The McShay Show - The Race for WR1: Scouting 2026's Top Wide Receiver Prospects

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Welcome back to The McShay Show! The guys are back to break down the tape on some of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2026 NFL draft class. They talk rankings, comps, standout traits, grades, and more.(0:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (0:50) Evaluating The 2026 WR Draft Class(7:40) Todd's WR Rankings for the 2026 Class(10:55) Evaluating Jordyn Tyson (ASU)(20:20) Evaluating Antonio Williams (Clemson)(26:05) Evaluating Germie Bernard (Alabama)(29:55) Evaluating Carnell Tate (Ohio State)(37:50) Evaluating Denzel Boston (Washington)(44:55) Evaluating Deandre Moore (Texas)(53:18) More WR Prospect Evaluations Subscribe to The McShay Report for access to all of Todd’s scouting reports and tape notes during the Summer Scouting Series.The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available.Host: Todd McShayGuest: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

wide receivers always fly off the shelves. Remember, the 2025 class of receivers was lean, right? And then eight came flying off the board in the first two rounds, including four in round one. Early returns on the 2026 class of wide outs is it stronger? So what's in store is we inch closer to kickoff of the college football season? Just 276 days until the NFL draft. Mench, you good?

I'm good, man. Let's give the folks a nice, Summer beat. We all agreed, Stevie boy, right? This year's wide receiver. There's no wide receivers. Where are the wide receivers? Texas has only got one of them.

Alabama doesn't have any stars. Where's the receivers at Georgia, Penn State? And then we get to the draft in this class is weak. You can get some later. And four come off the board in round one. Right? And another four come off the board in round two. So that's eight in the first two rounds.

I went back and looked. Just because we're doing wide receivers, folks, if you haven't noticed today. Yeah. Mentioned I have been grinding away at the wide receivers on tape, getting ready for the college football season, early preparation for the 2026 NFL draft. And so I started looking. And I'm like, all right, we talked about eight wide receivers in the top two in the top two rounds. There were 11 in 2024, eight in 2020, three, which also was not considered a great group,

13 in 2022, 9 in 21, and 13 in 2020. So as I started this whole thing off, I said to you, they fly off the shelves because it's become, it didn't, it did not used to be the case, but wide receiver has become one of the premium positions as the league has gone to more pass happy offensive attacks, right? And I just think whether it's the, you know, the seven on sevens, the development of the passing game earlier on an age, they're just, they're just, they're a wide. receivers everywhere all throughout the country, high school, up to college, and now in the NFL. And so it's been kind of a renaissance, like a gold rush of wide receivers in the past seven,

eight years. This year's class, early returns, as I said, I think it's going to be a lot better than last year's group. Interesting. But I'm not certain. Yeah, I'm not certain either. I want to get into it with you. Good.

that's why it was a little bit of a lead-up. Mench, should we... Go ahead. Should we mention off the top that the 27 class looms large over all this? I mean... Please do. I mean, Jeremiah Smith from Ohio State. You got Ryan Williams from Alabama.

I mean, Cam Coleman from Auburn over the last three games of the season last year was electric. Wingo at Texas. Wingo at Texas. I mean, that 27 class... looks like it's going to be, I mean, loaded. I agree. Just to say that off the top, looking forward to the year after this one, I, I, I, let's get into it.

Let's get into this group right here. Let's get into this next group. All right. Before we do it, I want to have you know, like people are watching, man. There's like a little low in early June and I get it. People like, all right, we need a little football break. We had the season. We had the draft, a little football break.

But now like the numbers and I'm not, I'm not obsessive about it. but I care deeply about this show. I care deeply about you and Connor and Dan and Tucker and Eduardo and Mark are behind the screen. Like, we're trying to build something here. We're very appreciative of people tuning back in as we now, you know, get into the aides of July, right? And so why don't you tell them, Munch, how they can continue to support us the way they have and honestly impressive numbers in the summer.

Go to the McShay Show on YouTube, hit the, uh, that's the subscribe button. Go to the McShea Show on Spotify, hit the follow button. He's at McShea 13 for all his socials. I'm at You Goodmensch, M-U-E-N-C-H. And again, please consider subscribing to the McShea report. Every time I open it, I think we're pretty thorough in these shows. And then every time I open it, there's something else in there.

Again, I cannot stress this enough. You're going to get a ton from the show. You're going to get, it's just a nice addition, addendum to what you're already getting. It's not a repeat of what you're already hearing. Yeah, most recently we had the Manning Passing Academy review. There's a lot of detail in there. The Clemson. Clemson, pictures, videos, all of that.

And then obviously with the wide receivers, we're going to have a full breakdown. I think we've got around like approximately 10 guys that we've gone through. Mention I did most of the top prospects on tape. We kind of did some, we call it newsreeling in the business. of the kind of like whether you want to call it second third tier whatever it is a few other guys just so we had a little feel for them and we're just going to kind of go through our notes here I'm going to rank them like this okay okay manch let's like let's let's go why bury the lead here when I was done with my tape on the top guys and I don't know that there's a massive gap between

any of them and I don't see I don't see a Ryan Williams or Jeremiah Smith in this class okay no It's going to, there is a cluster of really talented guys. No one has really set themselves apart. Late last second round, day two guys for my, for my liking, okay? Like 91 grades, 90 grades, 89, 88. Not like I can, right now I'll give Jeremiah Smith a 97. Yes. You want to play that game right now in July of 2025.

No pro. 95 and I'll sleep like a baby tonight. not a problem nope um so so now you have a kind of a feel for the class here i'm gonna i'm gonna rip off and i'm not like in stone this is my guy nothing can happen all that early days early days early days and i don't and and as i finish them i didn't see a big gap it's not like oh i'm giving this guy in 95 and the other guys is 91 90 and then we'll come back and we'll go through one other thing i'll add to that i have to be careful about this because you go into film with expectations,

and there are some names when you go into the tape, you're expecting a certain something, you know, a certain level when you're watching that player. And there's other names who are like, I've heard of this guy, let's see what he can do, and you're going in with more of a blank slate. And so it's easier for that player to impress you.

