This wide receiver draft class has everything. Three receivers could go in the top six picks, which would be a first in NFL draft history. Two prospects are sons of Hall of Famers. A handful of the receivers are the types of slot-only route technicians that draft nuts fall in love with every year, and others are tough, yards-after-the-catch types destined for gadget roles. And one of them is extremely humble and has the sleeve tattoo to prove it. Let’s break them all down with a mostly serious list of superlatives and other awards.
Best Everything: Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
Harrison is a one-man superlatives list. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound athletic marvel is the best route runner in the class. He’s the best vertical threat, the big-play guy, and the best red zone target. His releases are the most polished, and he’s the most productive of the bunch versus press coverage. He’s the best chain mover on money downs. And his leaping ability, body control, and ball skills are all tops in the group. (It’s almost as if he’s been playing catch with a Hall of Fame wide receiver his entire life.)
Need proof? Turn on his film against Penn State last season. Kalen King, a potential day-two pick at cornerback, shadows Harrison nearly the entire game. King took full advantage of the lack of an illegal contact rule in college football and practically tackled Harrison on every route, but it didn’t matter. Harrison was unstoppable. He caught 11 passes on 15 targets for 162 yards and a touchdown.
There may be teams who prefer a singular trait of one of the other top receivers, but Harrison is hands down the best in what could be a historic receiver class.
Best YAC Threat: Malik Nabers, LSU
Nabers should be viewed as the consensus second-best wide receiver in this class. Harrison is bigger, and his ball skills are better. But Nabers is in a completely different league from Harrison in terms of his ability to win after the catch. Nabers is uniquely explosive and a nightmare to tackle in space.
But don’t make the mistake of calling Nabers just a YAC merchant. He can win every route. He’s a high-effort player, and it seems like he’s always open. Nabers is the only receiver I’ve studied in this year’s class who consistently doesn’t take a play off. Nabers draws easy comparisons to Ja’Marr Chase (who went no. 5 to Cincinnati in 2021) because of the LSU connection, but I see Nabers as a lighter, faster, and less menacing version of Deebo Samuel. Nabers runs to space more than he runs through defenders. But, honestly, no pro comparison truly fits Nabers. The bottom line is he’s electric with the ball in his hands, a true home run hitter from any position on the field.
Meanest YAC Threat: Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky
Nabers’s short-area quickness and long speed make him the better YAC player, but Corley is a whole lot meaner. The 5-foot-11 215-pounder seeks out contact every time he touches the ball. He seemingly runs with bad intentions and will truck-stick passive defensive backs into oblivion. And when he isn’t running through players, Corley is juking them out of their shoes. He’s like a jackrabbit with a sledgehammer.
More than 70 percent of Corley’s career receiving yards in college came after the catch. He forced 70 missed tackles and averaged a whopping 8.2 yards after the catch per reception, per Pro Football Focus.
Too Good (at Catching the Football) to Fail: Rome Odunze, Washington
Odunze isn’t the best route runner or most physical receiver in this class. He lacks detail in his routes at and away from the line of scrimmage and can get bullied by bigger-bodied cornerbacks in press coverage. Yet he’s been one of the most productive wide receivers in all of college football in each of the past two seasons and seems destined to be a top-10 pick. Why? [Snaps and points at Jonah Hill.] He gets on base catches the football. (He’s also a buttery athlete with NFL-caliber length, but mentioning that ruins my Moneyball reference.)
Odunze’s career drop rate in college was just 7 percent, and he hauled in a whopping 75 percent of his 28 contested targets in 2023. He turns 50-50 balls into 75-25 balls.
Most Worrisome Production Profiles: AD Mitchell, Texas, and Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
Mitchell is tall, long, and fast as hell. Thomas is slightly taller, longer, and faster than Mitchell. Both players have the size and speed profiles NFL teams fall in love with every single year, and both have shown enough high-end flashes on tape that they should convince NFL evaluators they could be special players at the next level. Another shared trait for Mitchell and Thomas, however, is that their college production was, well, lackluster.
Looking at per-route data (yards per route, first downs per route, or expected points added per route) is one of the best ways to use analytics to predict how a wide receiver’s skills will translate to the NFL. Hell, even targets per route (or target rate) can reveal a lot about a prospect. If a receiver isn’t the go-to option in his college offense, his target rate (and therefore his yards, first downs, EPA, etc.) will be low. Mitchell competed for targets when he played at Georgia and Texas, and Thomas didn’t even become the no. 2 option in LSU’s offense until the 2023 season. Both players have career target rates below 20 percent; the only receiver drafted in the first round in the past five years with a career target rate below 20 percent was Henry Ruggs.
