2024 WR Class
 

Some interesting WRs in the upcoming class, who do you like?

1st - 2nd RD WR Targets:

Keon Coleman, FSU, 6-4, 215, 4.6
Emeka Egbuka, OH ST, 6-1, 205, 4.3
Adonai Mitchell, TX, 6-4, 195, 4.5
Troy Franklin, ORG, 6-3, 185, 4.41
Xavier Legette, SC, 6-1, 225, 4.29
Brian Thomas, LSU, 6-4, 205, 4.35
Xavier Worthy, TX, 6-1, 175, 4.22
Ja'Lynn Polk, WAS, 6-2, 205, 4.48
Johnny Wilson, FSU, 6-7, 235, 4.42
Branden Rice, USC, 6-3, 210, 4.38
Malachi Corley, WKU, 5-11, 200, 4.46
Jermain Burton, BAMA, 6-0, 195, 4.31

*This entire class is tall WTF?

What's up with this guy Johnny Wilson!? Has any NFL skill player ever been successful at 6-7!?

At first glance he's a lot taller than Drake London or A.T. Perry, who were drafted in recent years, and is far more complete of a WR than Perry who no one's heard from since the draft. Dude's fast too!? WTF?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GZ83KRsMkk

Gotta be a few CP members that watch MU football, what's the deal with this kid Luther Burden III? 5-11, 208, he's leading the NCAA in Rec Yards through 6 games with near 800 yards, he's got pretty consistent game logs producing 98+ yards in all of his games.

I guess he's not eligible until 2025.

Burden will be a 1st rounder. He's a stud all around. Didn't do much last year but didn't have a lot of QB help either and he was new to the system and college ball. He's been lights out this year. Big YAC guy and not afraid of contact.

For me this 2024 receiver class as a whole has a much greater chance to produce multiple #1 WR's at the NFL level due to the talent and size of the top prospects. I think in a couple years we'll look back at the 2023 class and be underwhelmed- so many of the top WR prospects of last year were undersized, no real blue chip prospects. Obviously you have some great talents like Marvin Harrison Jr available in 2024 but I believe this class will produce some great talents in the 2nd round also- just a ton of size and speed available in 2024. Chiefs should be prepared to spend another top pick on a WR.

While not a traditional receiver, I’ve really enjoyed watching Malachi Corley. The guy is tough to bring down.

Didn't Veach mention last year that there's a can't miss skillplayer they want to pair with Patrick in this upcoming draft?

Or was that just a CP rumor?

I really like Rome Odunze. Got some size and some wheels.

Luther Burden is probably the best WR in college right now. Hell he might be the best player in college right now. He's fast as **** and can track and high point the ball like a mother****er. He will be a top 10 guy in 2025, so no chance KC gets him. I'd trade my left nut for the kid. He's legit as ****.

Feels like next year's draft has a lot of WRs with size and speed.

Damn! That's high praise considering Marvin Harrison's boy is getting so much attention. Very interesting.

lol I watch near 0 college football.

Don't kid yourself bud, there's a reason Harrison Jr gets so much attention. Harrison is a bigger version of his dad. He is the best WR in college football. For all the good WRs at OSU lately, he's probably the most complete package.

I'm not really trying to take anything away from Burden, he's talented, but his ability to win a route with technique and win against zone or man in the intermediate area is significantly in Harrison's favor. Manufactured yardage due to speed is one way to get it done, and it'll always get it done, but if you want a Chase or a Jefferson that can always win then it's Harrison.

That said, we have absolutely zero shot at Harrison so I'll go pout in my corner now.

Out of all those I have to say I would lean Legette over Coleman. Worthy's size could be an issue. Same with Wilson, just the opposite side of the size spectrum as I could see transitioning into a TE.

That was my guy a year back, my only thought is that we may now need speed more than size

6'1" and 163 lbs? Gangly bastard lol

I think I read he ran a 4.34 recently but I'm not sure I trust that number. Either way, he's a 4.4? receiver.

His teammate, Jalen McMillan, is an interesting "take the top off" type of receiver that may be around at the end of 2.

I don't think we need speed as much as someone who consistently gets open and Pat will trust to make the grab.

