Scouting reports: part wide receiver

Wide receiver (WR) has become one of the more valuable positions in the NFL but also one of the easiest to draft in recent years.

This wide receiver class is stacked from top to bottom. You almost cannot go wrong with whomever is picked. There are possibly five to eight WRs that could have a first round grade. Here are my rankings of the top 10 WRs in this class, along with scouting reports on the top four and a sleeper/gem. 

Rankings:

1. OSU, Marvin Harrsion Jr.
2. Washington, Rome Odunze
3. LSU, Malik Nabers
4. Oregon, Troy Franklin
5. LSU, Brian Thomas Jr.
6. Texas, Adonai Mitchell 
7. Georgia, Ladd McConkey
8. FSU, Keon Coleman
9. Florida, Ricky Pearsall
10. Michigan, Roman Wilson

Number 1: OSU Marvin Harrison Jr.

Harrison is coming off back to back 1200 yard seasons and 14 touchdowns (TDs). He was a Heisman (the MVP of college) finalist and the winner of The Biletnikoff award (the best WR award voted by over 600 sports writers, analysts and many others who cover college football). 

Not only is Harrison regarded as the best WR in this class but also arguably the best player. Harrison has proven his worth this year majorly, as he had a similar if not better season than last year, even with worse quarterback play. Every snap and every play I watch of Harrison, he dominates with only a few snaps or a game being outliers. 

Harrison’s biggest strengths include his hands and route running. He has been seen as the guy who is “open even when he is not open.” When watching his film, he comes down with almost every catch and can make even the best of corners look lost with his route running and footwork. His only drawback is that he is on the skinnier size for his height, which sometimes makes it harder for him to beat a good press cornerback (CB). Note, though, that it is not a big part of his playstyle.

Harrison has some big shoes to fill coming into the NFL. His father, Marvin Harrison, is an NFL Hall of Famer (HOFer) and is regarded as one of the best WRs of all time. Some believe Harrison can be better than his father, considering he is not only bigger but also much faster. 

• Best Fits: Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots and L.A. Chargers
• Comps: Taller Raiders Davante Adams or taller Titans DeAndre Hopkins
• Pros: Size and speed are unmatched, great route runner, amazing footwork and insane catching ability
• Cons: Cuts need to be sharper, struggles to break tackle after catch, average ball security and struggles against good press due to lack of weight (very rare for him to rely on it his size though)

Number 2: Washington Rome Odunze

I had a hard time deciding on who I thought was the “better” WR between him and LSU Malik Nabers. In my honest opinion you could swap them either way at two and three, and I would have no issue with it.

Defensive backs (DBs) better pray they do not get into a jump ball situation with this guy. Rome Odunze will catch almost every ball thrown his way whether you are in his way or not. Odunze saw a very productive season this past year for the Washington Huskies posting 92 catches, 1640 yards and 13 TDs. He and the Huskies fell short of the winning the National Championship this past season in a loss of 13-34 to the Michigan Wolverines.

Odunze is the definition of the “jump-ball” guy. To be a “jump-ball” guy means that the QB trust you to catch the ball when he just throws it up. Odunze was that guy for fellow Husky QB Michael Penix Jr.. Odunze had a 75% contested catch rate.

Take, for example, his TD catch vs the Oregon Ducks midway through the third quarter. Penix saw the matchup and threw it up. Odunze came down with the catch, outmuscling the DB. No, that is not his only strength, as Odunze showed a good run after the catch (RAC) and yards after contact (YAC) ability. This could be seen several times where Odunze would take a small Texas or short-in route for an extra 10+ yards at times, whether it be breaking through tackles or “turning on the burners.”

Now, like all, Odunze is not perfect and does have weaknesses to his game. Sometimes it can take a minute for him to get going or he is unable to break the tackle leading to a smaller gain. While he will win almost every jump, his ability to break off a DB’s press can become an issue and lead to him not coming down with that remaining 25%.

Overall, Odunze is a very polished and elite WR. He would be WR1 in most classes if it was not for Harrison. Like most scouts and analysts, I expected Odunze to be a top 10 pick in this year’s draft.

• Best Fits: L.A. Chargers, New York Giants and Chicago Bears
• Comps: Texans Nico Collins and Eagles A.J. Brown
• Pros: Great contested catches, clean route running, good frame (6’3, 216 lbs) and good RAC and YAC ability
• Cons: Struggles against press sometimes, takes a moment or so to get to top speed and uses his body instead of hands to catch sometimes

Number 3: LSU Malik Nabers

At one second, this guy can be at the offense’s 20 yard line, and at the next he is at the opponent’s 20 yard. That in short sums up who Malik Nabers is and how he plays. His insane speed along with his great hands makes him a mismatch at WR for most.