These are all these kinds of biases that go on that you have to be careful about. Because there's a couple guys that I watch was like, oh, I didn't know, I don't know you could do that. This guy's a little better than I thought. And where have you been? kind of a deal i see your perones gourmet italian by the way yeah i don't think you snuck that by me no i mean if you love sauce and like it's the summer so maybe it's not like a you know

heavy pasta dish but maybe like a fradiavlo or like you know yeah check it out on instagram go in social media go to their website perones gourmet italian it's our family sponsor here at the mcche show okay um all right here here my rankings and I want to know where you're like, I'm not so sure and then we can dive right into the tape. Number one, without a ton of conviction yet, but really excited to see what happens this year with the improvement. Antonio Williams, wide receiver Clemson, followed up by Jeremy Bernard, Alabama. Really? Yep. But don't know that there's as much up. upside with him as maybe some other guys. Let's say Jordan Tyson. So a little Debo Samuel in there from Arizona State wide receiver.

Carnell Tate, Ohio. So Tyson was three. Yep. Okay. Carnell Tate four. Denzel Boston five. I let you handle the, the brunt or grunt work or the grind on the USC wide receivers. but from what I've seen, I really like the Mackay Lemon young man. But D'Andre Moore, I would have in there. So one, two, three, fours, Tate, five is Boston. I'll say more six right now, but I'm interested to see what you have on Mackay Lemon, and obviously I'll get through it. And then beyond that, I think, again, a little bit of a gap here,

but I think Eric Singleton, Singleton from Auburn is. awfully intriguing. And some other names we'll get to today. Nick Harbor from South Carolina, Jacoby Lane, the other wide receiver from USC, and Elijah Surat from Indiana. All right. That's the list. What jumps out at you right there? I don't, I like the seven. I'm not going to argue with the seven i would slightly i would have them slightly in a different order uh and i can't wait to get into why there's a these it's these guys are pretty unique i like that that there's we're not you're not going to hear a repetitive report about these players but i i have tyson is too i have bernard farther down i have tate farther down i would go williams tyson boston more and then i would go

to Bernard, then I would go to Tate, who I really like. People are going to think I hate Ohio say receivers, by the way, because, you know. I mean, there's a trend. I'm sorry to get a rep for certain things, but I really like them a little bit farther down. But they're all, again, very

close. It was like 90, 88, 88, 87, 86. Not as high. I'm not as high on the USC receivers. I see it. They're not there yet. Or I should say Lane's not there yet. Lemon is more of a, I think, like a mid-round guy who could be a really good player in the NFL, but I'm not sure he's going to ever be, you know, an elite, elite players.

So can we talk about Tyson first? I mean. Or do you want to talk about Williams first? Sure. If you want to go rogue, no, let's go Tyson first. Here's the thing about Tyson that I was really geeked up about watching him is his route running is impressive to me. I think he is, he's on another level. So when we go through these breakdowns,

you're on PFF, they have a quick cut. They give you an idea of what routes each guy is running. And at the college level, you're going to see a lot of crossers and hitches and go routes. And these aren't very complicated routes to run. They're important routes. They're a big part of the tree. And it could be productive off of them.

I'm not, you know, they are what they are. But when you look at Tyson's route tree, a lot of ins and a lot of outs. And what I love is the way he can win at the line of scrimmage, and then he can get square and vertical again, and then reset the defensive back, and then at the top of his route, make another break. He can put defensive backs in conflict.

He gets them off balance. He is a really good route runner. I love the way he separates. I love the way he's after the catch. I think that he had a chance to be the clear cut number one guy here, but the thing that scares me about him, and I'll see if you say the same thing, is the hands.

Yeah, a little scary to me. And I'll say this, there are other guys that had more targets. I think Antonio Williams had, I should say this, had fewer targets and one more drop. And we can talk about those hands too. But when I'm watching them on tape, Antonio Williams is a much more natural pass catcher. Yeah.

So you can look at the numbers. The stats lied on Antonio Williams' ball skills. They didn't lie on Jordan Tyson. And they did not lie on DeAndre Moore. more from Texas. And we'll get to him in a little bit. Yes. All right.

So for Tyson, while we're on Jordan Tyson, just to kind of give a little background here, because you like to jump the gun. You're like my emotional scout, you know. I've been dying to talk about this. I can tell. I can tell you put on the Peron's gourmet Italian hat. You're all fired up.

It's been a week. Just get into it. Tyson's 6-1-195. He looks that he looks to, whoa, five or something. He does. right i agree um he led as you across the board last year remember when he went down it was like all hands on deck because he he nearly doubled up the next best wide receiver or you know most productive receiver for as u it's 75 catches 1101 receiving

yards and 10 touchdowns i think he's borderline an elite separator and the stats actually match up with that with 94th percentiles last year in separation. And I wrote, Tate matches up. What I like about him as a route runner is if he's not winning with like suddenness, he's winning with power and strength and sturdy frame. I also really like how he tempos his routes. Some guys tempo their routes because it's cute. Some guys tempo their routes with intention. He tempos with intention, okay? And by tempoing, I mean, full speed, gear down, start off slow. Then it, just think about it. It can accentuate a cut when you're going in three quarter speed.

And then all of a sudden, a DB's kind of like lulled to sleep with that speed as he's coming up, firing off the line of scrimmage with a free release. You're like, why isn't he going 100%? And you can kind of tell he's not going 100%. But then shit, when he goes and breaks out of a route and accelerates, they're like, well, there it is. and now I'm now I'm a quarter count behind as a DB. So he does. And the angle of the break, too.

The angle of the. Yes. It's never drifting up field where you give a chance for the defender to either jump in front of the route or to recover. It's always, it's always at a 90 degree angle or working back towards the quarterback. As a quarterback, you love that. You love that because he's not putting you in a bad spot. He's not making what should be a routine throw, a harder throw.

The angle of that break at the top of his stem is also something that jumped out to me. I went up to Cohasset field the other day, right? Because one of our children left a water bottle. Like, it's a daily occurrence. So I went up there, jumped out of the car, ran over, it's crossed the field. I saw three young men, three high school kids, right? Like practicing in the middle of the summer, hot on the field. And they're working on routes and getting open.

