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Some notes that I haven't seen mentioned much elsewhere: MHJ: "As talented as he is, his discipline and dedication to his craft might be the most impressive part of him" - NFL scout. Tendency to coast when he isn't the target of the play, poor effort as a blocker, not really a YAC weapon. Turned down NIL deals at first because he believed they'd be a distraction. Nabers: Body catches more than you'd like but has shown the ability to extend and catch the ball with his hands. Was arrested on Bourbon St. for illegally carrying a weapon. Was ruled ineligible his senior year of high school because his family happened to move to the same school district as his former coach and there was a rule against that; still made the All-American team despite not playing lol. Credits his time growing up as a center fielder for his ability to track the deep ball. Odunze: His weaknesses section is hilariously short. Needs to expand his route tree and only average change of direction skills, but that's basically it. Suffered a broken rib/punctured lung and didn't miss any time. Thomas: Needs to improve his play strength and tends to lose his footing on some of his breaks, but his ability to stutter step and then accelerate is great, uses his basketball background to box people out, and has "minimal delay going from catcher to runner, which is uncommon for a big receiver" McConkey: Similar to Legette, he switched from WR to QB his senior season in high school. Experience as a punt returner, gunner, and on kickoff coverages. Adding weight has been a challenge in the past; scouts believe he probably won't be able to put on any additional weight in the NFL. Doesn't have ideal contact balance, but makes up for it with his creativity after the catch. AD: Played a few games at QB his senior year of high school but otherwise played WR. Always looking for someone to block. Below average play strength; physical DBs will give him trouble. Small hands and doesn't always play strong to the football. Not a YAC weapon and wasn't a high volume target in college. Coleman: Was a star basketball player in high school while also competing in track and playing football. Only considered colleges where he could play both basketball and football. Switched his commitment twice before ultimately landing at Michigan State. Left the Michigan State basketball team at the beginning of his sophomore season to focus exclusively on football. Cousin of CeeDee Lamb. Draws a lot of penalties. Quickly transitions from catcher to runner, quick burst off the LOS and at the top of his route. Physically dominant as a run blocker. Driven to max out his ability and cash in for his family. Not as efficient beating press coverage as you'd expect. While he's improved as a route runner, more polish is required. Can be a bit prone to offensive pass interference. Had some nagging injuries throughout college. Going to bounce around more from here/be shorter as I just can't do this for everyone lol, but let me know if there's any guys in particular you'd like a short blurb about and I can try to get back to you. Pearsall: Punt return and gunner experience, dad was a "tough-as-*****, sticky-handed receiver" just like Ricky. Worthy: Committed to Michigan and tried to early-enroll, but academic issues forced him to delay enrollment. He moved to Michigan anyways to get to know his teammates and ended up leaving a month later and reconsidered his options. Joined Steve Sarkisian at Texas due to how he utilized Devonta Smith at Alabama. Corley: first from his high school to play division 1 football Legette: Played running back as a child, moved to WR for high school, and then moved to QB his senior year; comes from a town of 2,500 people. His 1.78 "flying 20" tied Brian Thomas for the fastest at the combine. Experience as a kick returner and gunner, "genuinely enjoys playing on special teams". Missed a few games after a motorcycle accident in 2021. Malik Washington: Led all WRs in forced missed tackles this season. Inexperienced on special teams outside of kick returns. Torn ACL as a junior in high school. Tez Walker: Most of his offers were to play DB. Torn ACL his senior year of high school, and his college team pulled their scholarship as a result. Worked at Bojangle's to pay for his rehab during his one year gap between high school and college. Has been open about mental health challenges he's faced growing up. He had the only 20+ yard catch allowed by CB Nate Wiggins in 2023. Burton: 6 schools in 8 years, a reputation as an undisciplined player, and had "up and down moments" with the coaching staffs at Georgia and Alabama. Played for former Chargers WR Curtis Conway at one of his many high schools and was teammates with Johnny Wilson. Rice: Never lived with Jerry Rice growing up. Joined track team as a junior in high school because college football coaches questioned his speed. McMillan: Family believes he's a better baseball player than football player. Received dual-sport offers from schools including Oklahoma and USC. Nothing crazy, but has suffered several injuries over his college career. Re-aggravated his MCL sprain multiple times this past season, which forced him to miss a lot of time. Javon Baker: Left Alabama after two seasons. Initially committed to Kentucky in the transfer portal, but they pulled their offer so he ended up at UCF instead. Says he learned a lot from DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle at Alabama. More drops than TDs in his college career. Cowing: One of the lowest ranked recruits in UTEP's recruiting class but he led the team in receiving 3 years in a row. Became a father during his freshman year of college. Entered the transfer portal to try to find a small school near Arizona to be closer to his son and was shocked when several big name schools came calling. Had an NIL deal with the Boys and Girls Club, which he says was very influential on him as a child. Feisty blocker despite his small stature. Was banged up throughout his college career but never missed a game. Only FBS player with 85+ receptions each of the last two seasons. Johnny Wilson: Was only the #21 WR in his recruiting class, but he received almost 40 scholarship offers. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was one of his main recruiters and got him to ultimately commit to Arizona State. Was one of many players to leave Arizona State amidst NCAA investigations. Didn't receive much attention in the transfer portal but he reached out to FSU head coach Mike Norvell and convinced him to offer a scholarship. Doesn't play as strong as you'd expect, struggles to match DB's physicality. "Hears footsteps" working over the middle of the field. Zero special teams experience. Missed most of 2021 due to a hamstring injury.

