shoot your shot with Manscaped this Valentine's Day. Now we can talk about wide receivers that just missed the top five. Now that we're all hot and bothered here talking about the Manscaped ad. So who is, give me one wide receiver who maybe even wasn't ranked sixth or seventh in your group there. But just tell me somebody who you wanted to mention here on this list.

Yeah. So I said Pickens before, but like you said, that's more of like the fringe kind of guy. I think the one I wish I talked about would be somebody like Sky Moore to get in that conversation. Mike Renner. Mike Renner loves Sky Moore. I've seen he's a little bit more buzz. And Mike's like really good at usually being, you know, early on guys that are going to get there.

He grinds the tape. That's good to hear. So Sky Moore would be one. And then, you know, I'll throw one on here that I really find so exciting to watch. And I'm'm curious I think he'll project more as a round three player but Wandel Robinson to me oh yeah he's someone that yes if you truly do know what you want to do with him in your offense then like him coming into an offense where he is the number three piece he's gonna do a lot of gadget things.

You're going to hear that cliche and buzz a lot. He's going to do jet sweeps, bubble screens, move them around. Like you're going to use him in motion a lot. But I also think there is a legit, you know, way to use him just as a slot guy that can eat the middle of the field. He is electric after the catch. So Wondell Robinson would be one to me. He's not going to be in my top 50, or he's not locked into my top 50,

but he absolutely, in the right offense, with a creative mind, can give you 10 snaps a game. And you're going to have to account for him on the field. When you see him going in motion, is he going to get the jet sweep? Is he going to get the pitch pass? Is he going to be a player for him on the field when you see him going in motion is he going to get the jet sweep is he going to get the pitch pass is he going to be a player that's using the screen game and he's probably got enough juice that you know send him down the field as well so I'm curious to watch Wandel how he's projected in this class and I think he is going to be very specific for a lot of teams but he's not that round one or round two guy that we've been

spending the whole show talking on that I find very exciting to watch. Yeah. I like one L a lot. I had the, I had the chance to interview him early in the season, kind of when Kentucky was really, really going off and popping off at that offense playing really, really well. And I think that people just, um, you know, Kentucky lost a couple of games, so they got it out of the spotlight and people really didn't pay attention as much, but Wanda was fantastic. He ended with some, some really great numbers to end the season. He is, like you said, he's's a burner he's a fantastic athlete he's got that track background and um he's at kentucky because he originally committed to go to nebraska and he wanted to play slot wide receiver for nebraska in his freshman year so many running backs got hurt

on the depth chart that they asked rondale if he'd play running back and he he did he kind of took one for the team and played running back he played it in high school so it wasn't like it was his first time doing it he kind of split time doing running back wide receiver things like that and um then his sophomore season that kind of like kept him there and he didn't want to be a running back and so he ended up leaving nebraska and i know nebraska fans weren't super pumped about that but he goes to kentucky liam cohen the offensive coordinator for Kentucky, who is a Sean McVay disciple, was with the Rams before he got to Kentucky as their offensive coordinator.

I really like what he was doing this past year, I think especially out the gate. He had some really great play calls, really great play design, and I think throughout the whole season, he did a great job getting Wandale Robinson involved. You mentioned him as a round three guy. I think there's a good chance that Wandale Robinsoninson could be around two guy i really think that especially when he goes to the combine and uh performs very very well the way that i think he can

very versatile player and i think you know as we've said so many times in this podcast you need a slot guy to really help you out and so uh i i agree wandale robinson he's kind of right there outside of the top five i'm not sure exactly where i'd have him listed but he would be one of those next names that i would that i would mention there another game another name that i really wanted to mention david bell the wide receiver from purdue great call this dude has just always been good at football i like i don't know actually actually it's it's always been good at sports i uh i again had the chance to sit down with him do a a story on him. And he is just ridiculous. I mean, in high school, he won an undefeated state championship in basketball. And then the

immediate season that followed won an undefeated state championship in football. Like he just has always had success. He played varsity as a true freshman in football. He's always been somebody that's contributed right away. He played right away when he was at Purdue. They leaned on him heavily, especially when Rondell Moore got hurt. It became the David Bell show. And, you know, he just feels like this kind of player. And he's not going to blow you away with athleticism. He's not.

He's not going to blow you away with size. He's not the biggest, strongest, fastest dude out there. But he gets open. He understands the game. He understands playing receivers so very well. And his production has been fantastic because of it he is another player right outside of that top five somebody who's gonna go i think in day two that's just gonna be a damn good pro yeah he is and and he was the i believe it was the state of indiana i think he was the gatorade indiana player of the year um before he went to purd And man, he has increased his playing time.