Tory Horton Colorado State. 6’2” 190 4.4-4.5 40. Rated the top prospect in the Mtn West conf. CSU has put a lot of decent WRs in the NFL.

Looked really good in the 2 games I’ve watched. If he’s on the board when we pick in Rd 3, might be worth looking at.

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...03/tory-horton

I listened to a podcast that compared Legette to Dontayvion Wicks, but knows how to play football.

I like his production!

I'd be okay with that comp. I do think Legette looks a little faster than Wicks.

What do you think of Jermaine Burton or Tyler Harrell?

eagles wr harold carmichael was 6'8 and very good

If he's 4.3 sign me up, but 4.4 looks more like it. I'm kinda torn tbh. A guy who can take the top off and be a reliable deep option imo makes a massive difference to what we can do underneath. But yeah a true separator would be ideal. My concern is most of those guys seem to be the undersized type. Not sure I've seen it from Odunze. Maybe I'll have to rewatch him.

The problem is a guy with 4.3 speed who is also a relatively polished receiver probably goes early in the 1st. Taking someone where we pick with that kind of speed is probably going to be a WR who is raw. Certainly some of those guys develop, but with our struggles with developing WRs I'm not sure that's the time and place to take that type of receiver. I think you can find raw WRs with speed in the mid-rounds, if KC is taking someone earlier in the draft I'd prefer someone with a bit more polish like we found with Rice.

Ja'Lynn Polk looks pretty damn interesting as well.

Worthy's size doesn't worry me. He's the same size as Davante Smith.

As a Longhorns fan, my concern with Worthy is he has difficulty tracking the deep ball. He's a great route runner and will excel in the short and medium game, but don't expect him to be consistent when trying to take the cover off a defense.

He could be a great companion piece for Rice....but one of them would need to clean up the drops or we'd have an ultra talented, yet infuriating receiving room.

If we were to take any Longhorns receiver, I'd be interested in Adonai Mitchell. I've seen him sneak into a few first round mocks over the last couple weeks. He's got size, speed, and is a great contested catch guy. He had an incredible catch over Koolaid McKinstry when Bama had the Longhorns were backed up inside their own five.

However, JT Sanders is still my preferred pick out of the bunch. He has that Kelce knack for finding the softspots in the zone and is a YAC machine once he gets the ball in his hands. He needs to clean up his run blocking, but it's something that can be done.

He had another 10 catches for 130yds Saturday against Boise St.

https://i.imgur.com/k451mDZ.png

Honestly, if we're picking at the end of each round again, he may not make it to us in the 3rd rd.

https://i.imgur.com/9kCocvY.png

Up to #9 from this source

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Week 5 College Football Top 25 WRs��<br><br>1. Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State<br>2. Rome Odunze, Washington<br>3. Malik Nabers, LSU<br>4. Keon Coleman, Florida State<br>5. Xavier Legette, South Carolina<br>6. Xavier Worthy, Texas<br>7. Evan Stewart, Texas A&amp;M<br>8. Luther Burden III, Missouri<br>9. Tory… <a href="https://t.co/Eq2KgUGwJt">pic.twitter.com/Eq2KgUGwJt</a></p>&mdash; On3 (@On3sports) <a href="https://twitter.com/On3sports/status/1707426221347246204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Yeah i think that's a fair take. I suppose my thinking is where we pick we're probably, realistically, getting a guy with one outstanding attribute. If that's speed, route-running, agility, body control etc i feel like the easiest to be confident in is speed. To my mind Rice wasn't that polished. He had good acceleration and great body control, the rest needs developing (and hopefully and seemingly will).

But yeah I agree we're basically getting an imperfect prospect either way. Crow's suggestion of Odunze might be the closest we can get, I REALLY liked him last year and he looks just as good this, but I reckon it'd take a McDuffie-like move up to get him.

Legette and Coleman look like the YAC monsters to me. In some ways I think they're perfect for us but in others...I dunno. Those guys work great but we would really need to stretch the field out. I don't think Legette is a route runner, but he could be Deebo-like if used right.

This year seems to have loads of big-bodied YAC monsters and far fewer technicians.

His size worries me. I'm not alone in that thought either. And that is my main concern with him. Can he add any more weight and not lose any speed? You have obliviously seen more of him than me so I can't say too much about what he does well or doesn't. Same with Mitchell.