There's a quarterback throwing to them. And I'm watching for like two minutes. And I was like, ah, I can't help myself. So I went over and they like I spent five minutes with them and it wasn't like rocket science or but like you can run you can run the post corner come off the line with this angle you can come off the line with this angle you can run it straight at them every time you run the same route run a different stem and tempo the route differently. I'm a quarterback by by trait and so this quarterback's going to rely like you need to be where

you need to be but how you get there doesn't matter to me. I'm not watching you. I need to know you're there. I don't need to know how you got there, but I want you to get there with as much separation as you can. So this guy has a good feel, Jordan Tyson does, of those things. There's a video. I think I've referenced it before.

I watch it every time before I watch wide receivers. It's about 20 minutes. You can find it on YouTube. And it's just Devante Adams talking about his release and about his routes. I watch it every single time because I get in the thing that really stuck out. And again, I watched it again. The thing that stuck out to me this time was when I go to the line of scrimmage, I am not thinking to myself, I'm going to do this or that.

I'm looking at what the defender is giving me. And if I need to get outside leverage and he's on my outside, then I know that I have to do A, B, or C, he is adjusting to what's happening. So he's running, like you're saying, his release and his route and the way he stems and all of those things rely on the coverage and the alignment of the defender, even though he's getting to the same spot every single time. And to me, you know, I love that video. It's fascinating to me.

And it's a good reminder of, I mean, just how much he loves that position and how much he pays attention to the craft. And when you see a route runner like Tyson, this is a guy that gets it. He's not getting by on natural ability, which is good. It's good natural ability. But he likes the craft. And by the way, his receivers coach at Arizona State is Heinz Ward.

I mean, Steeler great Heinz Ward. Yeah. He's one of the great all-time. I'm like pack a watch. Talk about a guy who's going to pay attention to detail who's going to demand a lot out of you. That actually makes a lot of sense. A ton of sense. I like him after the catch.

He's not, he's not slow, but he's not, I wouldn't classify him as a speedster. No. He's probably a 447, 44840 guy. But he plucks.

He transitions quickly. He makes one cut, makes that first defender miss. It's like, you know, and he's the type who like anticipates if he's got his back. to the defensive back catching the football, he's got a lot of the great receivers have that sense of like,

where's he coming from? Is he angling from here? If so, I'm going to work back against his leverage, right? So he's big, he's strong, he's sturdy after the catch. He'll,

he's tough to bring down. He'll drag some defenders at the end, also physical, gave good effort as a blocker, all those things. But the drops were frustrating, not as frustrating as DeAndre More of Texas, but like some of the easy stuff,

you know, like some easy. I just felt like he fights the ball a little bit. And is this something like the jugs machine can cure a lot? But if he's working this hard at his routes and all the little things, why hasn't that caught up? So what it was like, like 10.5 drop rate the last three years improved slightly to 8.4, where he had seven drops last year.

But we need to see more improvement in that area. He had, I think he had two fumbles last year, too, which makes me, now we're starting to get into the, how big of your hands, my man? I start to get, you know, not like, not, it's not, it's just a part of the evaluation, but I do worry that he might have smaller hands and that might be part of the issue.

I mentioned shades of Debo because of the thick frame, the physicality, right? Um, I, Debo has better ball skills. I would argue that that Jordan Tyson, maybe even right now, is a better route runner. Yeah. Which is pretty cool to see and say. Debo's more reliable hands, as I said, bigger factors are runner. I don't know that's necessarily like a fault of Tyson's, but both are both are good after the,

with the ball in their hands. but both excel after the catch. Both are highly physical route runners, contested catches, blockers. Yeah, Tyson makes some, I mean, the grab the Tyson made against Arizona,

like he had a toe tap on the left sideline. It was, I mean, he makes some catches that it'll, you know, make you set up a little bit, but it's the consistency of it all. Yeah.

All right. So I feel like we have a good, good feel on Tyson. Again, you have them, I think rated a little bit, graded a little. I gave him an eight,

89, 90, right on the fringe of first round. That's right where I had them, too. So my highest rated guy, Antonio Williams, I gave a 91. So again, like, they're in a cluster, for me at least. Do you mind, Steve, if we go back to Antonio Williams? No, go for it, man. That's fine. He's pretty good, too. I want to see if Antonio Williams takes his game to another level, level this year.

I really do. He's an average-sized playmaker, led the Tigers, 75 catches, 9.04 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns. Also, average 9.7 on punt returns, okay? I would give him a one as a route runner. Remember everyone who's followed along. One, our position specific grades. Maybe 1.5 are right there.

Okay. Our position specific grades are one is excellent. Two is above average. Three is average fours, below average five is marginal. Okay. So I give them a one as a route runner. I thought he's outstanding on all three levels. The stats matched up 95th percentile in separation.

I thought he was crisp off the line of scrimmage, tempos and stems his routes beautifully. I love the way he drops his weight and snaps his head too. Like it's one, like it's almost like a violent motion, like that head snap too of, I'm not giving away anything with my upper body and then I get there and boom, it's a violent, it's a violent motion that, I mean, if you're, your defensive back, that is just tough. Good luck trying to stay with that. I gave him a two ball skills.

The drops of misleading. And I read that he's in the 20, hey, folks, this is why stats are super helpful. And stats can lead you somewhere. But stats also can lead you somewhere and you realize that it's not accurate. And maybe that number. And whoever's doing their job for PFF did their job. There are there are the drops existed but they're not scouting evaluation drops if you will. Do you know what I mean?

Like all not all drops are made equal. They're different. There's focus drops. There's like there's balls that are off target that like in like bang bang moments. But for him like yeah, he had the eight drops, but I was impressed by the for the most part. I thought he showed you consistent ability to track the ball, adjust. to the ball pluck the ball away from his frame okay i thought he's a hands catcher not a body catcher um biggest the biggest knock i had on him the reason i wouldn't go one two reasons one there

were some focus drops and some ones but i also think like part of the reason the number of drops is i don't think he has a huge catch radius comparatively you know what i mean i don't yeah he just doesn't he's that's his frame yeah he's five eleven one one He's estimated 4-4-5, which I think is about right based off the tape. So I just think he's got NFL-like separation skills, intermediate possession weapon with some vertical ability, needs fewer drops and a little bit more yards after catch. I didn't see enough because he's shifting and he's quick and he's got speed. I didn't see enough after the catch from him.