I think throughout the time that he's been there, he played a little bit as a freshman. And like I said, when Rondell Moore got hurt and then when Rondell Moore left, it really became the David Bell show. And this past season, man, he has put up some crazy numbers. And I think he plays the position. He's got such a great understanding for it.

So I wanted to give a shout out to David Bell there, even though he wasn't going to make my top five. He's going to be, I think, a really good wide receiver in the NFL. Don't overthink him. He's going to be, I think, a really good wide receiver in the NFL. Don't overthink him. He's going to be one of the best day two picks out there. That's a great call. He's somebody that has been super productive.

He does all of, you know, kind of the dirty work at wide receiver, really. The tough catches he can make. And he's someone that is going to get overlooked, I think, in this class because he's not going to wow you with testing numbers. He's not going to wow you, I think, in this class because he's not going to wow you with testing numbers. He's not going to wow you like you said, Trevor. He's not going to be like the biggest and fastest kind of guy. But when you turn on the film, it's called reliability is what you're getting with David Bell in my eyes.

I just see a reliable player. So, all right, who is one guy that kind of my route, you don't really have in your top 50, but you like to watch him and you like to talk about him and you're kind of excited to see don't really have in your top 50 but you like to watch him you like to talk about him and you're kind of excited to see his draft path right now i like kalil shakir a lot the wide receiver from boise state he was another player who i think there's there there's just something to guys they expect the ball to go to their hands in the biggest moment and that was kalil shakir no doubt over the last couple of years at boise state again like he's not going

to be the most athletically gifted dude. I don't think he's going to just like explode onto the scene after the combine, but interviewed, I had the chance to sit down with him as well. And he has a lot of nicknames that he goes by a deuce for his number captain. They, they, they would just call him captain, you know, for, for him being a captain of the team, but also Swiss Swiss Shakir is, is something that they called him because of everything that he was able to do where he could

line up for it for them in the backfield in the slot on the outside what he was able to do for that team and it was basically with kalil shakir wherever the other team was weakest in coverage they seemed to put kalil in those situations to really exploit those players and i i love betting on players that had a high workload in college football, because when they get to the NFL, if they happen to get in a really good situation and start performing really, really well, and the offense coordinator wants to put more on their plate and get them more attention, more targets, it's not new for them. It's expected. This is something that they have gone through plenty of times before. And so I do think that

that experience and that workload and being that emphasis in an offense, the way that Shakir has been over the last couple of years for Boise State, that means a lot to guys that you were maybe going to pick in the mid round. And heck, if they hit, they're not going to be mentally overwhelmed or experiencing it for the first time

if they start getting that extra attention. So he's a smooth mover. He's fun. He's a Swiss army knife. And I really like Khalil Shakir in this class. And we should be getting to see him in mobile as it stands today. Right? Yep. Okay. Cool. I get nervous every time I ask about a player. I haven't checked it like super recently. Now I'm going to, now I'm going to do a Twitter search, but I'm, I'm sure I'm pretty sure that he is still on the lineup.

While you're doing that. Uh, we promise the number to know to round out to conclude this wide receiver segment one number that stood out to me uh in our lovely pff database which is just mind-blowing like you think like someone like me that's done the draft and i've always used pffs you know premium college football stats you know since they've been available via subscription but now being here it's wild, the unlimited data. So one number to know why I was watching all these wide receivers that just is remarkable. And this guy doesn't get a lot of attention. He's not in the top 10 wide receivers.

He will be at the Shrine game. Jarrett Stearns dropped three of 155 catchable passes this year. That is, and sure, some of them are quick throws. Some of them are screens. There's also plenty of times for a smaller guy. He goes into the deep intermediate, you know, intermediate deep part of the field and gets crushed after catching one over the middle.

Trevor, that is, that's below, you know, a 2% drop rate. It's just, you're not dropping the football at that point. Like you're literally not dropping the football. shout out to jared stearns i have another jared stearns uh pff ultimate stat for you while you're here yard it's it's a yards after the catch stat for him you mentioned jackson smith and jigba the wide receiver from ohio state yes might be a top 10 wide receiver next year right he was second in the country this year with 795 yards after the catch. Number one, Jareth Stearns, 1,156. This man had over 300 yards more than Jackson Smith and Jigba

and everyone else in the country at yards after the catch his year Jared Stern's year with Bailey Zappi in that offense at Western Kentucky nuts in nuts saying the production that they had there my uh my number well not just there they transferred together from Houston Baptist I know I think they set records at Houston Baptist, transferred together to Western Kentucky, and then did all of that this year. Incredible. And they did so, funny enough, because their offensive coordinator, who was at Houston Baptist,

