Receivers galore

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I am back with the second part of my NFL draft preview. I couldn’t all just put it in one part with how many stars are available this year. This is my favourite time of the year so I really have so much to tell you, this is easily one of my favourite sports drafts due to how many stars go in late rounds! One of the quarterbacks who played in the Super Bowl this year was actually the very last pick in the draft or as they like to call it ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ and that did not let that stop him and carry on to be a Super Bowl calibre quarterback. The top prospects around the collegiate world will gather in Detroit for the NFL draft and it all kicks off on Thursday April 25th and will end on Saturday, April 27th. I don’t know about you but I will be watching probably every round (except for when the Canucks play obviously).

In this article, I will be focusing on another offensive position, that being wide receivers. I would talk about the defense but with this draft loaded class, it’s rumored that it could be the most offensive players taken in the first round EVER. The wide receiver class is so loaded that if there were not so many outstanding quarterbacks in this year’s draft, then a couple of these receivers could easily find themselves taken in the top five picks.

If you were to ask any Indianapolis Colts fan, who their best franchise wide receiver was of all time, the easy answer for them is former Super Bowl champion, Marvin Harrison. He dominated the league back in his day and was a fan favourite, and now that his time has passed, it is now his sons time to shine on the biggest stage of them all. Marvin Harrison Jr will look to continue his fathers legacy on the field. The 6 ‘3 Ohio State Buckeye receiver played in all 13 games last season and participated in the famous Rose Bowl in which he set a record for the most receiving touchdowns in the Rose Bowl with three.

 

Marvin Harrison Jr has been dominant all throughout his collegiate career and one of the best wide receiver prospects we have seen in quite a long time. Despite a slender frame and being lengthy, he maintains his strength as he benches over 300 pounds. Harrison basically checks every box teams are looking for at receiver, combining elite speed and length with technical skill as both a route runner and catcher and it also doesn’t hurt that his dad is in the Hall of Fame, giving a slight boost to his name. He really checks each box of every team’s needs, you could see some movement happen on draft day in order to trade up and select the young standout receiver. Ohio State has produced some of the best NFL players and today we could see the same with Harrison, as he was also the first player in school history to have two 1,000 yard receiving seasons. Harrison will need to work on his push off speed in order to compete with today’s speedy NFL cornerbacks.

 

Harrison is not the only star calibre wide receiver available in the draft, as the LSU Tigers have standout receiver, Malik Nabers. In 2022, Nabers would go on to lead the SEC conference in receptions with 72 while also ranking second in receiving yards with a total of 1,017 yards. In the following year he would be put on the First Team All SEC which is a pretty huge accomplishment in my opinion and I think you would agree after hearing some of these stats. He would go on to set the school record for receptions with a whopping total of 189 and then he would go on to set yet again another school record for total receiving yards with a grand total of 3,003. Damn. He is the next big thing coming out of the LSU locker room though, I easily expect him to find himself in the top ten of the draft. 

 

Nabers is a smaller guy but has shown that he can beat bigger defenders with his hand fighting and quick movement off the ball. His grab and go ability to catch short passes then easily create long plays out of them is fantastic to watch, it is really a work of art. Nabers is a field-tilting speed merchant with big-play talent and elite production and he has rare, explosive traits that help him separate both before and after the catch. On his weak side though, he can get himself into big free open spaces but at what cost? He does a little too much route running for it and it ends up being a little too late and the quarterback is either on the ground or the ball is already thrown.

 

Continuing on the theme we have of immaculate receivers, let me tell you about one of my favourite receivers available this year, his name is Rome Odunze. He played for the Washington Huskies for his entire collegiate career and was a fan favoruite down there for the fans as he led the FBS with a school record for receiving yards, amassing over 1,600 yards. Jeez. He was the captain of the Huskies squad and he and Michael Penix Jr had a crazy connection. They even made it all the way to the National Football Championship but fell short to J.J. McCarthy and his Michigan Wolverines. 

 

Odunze has a lot to prove when he enters the big stage, as he is slightly injury prone and will be competing against many talented NFL cornerbacks in the big leagues. Odunze occasionally gets hung up on physical press at the line and he will need to continue to develop his release package to keep corners guessing. His route running is unrefined at times; he’ll juke back and forth at the stem of his route and end up running right into the defender. He will need to continue to develop more discipline and nuance in his cuts and footwork. Nabers was also the Offensive Skill Player of the Year, which is a pretty impressive feat. If he works on his attention to detail while route running, he could develop really well. You can trust him to catch the ball though, as he will always fight for it and go up to make an impressive catch.

I truly can’t wait for the draft to kick off as I will be sitting in my chair watching the whole thing relaxing. Free agency was already such a buzz with so many movements, but what’s in store for us to witness when the NFL draft begins? We just gotta wait and see. Where are you gonna end up watching the draft? Are you going to watch all of the days? You know I will be as I just may have been counting down the days for a while now, I think I really just miss football. Be ready for next Monday the 29th though, as I will be breaking down the results of the draft and we will take a look at the biggest winners and losers of the draft.





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