I thought I was, I don't know what the numbers are. I didn't look at the numbers after-the-catch numbers. I think it's a strength of this. I think that burst, he has a burst that can, if you're a defender and you come in and you try to break down and you try to play it safe, he will make you look like you're standing still. And he will say, see you later. If you come in and you're overaggressive and you lunge, he'll run right out of that tackle too. I think his quickness, you see it as a route runner, but also with the ball in his hands. Again, I don't know what the numbers were production wise, but I feel like that's a strength.

I feel like that's a strength. I think it can be. I just want to see more. Fair. I want to see more of it this year. I was done after Florida State with the bounce. When he caught it and bounced it off and then you're talking about that. Ball skills are an issue.

I was done with the ball skills or an issue after Florida State. Like the Georgia game, I love the way he stemmed his rudiment. It was like 3.20, yeah, 327 first quarter. He was good in that game. Fluid, intentional, sharp, clean off the line of scrimmage on that play. And I love, if you have access to it's a three, it's 327 first quarter. He drives the defensive back inside before breaking to the corner. And that's when I was like, oh, okay, I'm starting to see it.

Subtle hand contact, right, to generate a little bit of separation. Then he tracks it beautifully over his shoulder. Okay. Then we get to Florida State 3.30 first quarter. Go up and high point the ball. ball that hung in the air. And he does it with toughness, right? So like not the big at 5-11, 190,

but he's balls hanging in the air, right? Despite two Florida State DBs converging. Remember in the middle of the field? He goes up, hangs on it, concentration, pulls it in, absorbs the hit, bounces off, scoots in for six. You got to have balls to make that catch too, by the way. That's not a, you know, there's a guy closing. You've got to have some balls to go up and get that, man.

I saw some other guys on this list that I don't know that they would have made that catch. Interesting. Later in the game, I didn't write down the time code, but he did a great job adjusting and high pointing the ball behind him over his head, big time catch. So that's when I was like, yeah, I don't, I'm good. I'm good on the ball. She goes, all right. So we got Antonio Williams. We've got Jordan Tyson.

I'm high on Jeremy Bernard. You're not as high. He's 6-1-2-10, ran a 4-5. He runs a 4-5 estimated. Spent his first two seasons at Washington. Obviously, the coaching change. Kailen DeVore comes over, and he goes with him.

He had just four catches as a freshman at Washington. Made a big jump in 20-23 at UW, though. He had 34 catches, 419, 12.3. And you got to remember that's a guy who Right, what was he playing with? Well, there are three wide receivers Jalen McMillan, Jalen Polk, and Roma Dunzee.

Yeah. So like, yeah, we can excuse the, and when we get to Boston, Denzel Boston later, it's the same thing. Like, not a lot of production early in career, obviously. Right. So that's his backdrop. Then he gets to Alabama last year, 50 catches, led the tide with 50 catches.

and the offense obviously quarterback passing game was not up to the level. Average 16 yards per catch. I don't think he's a burner, but he's a tough receiver who I think has a knack for uncovering. Scouts I've talked to are really high on his, I don't want to even say upside, but just think he's going to be a guy in the NFL, and I don't disagree.

I think he's better. I think he's good versus single coverage, but I thought he was really good in zones. finding something you know what i mean just like that and i can see why after i talked to some scouts first note i had he has a good understanding of how to attack zone looks right and like where to sit how to how to help his quarterback right um really reliable hands man plucks it naturally tough catches over his head strong reliable in traffic takes hits holds on just two drops all of last season and i was interested too like he he's

shifty and really heats it up after the catch he is i don't think he's the i do worry about the top of the route and how tight he is and whether or not he's going to he's really good with jab steps at the top of the route and whether or not i want to see more of those routes i want to see more of the sharp breaking routes and how he gets in and out of it he's got an NFL NFL frame but the lateral quickness and you see this in certain routes he put malachi starks the georgia safety you just went first he put him in an absolute blender because of how how violently again violent how violently he moves laterally and you see that after the catch he's a for 6-1 209 he's a shifty dude after the catch he's hard to get a clean hit on he can make guys miss i agree

with you on that i also say this i felt like watching it i made a note of it um milro joan millro i've already i'm on record of saying i think he can develop into a player in the league i think he can develop into a starter but we did we've talked ad nauseum about how inaccurate he was last year. And it made it kind of tough to evaluate, Bernard, because it made it easy to evaluate how good he is at adjusting to passes outside his frame, which he's really good at. He's really good adjusting the passes that don't hit him right in the chest. But it also affected his, it limited his opportunities to make plays after the catch. I think it limited his opportunities downfield. I'm hoping that this year you're going to get more of a cleaner evaluation of Bernard. Yeah, I agree. Again, it'll be

interesting to see the offense too. Ty Simpson, right? Yeah. So he could, I mean, Bernard could easily move up. It's to me it was, and again, they're all right there. But to me, I was like, I want to see more. I just want to see a little bit more. Yep. Okay. Um, then moving on, we've got Antonio Williams, Jeremy Bernard, Jordan Tyson. Let's get into it. You hate, you hate this is, this is a, this is a hill you don't want to to die on, Munch. I know, man.

Hating Ohio statewide receivers is not. Here's the thing. I don't hate him. I don't hate him. What about a Mecca or Buka? I know, man. Do you think he's going to run as well as the Mecca did? What did a Mecca run?

Like, 448? Yeah, 445, 448, I think. No. In fact, the number one thing with Carnell Tate is, apparently he ran like a 4-6 in high school or something. and some people think he may have run a 4-7. But here's what I say in response to that. Ohio State picked him.

He didn't pick Ohio. I mean, he did ultimately pick Ohio State. Ohio State picked him. Yeah, I get it. Let me give you the good about him, okay? I think he is smooth and efficient in everything he does. He's 6-3-191, just FYI. Go ahead.

6-3-191. You know, last year he was playing with Ibuka and with Jeremiah Smith. I thought he had a really good playoff run. He had, I thought he had some really good performances, some big-time catches in the playoffs. You know, he's, you know, fighting for targets in that offense. He is a productive, really good player. He's smooth and efficient in everything he does.