who they also put up monster numbers with, Zach Hittley, went over to be the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, and that's what brought both of them over there. So Zach Hittley is a name to know in college football. He is now the offensive coordinator at texas tech after this past year having so much success at west virginia he is definitely a name to know to keep an eye on as an offensive coordinator that's going to get hot and i think

we're going to see him at some uh bigger schools very very soon god yeah truly truly truly uh the last number to know that i will say in this wide receiver class before we get out of here. Calvin Austin, the third, the wide receiver from Memphis, five foot nine, 160 pounds soaking wet. I mean, this dude is tiny and yet he has a massive game as you would hope with a guy who has that small of a size profile. He's very, very fast. He will bring that four, three profile to you. And the numbers to know is I asked him myself because, you know, I was able to sit down and talk with him and about his use in the offense and everything. And I said, Hey, when's the last time you ran a 40? Be honest with me. And he's like, I ran a four, three,

eight official time when I was a junior in high school. I was like, okay. And he said, but I've been hand-timed multiple times in the four twos since then just like non-official stuff running the 40 multiple times he said he's been hand-timed in the four twos this is also somebody who has won nine state championships in track nine state championships he won in the 200-meter dash, the 100-meter dash, the 400, and the 4x200 relay. He won junior years, sophomore years, and senior years.

It's just this dude. We talk about guys with track backgrounds. This is a real track background. I also asked Calvin because I had to. I'd be like, brother, have they ever like, tried to put weight on you? Like you're, you're 160 pounds. And he, and he laughed and like, he, he loved it. And he laughed and he was like, man, it's crazy. He's like, my, if you saw what I eat in a day, you would have no idea how I'm 160 pounds. And I was like,

what do you eat? He's like, I just eat pasta all the time he's like my favorite foods are lasagna spaghetti like he's like i'm just out here eating pasta and he and he's just got the fastest metabolism in the world so i don't know man maybe the nfl is gonna maybe the nfl is gonna say like hey man just uh ate peanut butter like casein and peanut butter sandwiches when you get your first year in the league something to maybe put a little extra weight on him but he seems to be comfortable there and look you know with calvin austin if tutu atwell can go in the second round calvin austin can go somewhere on day two i don't know if he's gonna go somewhere on day two but

that's yeah i mean he is he is a better version of what tutu was and tutu at what 50 to 50 second or something like that last year yes such a better version he could Tutu was and Tutu at what 50, 50 second or something like that last year. Yes. Such a better version. He could fly. It was funny. Well, before we even started doing this show,

uh, when I was watching Calvin Austin for the senior bowl, going through all those wide receivers, I was watch a tape really, really like him, you know, post some clips. Then you go into the research rabbit hole and I ended up at your article.

Um, and it's just the track background is it's unbelievable. And his road to being a football player at the college level is a lot, it's a lot more different than your typical college football player. So if you want to know, I would definitely read Trevor's article on it on PFF. Cause it was, you learn a lot about the player and man, he's, he's electric. He's got serious juice. I mean, the wheels are real. Special teams, big-time returner.

He'll be drafted to return punts, maybe even kicks as well. And, dude, I can't believe it. That wraps our early wide receiver preview of the top guys. And it was good that this is the first show that we, like, really had such different stances where everybody could kind of see where, you know,

this is scouting, different stances. Yeah, you know i i think your analysis is bad now and i'm sure that you think i can't believe i signed up to do a podcast with you this is embarrassing no that was good that was good first one of many that we're going to be doing i think over the next couple of weeks really getting into these classes give you guys our thoughts on a lot of these guys a lot of the names to know some rounds to project them in and and like we did today i i love that you were able to sprinkle in a little bit of hey i could see this team drafting and we're hopefully going to do a lot more of that uh yeah kind of when when we're thinking about these prospects and some fits that they have there next week because this is the last show for this week but next week on monday it's going to be all-star circuit themed. Shrine Bowl starts this coming weekend.

Senior Bowl immediately starts right after that. And so Connor and I are going to be talking a lot about what's going on at the Shrine Bowl, what's going on at the Senior Bowl. I'm going to be out in Vegas for the Shrine, so I'm going to be remote doing some podcasts with that. We'll be sure to get you all the episodes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. So you guys can count on those things. But it's going to be a lot of Shrine Talk. We're going to give you all the updates. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. So you guys can count on those things, but going to be a lot of shrine talk. We're going to give you all the updates.

I'm going to be boots on the ground there. Connor and I are both going to be boots on the ground in mobile for the senior bowl. So we're going to give you all of our thoughts, all of our updates, who is up, who is down during the all-star circuit. It's going to be blast. We'll see you guys on Monday.