Sanders is very interesting and I agree with you on him. Everything that seems like a negative can be cleaned up.

Comps are funny, aren't they? Worthy's comp is DeVonta Smith. Devonta Smith's comp is Calvin Ridley. Calvin Ridley's comp is Amari Cooper.

I've been a bit hit-and-miss on WRs lately so I'll just give you all my current top 10 draft-eligible and then you can dissect the shit out of it. Just how my eyes see them right now.

1. Marvin Harrison Jr, Ohio State
2. Malik Nabers, LSU
3. Rome Odunze, Washington
4. Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
5. Troy Franklin, Oregon
6. Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky
7. Jalen McMillan, Washington
8. Tory Horton, Colorado State
9. Keon Coleman, Florida State
10. Xavier Worthy, Texas

And a bonus "don't sleep on this guy"... Will Sheppard, Vanderbilt.

I really like Troy Franklin out of Oregon. A 6’2” 190 with 4.3 speed. He runs great routes too

How many WRs named Xavier are coming out next year, damn!

Not much to dissect. Besides dissecting at this point is really is just regurgitating what every tom dick and harry scout says. I like the top 2. I'm a big Nabers fan. I like you added Corley. I'm partial to Polk over McMillan though.

Jermaine Burton and Ali Jennings III is moving up the board for me. Tyler Harrell's speed is intriguing.

ESPN:

"If you're a team that needs wide receiver help, you're in luck. The strength of the 2024 wideout class was on full display Saturday. It isn't just Harrison, too. Florida State's Coleman and Washington's Odunze showed why they are likely top-20 picks. Malik Nabers (LSU) and Franklin (Oregon) both found the end zone. As many as seven or eight WRs could be packed inside the top 40 next April."

Corley is a fun player, isn't he? He has a lot of "Reek" attributes in that he might be small but he's tough and he's super quick and definitely a low 4.3s guy.

Many boards seem high on the WRs from Florida State but I'm luke-warm. I see Coleman as more of a bottom-two guy than a top-20 pick.

I guess maybe I don't see the overwhelming depth of this WR class like so many pundits are putting out there. It's a better class than last year I think, especially at the top but these guys saying 7 or 8 in the top 40... I don't know about that. I think there might be 5 first-rounders and could push for another 5 or so second-rounders. I don't know if there is talent that screams top 40 in that 2nd round group but there are always surprises. After that, I think it might tail off pretty quick in the talent department. We'll see, I'm always wrong about something. :)

Absolutely a fun guy. I'm not going to think of him as a small guy, just not that 6 footer. He plays big and that is enough. I love the tough attitude he has. His ability to stop and start mixed with his speed looks to be dangerous. I'd welcome him on the Chiefs in a heartbeat.

I love guys with some attitude at WR. Give me that Steve Smith Sr. toughness and it is an easy sell for me. Probably why I like Jermaine Burton this cycle. His mental toughness gives me those Smith Sr. vibes. Corley fits right into that. Ainias Smith as well.

I'm not big on Coleman. I see some laziness that is concerning to me. Maybe I'm just seeing it wrong but it looks like to me he takes some plays off. I'm taking a hard pass on him.

Xavier Legette reminds me of A.J. Brown.

Xavier Worthy looks like an Andy Reid WR.

Give me one of the Xavier's.

What about Xavier Weaver or Xavier Restrepo?

All 4 are currently on the top 25 WR list.

Xaviers!

Nabers is the one I really want but there's 0 chance we have an opp to grab him.

Yea, it's not quite the completely unrealistic dream that Marvin Harrison Jr. is, but that's not happening either.

I figure Nabers ends up what....top 12ish?

Very solid list, couple of my notes:

-Keon Coleman for me is much higher, probably top 5
-I'm not a fan as much of Malachi Corley
-Xavier Legette to me needs to be in the top 10
-I struggle with Worthy vs Adonai Mitchell on Texas, probably a scheme or type of receiver selection but I wonder who will have more value at the next level

Very early in the season though, I don't really get to dive into the WR class until after the NCAA season and they are doing their predraft process. Looks like a very exciting WR class though.