Part of the reason why I’d give Thomas the edge over Mitchell (the media consensus agrees) is because his ball skills are a lot better, and he showed a lot more promise running routes at the intermediate level and making plays after the catch. Thomas’s film against Ole Miss is a good example of him at the peak of his powers. He scored two impressive touchdown receptions on go routes from the slot in that game, both times beating the defender right away with a sexy release at the line of scrimmage and then using his pure speed to get over the top of the defense. His third touchdown reception in the game came on a free play in which he caught the ball through contact on another go route down the right sideline while falling out of bounds. When you consider fit, size, and speed, along with his legit release package, smooth movement skills, and strong hands, you have yourself a first-round-caliber project.
Mitchell, meanwhile, has the most unrealized potential of any of the top wide receivers in the 2024 class. There’s no doubting his movement skills, but transitioning from being a streaky field stretcher in college to a consistent down-to-down threat in the NFL will require him to sink his teeth into the nuances of the wide receiver position.
Thickest Xavier: Xavier Legette, South Carolina
There aren’t a lot of Big Boys in this receiver class. Sure, there are some tall, skinny guys. But Legette will likely be the only receiver over 220 pounds to go in the first three rounds. He’s speedy for a thicc lad, running under 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and he thrived as a kick returner at South Carolina before his breakout offensive season in 2023. Legette went from never having a 200-yard receiving season to hauling in 71 of 97 targets for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns in his age-22 season with the Gamecocks. He’s a late, one-year breakout—a profile that rarely translates at the next level—but big and fast is still big and fast. Plus, his ability as a returner could boost his stock quite a bit with the change in the NFL’s kickoff return rules this upcoming season.
Thinnest (and Fastest) Xavier: Xavier Worthy, Texas
Worthy broke the record for the fastest 40-yard dash with a blazing 4.21-second time at the 2024 NFL scouting combine last month. But he also measured in at just 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds. I don’t care that he’s small. Worthy is a playmaker. He won his matchups right away as a freshman outside receiver at Texas and continued to do so in every subsequent season of his Longhorns career. He’s a jitterbug with and without the ball in his hands, and his angle-defying straight-line speed will shock defenders. Maybe he’ll only ever be a gadgety slot receiver in the NFL because of the size limitations, but every team needs one like Worthy.
Wishes He Were His Dad: Brenden Rice, USC
OK, sorry, this is just mean. Rice is a perfectly fine prospect. He just isn’t Jerry Freaking Rice. Brendan Rice, at 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds, is a middling athlete with middling college production. He’s a polished pass catcher with some route savvy, but he has likely maxed out as a prospect.
Shortest King: Malik Washington, Virginia
I had a hard time choosing between Washington and Arizona’s Jacob Cowing, but Washington ultimately gets the nod here for his tackle-breaking prowess. No player in college football forced more missed tackles after the catch than Washington (35) in 2023. The 5-foot-8, 191-pound Washington (dare I call him a “muscle hamster”?) has an athletic profile very similar to that of second-year Patriots wideout Demario “Pop” Douglas. Both players are über-explosive and can make defenders miss even in tight spaces, and both are surprisingly reliable pass catchers despite their small catch radiuses. Washington has the best career drop rate in this wide receiver class (2.5 percent), per PFF.
Skinniest King: Troy Franklin, Oregon
Franklin is quick and fast: He can win in an instant at the line of scrimmage with a deep bag of releases and very sudden movement skills, and when he gets to open up his stride, few defensive backs can ever catch up to him. He topped out at 22.3 miles per hour on a touchdown reception against USC last season; no NFL player surpassed 22.23 miles per hour, per Next Gen Stats, in any game last season.
The thing that might concern NFL evaluators is Franklin’s frame. At 6-foot-2 and 176 pounds, he is built like a slightly thinner version of 2022 first-round pick Jameson Williams. That lack of bulk shows up when he goes against physical defensive backs that can get their hands on him, and it also affects his ability to come down with catches through contact. Per PFF, Franklin’s career contested catch percentage in college was just 38 percent. Still, Franklin is likely a day-two talent despite his lean frame.