We just talked about this with Bernard. He excels at finding, exploring pockets and zone looks. He uncovers when the play starts to break down. He's not explosive, but he can stick his foot in the ground and make crisp cuts at the top of his routes. I love the way he separates. I love this thing about him. And I remember Joe Walsh used to talk about this about the 49ers offense. Give me receivers to get North South, man.

Get North South. I don't need all these moves. Get North South. Get me yards after the catch. Get North South. And Tate is excellent at it. And he can still make guys the miss. We'll make a defender miss here and there.

He's not an ankle breaker. But he knifes upfield and he's going to get you, he's always going to get you a little extra at the end, catches the ball well. I just, the thing I worry about is, have we topped out? Is he maybe topped out where he is? And that's the credit to where he is in terms of his development, how hard he's worked and the attention to detail he pays.

But I don't see an elite natural talent. And when you're looking at how that's going to translate to the NFL, I think he can be a very good player. I'm just not sure he's going to be a first round kind of player. Yeah, I mean, you said the same thing about a mecca. I did. And I'll be quite honest. I'm not, I was, I was, no, I was much more confident about a mecca, but also what I, what I compared it to, to like dating eventually your friend who you become romantic with.

Like you event, and I just wonder over time if we'll get romantic with Tate. Maybe I'm a little bit more romantic with them now because I see what translates. I see how important and I understand how important reliability is. He's reliable. Yep. Awesome versus Don't knows where to be. Understands leverage. Understands stems.

Getting in and out of breaks. Understands importance of catching the ball in traffic and being a tough guy. Goes over the middle. Does a lot of the dirty work. Big six foot three frame, good catching radius, okay? Finds the soft spots in zones, strong, confident hands. Only three drops last season. 5.4 drop rate, okay?

Great effort as a stock blocker, man. Great effort all around. Everything he does is effort. Everything he does. And so I can count on this guy. So now, and coached extremely well as a blocker. Holy smokes, man. like like position balance you know moving his feet seal him off but then when to punch sustaining

like high level blocking for a college wide receiver um yeah i'm curious though is he a four six five right or is he like a four by the way if people start that will that will be flipping the script for me at that point because if people will come back and tell him he's a 4-6-4-4-6-5 and said that he can't play in the league i'm gonna be like that's bullshit because just watch the tape this kid can play i mean we're i'm talking about i gave him an 85 i think or an 86 that's what i'm talking about with this player i'm just not seeing an elite i don't think he's going to be wide receiver one okay i this is funny i've got an 84 grade on yeah okay good right so we're like Maybe I ranked them a little bit ahead of one or two other guys for you.

But I've got to, he's a, he's a second rounder right now. Could fall if he really truly is a four, six, five. Yeah, tells me he just wouldn't run if that's the case. But, but also it could elevate if he continues to elevate his game. And if he surprises people and runs better than there was an odd, before we move off a tape, there was an awesome to play sequence. So you know, like when you're watching tape and you're stacking receivers or whatever position, And it's not redundant, but like when something jumps out, like within the framework of a game,

it's really cool to share. Against IU, against Indiana, okay? There was this really cool two-play sequence. It was 119 in the first quarter. It was a third and 35, okay? Initial play breaks down. Will Howard scrambles around. He works back to his quarterback on a scrambles.

scramble rules, which again, these Ohio state receivers, they've been coached brilliantly. And don't give up. If you give up, you're off the field, man. You better work your ass off. We got the next five star. Yeah, right. Don't get comfortable, man. And so he works, he actually

finds a soft spot vertically. A lot of times guys come back. He works over the top of the defense, finds this little soft area over towards the right sideline. If you're the right side line, Right side line, okay. Tough over the head catch, third and 35, picks up 25 and gives Ohio State options on fourth and 10. And now, not just fourth and 10, but it's at like the 35-yard line.

So it's not clear field goal. You're a no-man's land. So what do we do? Let's go. All right. Fourth and 10, very next play, he uncovers along the left sideline, makes an easy catch, right? But then he's got the first down on. on the catch. But then makes a first defender miss, rumbles for another eight yards after you catch,

gains about 18. In that two play sequence, it's what, 43 yards? You're looking at third and 35, and he provides 43 yards. It was awesome. And this is the guy who's supposed to be their third best receiver. I remember saying that last year. We talk about the other two guys. I'm like, don't forget about Tate, man. That's what's great about that Ohio State offense. You have to worry about those backs and Smith and Nick Bucca. And then you got this guy, Tate, who can do that. just make plays if you take everything else away. All right. I want to get to Denzel Boston because I did his full tape.

And I want to get to DeAndre Moore from Texas because I did, I finished up his this morning. Oh, you did. Nice. Yeah, I wasn't going to. I told you and then I was going to let you handle him. But I just couldn't help myself. There you go.

So Denzel, Denzel Boston, Washington receiver, 64-210. Really intriguing frame, right? estimated 4-5-2 so like good enough speed for for his size not a burner uh he's entering now his fourth year at uw he combined for just seven catches his first two seasons 22 2022 23 play back the tape we got roma dunes a jalen polk and jaylon mcgne uh but in 2024 those guys move on he has a breakout year second on the team with 63 catches 834 yards, 13.2 average, and nine touchdowns. And I'm excited to see this year.

Like, can he step, like, this is the step up here. Because last year's leading receiver, uh, Giles Jackson is, is gone. And so now it's, it's, it's his receiver room. And so it's his second year as a full time starter, his receiver room. Who's the quarterback? You, uh, DeMond Williams. DeMond Williams. We talk really well.

really well more of a runner at this point than like pure passer but i told you at manning passing academy he stood out like he played well yeah big arm there's going to be he might not have as many catches what he had 63 i said last year maybe he does but my guess is he's going to have some bigger play opportunities um so that's that i thought versus i thought versus man coverage one-on-one he was really, really good. I thought it was okay, solid, like the zone stuff. Put the ball extremely well. Three drops last year. That's it. 4.5%. He was up there like, I don't know, high 80 percentile, whatever it was. Big, strong receiver uses quick feet and physicality, that combination. Not a burner. He's not going to get guys backed off and worried, but it's this quick feet at the top of the stem

with a little, you know, to get separation. I didn't seem much as a vertical guy, not huge after the catch, but drags defenders, generates extra yards with his strength. But my goodness, he's just reliable as a route runner catching the football. He's excellent, not good, excellent on contested catches, knows how to body guys, strong frame, strong hands. I just kept writing the same notes, a big, physical, tightly packed, sturdy, not explosive, not fast, but good contested, strong in traffic, reliable hands.