Since I'm playing Madden franchise and drafted Emeka Egbuka in the 2nd round with an imported draft class. That's who I hope the Chiefs draft because he's a badass in my franchise!

Yea, I think he's the second WR off the board. Top 15 at worst.

Would you take 5-7 in the 1st round?

Would 8-10 be worth trading up in the 2nd for?

Damn

I hate we can't ever get those sweet players. But have to keep telling myself everyone that goes pushes someone else down.

Troy Franklin is a stud. Speed to burn, sticky hands and very fluid athlete. I hope he's available to us but he seems the type that would rise in the pre-draft process.

Only Franklin in 1.

I think I want to see combine results for Corley and McMillan before I'd commit to a yes on moving up in the 2nd because their games is predicated on speed. The rest, probably not.

Which WRs would you be looking at end of RD2? End of RD 3?

I know everyone is on the Legette train but I'm not. He's got an okay skillset but what took him 5 years to be okay? Nah.

Guys I like might not be whatever the consensus is. I think in terms of 3rd I like:

Will Sheppard, Vanderbilt
Isaiah Williams, Illinois
Ricky Pearsall, Florida
Roman Wilson, Michigan
and keeping an eye on the Kent State to North Carolina transfer Devontez Walker.

We'll see where it shakes out.

Was really hoping to get a read on Legette during the MU game, but he got knocked out pretty early.

I could honestly see him getting moved/drafted for TE at the NFL level. He would need to gain about 10lbs which should be easy and at his age that might happen naturally as his body matures with NFL strength regime.

His measurables line up with Pitts and I see similar style of play.

Some of the things that stick out to me are 38 inch Vert at his size in High School! Thats pretty crazy.

Could easily see Veach taking this Wilson with the thought of sitting him behind Kelce and two TE sets until Kelce hangs up the cleats and focuses on babies with swift.

I hate to see Veach keep taking 2nd round WRs that will never be TRUE #1 guys for Mahomes because the value at the end of round 1 just isn't there for WR either.

Wilson could be a guy Veach falls in love with and has a shot at him with our 1st rounder because he will be a some what project type player.

I kinda agree on Legette. If he goes to the 49ers he's probably a stud. That big and quick, if you can scheme him short passes that let him get a little head of steam, goodnight. But everything else looks...iffy. Maybe he's AJ Brown but man he looks very raw, pretty stiff. I dunno, I don't trust the hype and more importantly I don't see how he works here.

I think he's was more DK Metcalf. I don't love that it took him this long to be productive either but I like the big chunk plays he creates. He doesn't need the ball like a #1 WR, 8-10+ times a game to be effective. He only catches 5-7 balls per game but creates when he does. That could be a good fit for our spread-it-around style offense. He's more athlete than WR I think.

Tall usually equals doesn't corner worth a damn. AKA can't really separate and uses size more to get open and we ain't about that here.

Yeah I seen that comp, probably better in terms of big, quick but linear. Agree re athlete first. I think we probably have guys who can do the underneath and YAC stuff more than we do the field stretchers though

I like his teammate, Antwane Wells, better for this offense but damn that foot injury this year may mean he won't declare.

I said last season that Odunze was going to be out of our price range and I think that's still the case. Looks like the #2 receiver in the draft to me.

But Jalen McMillan won't be. That's been my target since LAST season's draft as a long-term complement to Rice and before he got hurt, he seemed well on his way. I think he'll be back this week and go right back to being the same dynamic threat he looked like last season and to start this season.

I'm hopeful that being the 2nd guy in Washington (especially with the injury) gets him into range for us in the 2nd.

Shoulda kept scrolling...

So yeah, your list would suggest that he's a candidate in the back of the 1st still, even with the injury.

I think I'd be fine with that.

For me I don't mind that Legette is a late bloomer- that'll be discovered in the predraft process why he wasn't productive in his first 4 seasons. Took him awhile to become an effective receiver but his production this season is outstanding. His physical traits and athleticism really stand out and I would imagine there is still a lot of refining that can be developed in regards to his route running ability.

Whenever I see these big WR prospects, I specifically want to know how fluid of an athlete they are, stop/start ability and their ball skills (ball tracking, high pointing, hands catching). I think Legette's top end speed is great, his ball tracking and high pointing the football are very impressive and he is a very fluid athlete. I don't think his ability to change direction is elite, but his ability to stop is great which makes his curl/comeback route a weapon.