Best Singular Highlight: Ricky Pearsall, Florida
ESPN and NFL Network will run this play on a loop when Pearsall gets drafted, and I will have no problem with it:
There’s an argument to be made that this is a top-five catch in football history. Odell Beckham Jr.’s iconic one-hander in the end zone will always be the standard, and the Justin Jefferson catch against the Bills in 2022 is obviously an all-timer. (I also stand by the fact that this Brandon Lloyd snag against the Giants in 2005 is wildly underrated on any one-handed catch list.) But look at this beaut from Pearsall. He snags the ball in the air like OBJ or Lloyd and then survives two defenders who lay into him immediately after. This is special stuff.
But Pearsall is more than just that highlight. He has an elite athletic profile and has improved as a route runner every year of his college career. Danny Kelly’s Nate Burleson comparison in The Ringer’s NFL Draft Guide is spot-on.
Most Humble Tattoo: Ricky Pearsall, Florida
This is less special.
It’s honestly not a bad tattoo. I just can’t get over the fact that he changed the numbers on the playing cards to spell out the word “HUMBLE” at the top of the sleeve.
Most Likely to Convince You to Forget His 40 Time: Keon Coleman, Florida State
Remember when Mike Mayock, a former lead draft analyst for NFL Media and in-and-out general manager for the Raiders, had DeVante Parker as the no. 9 player in the 2015 NFL draft? Mayock (and several others) thought Parker would be a ridiculously good jump-ball receiver who could high-point everything and win every 50-50 ball. Coleman looks like he could be that dream fully realized. He’s a 6-foot-3, 213-pound former basketball player who constantly boxes defenders out with his big body in contested catch situations and will throw smaller defensive backs out of the club to get himself open. He’s essentially a big, fast bully of a receiver who reliably wins at the catch point independent of the coverage. No, his 4.61-second 40-yard dash at the combine wasn’t great. But let his tape erase that from your memory.
Coleman, however, isn’t a jittery athlete. He’s (shockingly) faster than he is quick, which shows up when he’s getting in and out of his breaks or moving with the ball in his hands. His career yards-after-the-catch per reception average (5.0), per PFF, is lower than any other receiver drafted in the first round since 2019, excluding Chris Olave. He’s at his best running routes that don’t ever ask him to break his stride. Let him open up with those long legs and force defenders to keep pace and navigate his big frame at the catch point.
There’s still a lot to improve with his route running, but it isn’t the mess his short-area movement skills, or lack thereof, can sometimes make it seem. Also, don’t forget that his gauntlet drill was faster than Franklin’s at the combine! His daunting 40 time isn’t all that matters, friends.
Best Cliché Generator: Ladd McConkey, Georgia
Sneaky athletic. Crafty. First guy in, last guy out. Brings his lunch pail and hard hat every day. Savvy route runner. Pick your favorite white slot receiver trope, and McConkey has heard it. He is the exact type of prospect the internet expected Bill Belichick to draft every year in the 2010s. But he’s actually a lot better than the stereotypes even though he looks the part. (The name doesn’t help either, Ladd!) An extremely skilled route runner with enough long speed to threaten defensive backs vertically, McConkey is closer to Tyler Lockett than he is to Hunter Renfrow.
And McConkey lined up in the slot for only 30 percent of his career snaps at Georgia. When healthy, he created consistent separation as an outside receiver, and he has the per-route production to show for it. He’s a top-50 player who will make an immediate impact on the league in year one.
The Slot-Only Guy People Fall in Love With Every Year: Roman Wilson, Michigan
Wilson is a smaller player who seems destined for a slot role in the NFL, but his stop-start ability and long speed are among the best in this class. He’s also as sure-handed as they come: PFF hasn’t charged him with more than two drops in any season during his career at Michigan. Teams will probably have concerns about his frame (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) and lackluster YAC ability, but Wilson should still win over at least one team inside the top 100 picks with his straight-line speed and separation ability.
Biggest Size Outlier: Johnny Wilson, Florida State
Wilson is big. Like, extremely big. He is 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds with 35 3/8–inch arms and 10-inch hands. Only two wide receivers in MockDraftable’s database, which goes back to 1999, have longer arms than Wilson. And only a handful have measured taller than 6-foot-6. He is truly a one-of-one wide receiver talent. Of course, there’s a reason for that. A lot of players his size don’t play wide receiver because speed and athleticism start to become an issue for college receivers entering the NFL at Wilson’s size.
The good news is Wilson isn’t stiff. Even though he can’t quite get in and out of his breaks like smaller, quicker receivers, he’s still a very loose athlete with some lower-half fluidity that you simply need to have to play wideout. His size also helps him a ton against press coverage, and he’s a monster fighting through contact in contested catch situations.