It's all the same notes, you know? Go ahead. For me, I thought he had more juice, man. I mean, the Utah game was eye-opening for me. He had a, he basically sat right over, you know, right in front of the quarterback, sat down a window, caught a three-yard pass and turned into a 51-yard touchdown. And granted, he got a block down field, but, man, he was still moving. I don't know how he is about, you know, I don't think he's an elite burner,

but this guy's got for a six four dude he's got some two saying it's good speed for his size but i don't want to like we're not in like dk or a j brown no no no no or like got you know what i mean i agree with i just don't want because a lot of a lot of people who are watching or listening right now youtube spotify apple wherever you get your podcast um this might be the first and it's washington i don't know how many like yeah you know how many exposures he's got audience has to him he's not right like Nick Harbor from South Carolina has got some of those traits. We'll get to him in a little bit. But this guy, he's got good speed, but he's not like quite at that level.

But yes, I thought you would really like this guy. You know why? I do really like this guy. I see, okay, I see some shades of Pat Bryant. Yes. Compared Pat Bryant to Michael Thomas. He's got the T. Higgins, I think in him. I think he's got some T. Higgins in him.

Like I was, this is one of two for me. me that I was blown away with that I was like wow this is I had not watched a lot of Denzel Boston I thought it might be David Boston's kid by the way remember the old yoked up no I couldn't find it might be I couldn't find anything that said that he was that's a positive for him if he's not

so anyways I was I had not watched a lot of them I'll be honestly he didn't watch a lot of Washington's offense last year and I'm watching this guy on tape and I was I was blown away I think he's got a chance with that frame I mean he's running he's he's running

whip routes. And whip routes if people don't know what those are. That's where you start over the middle and then you sink and explode back out with you while you're facing the quarterback. It's the route that Julian Ellman ran in the Atlanta Super Bowl where they say he pushed off. And it's that kind of quick route. Those are for like Julian Edelman receivers. You don't run that with six foot four dudes. And then another, he ran another goal line fade where he worked inside and then worked back outside. I couldn't believe how well he sank his hips for a six foot four dude. Now he's never going to be that super explosive route runner. I'm not saying that.

But he has a skill set for a frame that big that I'm really excited to see what he can do this year. I was really happy to get to see him because I had not seen it before and just another player to get excited about. Yeah. I give him an 82 grade, but like recognize that a second year full-time starter. Yeah. It wouldn't shock me if we were talking late first for this guy when it's all sudden done.

Yeah, that's how I feel too. And this is kind of where I feel like there's, yeah, we don't have, we don't have a Jeremiah Smith. We don't have a Ryan Williams. We don't have a Wingo. We don't have, you know. Right. But we got a lot of really good players. I know how you already felt.

I know how you felt about him last year. So I'll say there's no Ted McMillan in this class either. And do you think there's a Matthew Golden? We didn't think there was a Matthew Golden at this time last year either. I think Antonio Williams, I don't know that he's quite that speed. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Good, good, good receivers.

I'm not sure there's any elites. So it was, it was Travis Hunter, obviously. We kind of, right, whether DB. I always forget about the unicorn, yeah. Hunter went two to the Jaguars. Tet went 10, no, eight, eight to Carolina. A mecca was the third wide receiver. I'm not going to look down.

It was at Tampa Bay at 15. 18? I thought it was a little later. 19. And then I'm going to, Golden was 24. That makes sense. Houston? Washington or Houston?

Texans. It was Houston. Sorry, yeah. No, no, no. It was the Packers. What am I thinking? Jeez. How quickly we forget.

Yeah, man. It's July. The Texans took the two Iowa State, guys. That's what I was thinking. Pickens, who was the second pick of the second. second round. I think it was, 34 overall. All right. So speaking of Golden, let's do Texas's receiver. DeAndre Moore. Interesting. He's an interesting cat. Like limited on special teams as a freshman, 2023. Last year with Matthew Golden, Gunner Helm, Isaiah Bonn, who was up and down, more down than

up. They're all gone, though. And he still was third on the team with only 39 catches. 456 yards, 11.7 and 7 touchdowns. I think he's got to, he's a slot receiver for me. And that's what he was for Coach Sark last year. Now, I'm not saying he doesn't have inside out potentially, 6 foot, 195, estimated like 4-4, like mid-4-4s, okay? Positives, what jumped out, sharp, sudden off the line of scrimmage, uncovers quickly, reaches top gear quickly,

I watched him run past the Mississippi State DB. I was like, oh, great. Show me someone good. Then he did it to Florida's D. Yes. And he kept me, you know what I mean? And then you're like, dude, he's running by a lot of guys also. Yeah, maybe it's not a Mississippi State safety from the slot.

Maybe it's now a Florida corner. It's, you know, like. And so, so I got to see like the true on field speed. I think he's really agile, light on his feet. He's like, he's got that suddenness you look for. Really good acceleration. out of his breaks, which is critical to me in terms of separating in the NFL and college alike.

At his best versus single coverage. I don't think he's savvy enough yet in terms of like zone, understanding. He's just, I'm faster than you. I'm more agile than you. I'm a better athlete than you. They're going to hide me in the slot. If you want to move your perimeter corner inside here, then you got to cover Matthew Golden or somebody out there.

so I'm probably going to get a nickel. Occasionally I'm going to get a free, right? And so I'm just like mono a mono, right? And so it's going to be interesting to see now that he is the guy or is projected to be and should be the guy, if not one of the top two guys. Is it just from the slot? Can he do it on the outside versus perimeter corners?

But the tape doesn't lie that he's got the agility, the quickness, the suddenness, the acceleration, both out of cuts and off the line of scrimmage. I agree with you. Even though, listen, he ran primarily go routes and crossing routes. He did. But every time he got a chance, I mean, it was, you know, you saw it. This kid has a chance.