I'll be surprised if he isn't a round 2 selection in this upcoming draft- his traits are simply too good to pass up.

Is Xavier Worthy the fastest in the draft? How fast is he? Tyreek fast or Mecole fast? Is he a true WR?

Maybe. Corley is pretty damned fast though.

Tyler Harrell?

Jermaine Burton, 2nd day guy. Getting some Stefon Diggs vibes in his game. Is that just me?

Great route running, great hands, tracks the ball very well, great on jump balls and contested catches, low 4.4 speed. Mentally and physically tough as nails. Dawg on the field.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9oXKttZob-8?si=-8v9-y21AAiknrta" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

All I know is, just like last year, I am good with WR anywhere in the first 2 rounds. This years class is even deeper, so we could realistically get another guy to pair with Rice in round 2.

Just FYI, every time you post I end up with Phil Collins in my head.

I don't hate it...

Aww, how sweet of you. Just like I want it to be. ROFL

Could be worse for you though.

You could hate it

Who could hate Genesis, though. I mean really?

Jordan Reid's mock draft on ESPN+

32. Kansas City Chiefs (6-1)
Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon

The Chiefs have poured resources into finding young pass-catchers for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, including a second-round pick in April on Rashee Rice, the most consistent of Kansas City's receiver bunch. But the offense still lacks the explosive element that we've seen in past seasons. Franklin has caught a pass of 30 or more yards in six out of seven games this season. At 6-foot-3, 187 pounds, he's a long-striding three-level threat who can race past defenders, averaging 11.8 air yards per target.

Team needs: DT, WR, LB

I'd ecstatic with Franklin in the 1st if he actually makes it there.

Not me. But he could have left Groovy Kind of Love on the shelf.

If I need some Yacht Rock, Christopher Cross is on deck in my house. Better believe that.

Looks good! After the probable departure of MVS we will need someone to stretch the field. I'd like to see him add about 10lbs of muscle and keep the speed.

Need to be talking about Ja'lynn Polk more. Rome loses the ball in the Red Zone. McMillan's fragility continues. Polk 148 and 2 TD's.

Worthy seems like a Hyatt. Kind of a long strider. I don't know about Morley, I have a feeling he isn't as rapid as people suggest. I dunno if he's 4.3. Think there's a reason he initiates contact a lot.

Probably so. He was a RB coming into college and the level of competition can make guys look faster than they are. He could be a 4.50 guy, who knows. Worthy doesn't always look 4.3 to me either though.

I think one guy that will certainly have a dog in the fight is Jamari Thrash.

Yeah I might agree on Worthy. I could absolutely see his 40 being a disappointment. I like Thrash. I mean man there's LOTS. If we miss on one this year I'd be bummed. I'd probably hope we double dip tbh. Maybe a couple within the first 4 rounds, 1 in the top 2

We definitely need to add two WRs in the offseason. It doesn't have to be 2 in the draft, and I wouldn't advocate for it the way Andy uses rookies there. Darnell Mooney was a 1k receiver in Nagy's offense in Chicago. He's tailor-made for this offense. Grab him in FA and a rookie high. I can't believe we haven't traded for him, to be honest, but maybe they are asking too much. I'd bring back Hardman too. I can live with his 500 yards from the slot over whatever the **** Skyy Moore is. I had really high hopes for that kid coming out but he's proven to be dogshit.

Worthy hit 21mph on his punt return this week. His 40 might be disappointing, but he is one of the fastest players in CFB with his pads on.

I'm still not sold on us drafting him, but he has really cleaned up his drop issues this year...which gives credence to the theory that his hand injury last year was a significant contributor to his drop issues..

He has the lowest drop% in the Big XII so far this season.

ESPN

Wide receiver rankings

1. Marvin Harrison Jr, Ohio State
2. Keon Coleman, Florida State
3. Malik Nabers, LSU
4. Rome Odunze, Washington
5. Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
6. Worthy
7. Franklin
8. Legette
9. Mitchell
10. Wilson

Does anyone think the NFL is going to put Johnny Wilson at WR? I just can't see it happening. I think he's going to be a move TE.