Nabers is more than just a deep threat or speedy guy, though. His route running and change in direction are in debate for best in this class. With those traits, it allows for good fake outs and stop-and-go routes and only adds to his deep threat ability, an example being his 44 yard catch against Florida. Similar to most WRs in this class, Nabers’s hands are great. It was rare to see him drop a ball that was not misplaced or poorly thrown.

Speaking of poorly thrown balls, one could argue Nabers (and fellow Tiger Brian Thomas Jr.) could have posted better statlines if it was not for questionable QB play from Jayden Daniels. Daniels had a tendency to overthrow, miss the read, throw poorly, or throw it late to many of his receiving options. Nonetheless, even with that play, Nabers still posted a statline of 89 catches, 1569 yards and 14 TDs, which was a huge jump from his 2022 season, where he posted 17 less catches, around 500 less yards and 11 less TDs.

Throughout film Nabers showed little to no weakness, but no one is perfect. One of the two major weakness I found was that his contested catching ability was lacking, even when he was thrown a good ball. While that is not a part of his playstyle, it is still something to note. The other weakness I noticed is that his speed can sometimes get the best of him, making it hard to make those sharp turnaround cuts on comebacks and curls.

• Best Fits: Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons
• Comps: Jets Garrett Wilson and Bears DJ Moore
• Pros: Great route running, good fake outs on run and pass plays, great speed, insane change in direction and can work from the slot well
• Comps: Contesting catching needs some work, lack of full route tree and turnaround cuts need work

Number 4: Oregon Troy Franklin

This is my bold take for this WR class. Many have Franklin in the six to 11 range for rankings compared to my high ranking of four. Similar to the Odunze and Nabers debate, I had a hard time deciding who I thought was better between Brian Thomas Jr. and Troy Franklin, but ultimately I went with Franklin.

Franklin is one of the best deep threats in this class. The Ducks’ WR posted a statline this past season was 81 catches, 1383 yards and 14 TDs. Franklin’s speed and ability to “cut on the burners” (also known as acceleration) made him one of the harder WRs to cover in this class. He ran a 4.41 40 yard dash at the combine this past year, but many believe he could have ran a faster time.

His major strengths revolve around his acceleration. It comes heavily into play when he gets the ball off of shorter routes and takes his speed from zero to 100 in seconds. An example of this comes in his games vs Oregon St., with a 41 yard TD catch, and at Texas Tech, with a 72 yard TD catch. Those plays also highlight his amazing deep route running. His footwork and speed on those plays can make almost any defender look silly. His boundary footwork (sideline catches and ability to stay in bounds) and hands are very reliable and consistent for almost any part of the field.

Franklin’s weakness are interesting to talk about. He fails to bring in contested catches sometimes, and this may be due to his weight, 187 pounds, at someone his size, 6’3”. Most believe he could really benefit from getting closer to 200 pounds or more. He also has a lack of effort sometimes on run plays which can lead to being stopped easily. While this is not a knock at Franklin as he was good at certain routes, his route tree does feel limited as the Ducks used him in the same route or way most plays.

One last point I will say is that Franklin may have suffered from inconsistent QB play. Bo Nix, his QB, struggled at times to read to field and take the open shots to Franklin. An example of this comes in the Washington State game, where Franklin was wide open about 20 to 25 yards down the field and Nix had a NFL clean pocket, yet failed to hit Franklin and instead took a check down that went incomplete.

• Best Fits: Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals
• Comps: Former Jets Robbie Chosen and taller, former Texans Will Fuller
• Pros: Very fast and twitchy, great footwork, good boundary work and reliable hands
• Cons: Lack of effort on run plays (and even on pass plays sometimes), needs to work on contested catches, light frame and lack of route tree

Sleeper/Gem: FSU Johnny Wilson

While Wilson does not catch anyone’s attention with his stats, his frame is insane at WR. He stands at 6’7’’ and 238 pounds. The last WR to stand around that frame was former Eagle and Cowboy HOFer Harold Carmichael who stood in at 6’8”, 225 pounds, and played from 1971 to 1984.

His 2023 stat line includes 41 catches, 617 yards and two touchdowns. While that does not “pop” compared to other WRs in this draft, the situation he was in must be noted. He was splitting targets with other good draft prospects, WR prospect in Keon Coleman and tight end (TE) Jaheim Bell. FSU also ran one of the most run heavy offenses in college football. 

Wilson struggled with some drop issues this season, but during the senior bowl (a chance for seniors to boost their draft stock) he showed out with great hands and decent route running. His route running has gotten better over the course of the season along with his drop issues going down (meaning he dropped fewer balls). Some believe Wilson should or could make the transition to TE. I expected Wilson to go at best the bottom of the second round or middle of the third round. 

• Best Fits: New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs
• Comps: Seahawks DK Metcalf and Giants TE Darren Waller
• Pros: Big frame, hard to bring down, good footwork, good release against press, surprisingly faster than thought and a good blocker
• Cons: Drop issues, takes a second to pick up speed, blocking can be inconsistent and route running needs to be cleaned up