In terms of his upside as a route runner, it is high. You know what else I fell in love with this cat? What's that? Mississippi State 12 minutes, 19 seconds to go in the, fourth quarter. I actually didn't look up the score, but I'm guessing it wasn't that close. His effort as a blocker was like, clip that off. If I was back at ESPN, it's clip that off, send it to one of our guys who handled all of our tape beautifully. And hold on to this for next year. I don't care if it's from three years ago, this is the stuff. He, he, he, he,

he gets in a niche he comes or so picture it you're the quarterback at the line of scrimmage right going to hand off the ball to whoever the back was he's coming in from the left slot and he's got a seal up we call a crackback seal up whatever it is he's sealing off the i think it was the nickel maybe it was a linebacker gets in doesn't get it clean but but but gets his block and then kind of gets help from the offensive line as they're is they're just down blocking and erasing that side of the so then he's not done how many we've watched wide receivers for 25 years as brusky used to say with edge rushers like do they set a hard edge or is he just getting there like hey coach take a polaroid take a picture so i set the

edge so they're like you got evidence that you did it a lot of receivers just want evidence that they did their job this motherfucker peels off the linebacker races downfield head on swivel gets a little shove in here and then the running back makes a cut back to the outside. I counted 41 yards down field, Munch. He now gets into the body of the pads of a defensive back and rides them all the way up to the to the sideline. It was awesome. Impressive. Yeah, yeah. Six foot one 95 and he's out there just just mulling dudes and like grinding. I just. I just. I loved it. But I think we're burying the lead on DeAndre Moore.

Yeah. He's a body catcher. It's the first note I put in body catcher. Is this a problem? Too many drops. 11.1 percentage last year. 15th percentile. Fights it on tape.

Stats actually do match up here, which I wrote is not, may not always be the case. he had the two drops in Florida were just bad man I mean I don't know what yeah you know what's funny about that is I it was a really you could tell it was a sunny day I mean it was a sunny day and I'm thinking well maybe he's looking back because they're both kind of downfield they had to look back I thought maybe the first one was the 840 left in the second quarter bad drop deep ball looks up yes it was bright there was sun there was all that but but he's not looking back at the sun

When you look at the shadow, he's looking away from the sun. And you know what he is doing? He's trying to pull it in with his body. Basket it, yeah. And I made notes before in the Mississippi State tape earlier on when I was like, great job. He tracked the one, the touchdown from the left slot down the left rail, tracked it really well, but there was still kind of like this hesitancy.

And I wrote another place, is fighting the ball a little bit? It was almost like, is it coming? I feel like it's going to come. And all of a sudden Florida happened. And I'm like, here it is. Body catchers almost all of them. Not all, but almost all.

And they're guys who fight the ball. They're not confident. They're just not like, you know. So that was that drop. And then the next one was the same quarter against Florida, 48 seconds remaining, back right of the end zone. And he's got wide open. His speed's getting them wide open.

Balls on him. And it's bobble, bubble, bubble catch. But he's now out of bounds. Yeah, so. And then the Clemson game, he had one pop off his hands and got picked and taken the other way. Yep. I mean, there was, I thought there was times he could attack it with his hands, but there was, it was just way, it was not frequent. It was rare.

He doesn't look like he's comfortable or confident. I would agree with you on that. And there's other times, too, where he would make a great, he has a body control thing where he can go up and can test a situation and make an adjustment and get into the right spot and then he can't finish. It's close, and hopefully it's something he can improve on and get a little, again, the Juggs machine, get more confidence. This is why we do this. Let's get a foundation. Who is the guy now? Where can he improve?

Right. So I'm pumped. I want to see this season. Yeah. I want to see what he does at Texas with Arch Manning. He was the second guy, by the way. He was the second guy I watched. I was like, oh, okay.

This guy, the way he gets off the line and the way he runs. Okay. All right. this kid's got a chance to be really good so so we're going to see and and the all eyes are on texas this year and and arch throwing in the ball uh i'm excited to see it because i because you got to expect improvement and you know he's got the right resources and everyone's working with him to get better in that area and if he does he's got he's got potential man he's all right so that's that I want you to, I know you did the USC guys, take this work.

So remaining on the list of guys I just want to touch on. We don't have to go super deep. We've already gone 54 minutes and we are in July. But Mackay Lemon and Jacoby Lane from USC. I guess some quick stuff on Singleton and Nick, Eric Singleton from Auburn and Nick Harbor from South Carolina. And then a little bit on Elijah Surra. But let's kind of this. I'll go, when we go lemon quick?

slot receiver catches everything. I mean, he is a guy who's very comfortable about with passes thrown outside his frame. He's tough over the middle, absorb contact. It hits. He is quick after the catch. He runs hard. He can make guys miss.

Outstanding in the return game, average 27 yards per kickoff return last year. When you watch them, too, it's not just the speed in making guys miss thing. Very instinctive, knows how to set up his blocks. He's a natural kind of a kickoff returner. I do worry. He's a little tighter.

than I would prefer in a slot receiver. I think he's tough and he's strong, but he's a little bit tighter when you give him a two-way go. I think he's going to be a really good player as a number four, number three receiver, but I wasn't blown away. Yeah, 52 catches,

averaged almost 15 yards a catch last year, also averaged 27 yards per kickoff return. His special trade is ball in his hands. Yes, that's when he's at his best. Speaking of which, Eric Singleton, I'm really interested to see this guy at Auburn this year. Okay. 510, 180 pounds.

Dude, he's estimated to run like a 4-25. Yeah. We'll see. That's good, right? He's a state champion in the 100, 200, and 400 meter in track and field. Georgia Tech for two seasons, obviously transferred this year going to Auburn. But he led Georgia Tech last year with 754 receiving yards, 56 catches, average 13.5, only three touchdowns. Also as productive as a freshman in 23 at 48 catches, 714, average 15 yards of catchers, six touchdowns.

Known as one of Eric Singleton, known as one of the fastest players in all of college football. Okay. Pint sized, he's a slot receiver, just like you talked about, Mackay Lemon, but he's 510, 118. Lemons like 511, 190. Separates with quickness and speed, but I haven't, I want to see from, and again, I didn't dive in as deep as the top six, seven guys, but from what I'm seeing, I want to see more refinement. Relies on speed, quickness, the offensive system.

I want to see more refinement this year. Solid hands, you know, not great, but 6.1%, 61st, 61st, a percentile, not a huge catch radius. But I'm really intrigued to see him in that offense with Auburn trying to turn things around this year. What do you want to go next? Do you want to just go ahead to, as long as we're talking about our speed demons right now, you want to jump into Nick Harbor because he is, I mean, this guy.

Harbour is interesting, man. Like I mentioned, like, the obvious comp is DK. Yeah. 6-4-2-30 estimated 4-3840. Dude, he ran at 10-1-100. He could run in the 4-2s. He could run in the 4-2s. I know what the estimation is,

and I'd be interested to see what the stats are or what the numbers are. 10-100, I had that, yeah. Yeah, he could run in the 4-2s at 235. And with that frame and that speed, you don't have to be an overly refined row. Remember A.J. Brown and D.K. Metcalfe, they were at 9 rows. but they read i'm gonna run a nine route and it worked and and we and part of the knock on those

guys are like can they get in and out of breaks all that stuff well like maybe it's not the most important thing in the world when you got those traits runs mostly deeper routes harbour does um so like he's a physical phenom he's different you see him on tape he takes off and it's like whoa what is going on how is that giraffe faster and more agile than all these other guys who were 5-11, 6-foot. He averaged 14.5. He was second on the team with 376 receiving yards last year. And what's interesting for me with Nick Harbor is his drop rate, like when you looked

on PFF was good. He only had one drop. The thing, I saw so many times him fighting like trouble adjusting, tracking the ball. So I don't know what we're calling a drop. But like there were some, there was some awkward stuff on the tape. He doesn't look natural of the position yet. He played tight end in high school.

I don't think he looks natural in space yet. I think it's still coming together for him. Very, very well put. He does not look natural in space. And I did a lot of my work on him because I'm watching, we watched like 235 clips of Lenora's seller. So I had an eye on this guy the whole time. It's obviously a huge year for Harbor.

He showed. He's the only guy, only guy who's ranked first on Feldman's freak list twice. I mean, this is how this guy is, he's different. He's a unique. But again, he's, you're, you're betting on the traits. Think about it. He's the offensive version of what Nick Eamon Worry was last year for South Carolina as although I would say he's not even as polished as even where he was.

But yeah, totally agree. But one, one last nugget of positivity. Yep. We are in July. And everyone's getting excited about. college football and he could have a monster breakout year and I'm hoping. We'll love to see it. He had 19 catches for 325 yards and three touchdowns in his final eight games last year.

He got better and better. So this is a guy who's learning on the fly, still developing. You know, they played, what, 13, 14 games or 13 games last year. The final eight, his production, so 19 of the 26 catches, you know, so he kept getting better. All right, so next on our list would be Kobe Lane for USC. Yep. Big, big target, wide catching radius, athletic. He had 12 touchdowns last year, which was second in the Big Ten, I think.

He is a tough one-on-one matchup in the red zone because of his ability to come down with 50-50 balls. The radius, the body control, he has strong hands, all of those things. he has a catch against Maryland where it's a one-handed, left-handed catch. I don't know if he's left-handed right-handed, but I always make a note of it when it's left-handed, one-handed, left-handed catch,

and he's getting ripped to the ground. I mean, it's silly. Some of the catches that he makes are, you know, jaw-dropping. On the flip side, he was a late bloomer in high school. I tried to see if there was an injury. I didn't really play until his junior year, the junior senior year.

And then last year, I think he had, it was a low number of targets 11 times last year he's targeted a total of 11 times he feels like he's a kid that needs more reps and you see this when you watch his route running he's a long-legged long strider guy when he gets the top of that route

and if he really opens up that gate it's hard for him to sink at that point and change directions and work back to the ball these are things that he's going to have to work on on slowing down a little bit almost. He's speeding everything up and it's putting him in a tough position in terms of changing directions and really kind of tipping where he's going on those things. One of the things that ended

on a positive of, I will say for him that I really like is he's a good pluck and go guy for a taller guy. And what I mean by that is he can square to the quarterback when he gets into a window, provide that quarterback with a good target. And then when he catches it and he plucks it, he is upfield immediately. He, for a bigger guy, he's got a little bit of an acceleration. Transition quickness. Right. transition quickness. Which is really important, man. Yeah, there's some things to build on for him. He's actually talent-wise and tool-wise, he's an exciting player to watch, but he's not there yet. And I think, again, I think he needs more reps.

I think he needs more targets. It'll be interesting to see if he's a guy who comes out this year and maybe waits another year. But there's some things that are really interesting and cool about him. All right. Last guy, Elijah Surat, Indiana. 6-2-10, not a burner. a big physical receiver does a really good job of like bodying defensive backs strong in traffic really good reliable hands all those indiana wide receivers man they just caught the

freaking football not not sudden not fast but i think it's like a number we'll call it a number four receiver in the uh in the NFL there there's room for him and i'm excited he 53 catches 987 8 touchdowns last year. Now we got, and listen, I'm not saying Curtis Rourke was any slouch by any stretch. But now Fernando Mendoza comes in, I think his offense is going to open up a little bit. I'm excited to see what that translates for Surratt in the end of the year. Yeah, those traits make him a great fit for that system because all the RPO and his ability to just get leverage early and make plays in traffic and the toughness and all that. And I think it fits for some teams in the NFL, like San Francisco is a team that I think that Surrott would be a good fit as a

as a number four, you know, a little bit farther down the depth chart. I like him. Enjoy the beaches. Enjoy the mountains. Enjoy the lakes. Enjoy the oceans. Enjoy some barbecue. Definitely enjoy your friends and family.

It's that time of year. We appreciate you being here and watching. And we'll be back in next week with some more stuff. And we're getting closer, Munch. We're getting closer. I could kind of start smelling like the grass a little bit. We're getting closer to college. football. We're excited for, but we're also excited to enjoy the rest of our summer. So we'll talk to you

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