I’ve said it a few times in this thread, but the main thing that made DK such a great prospect IMO was his ability to beat press coverage and then accelerate immediately. Legette doesn’t have either of those qualities IMO whereas it’s Thomas’ calling card.

Sounds like everyone's been balking at the asking price for Harvard PG Malik Mack and it's slowly becoming more realistic for us to get him. Not sure who else might be in on him beyond these three schools, but I've heard us, Georgetown, and Vanderbilt are three of the schools that have mutual interest.

Understand it's probably much more than that chart swaying you, but Legette is significantly lower than Thomas in the career YPRR part of that chart and just on par in terms of the target rate. Mitchell is slightly above them in target rate but below them in YPRR. He's obviously nowhere near as jacked as DK was, but skillset/usage wise, Thomas is very similar to DK right now IMO.

I'd rather just draft multiple WRs in the draft but he wouldn't be the worst flier to take. Issue is he may be best suited for the slot at this point and we have plenty of guys to line up there.

I think the part of Keon's game that can theoretically translate immediately are things like backshoulder throws and just contested catches in general over the middle. That, his run blocking ability, and the YAC stuff should allow him to have an immediate role in an offense. There's a lot of areas where he needs to grow. He's the second youngest WR in the draft class (beating out Xavier Worthy by a couple weeks). One thing that would help a ton is that there's reps where he properly uses that strong body of his to get the route leverage that he wants and then lean into the DB before exploding away to create a lot of separation. It's not something that he does consistently right now, but given his combination of youth, physical tools, and seemingly good intangibles, those that might take him early are betting on him making stuff like that a more common occurrence. I think a few years earlier in our team building, Coleman is someone that Beane would have had a ton of interest in. I'm not so sure about that in 2024.

Sounds like Dakota Leffew might be the one to keep an eye on. He'll be a 5th year senior, but this past season was the first time he's played point guard as their starting PG got hurt two games into the year. It would be a high risk move. I don't really think it makes a ton of sense for him to be the target, nor do I think it makes a ton of sense for him to even want a PG role, but we'll see I guess. He showed a lot of flashes of passing ability this past season, but over his 4 year career playing in the MAAC (in the conversation for the worst conference in Division 1), he has 233 assists to 228 turnovers. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of point guards out there right now; there's a lot of scoring guards but it's pretty light on guys that will consistently create for their teammates. Carlos as mentioned above is certainly one of the few, but I'm not sure if he offers enough scoring. The one kid that seems to offer both the scoring and creating upside is Malik Mack from Harvard, who is notably friends with Donnie Freeman, but it doesn't sound super likely at the moment. He's asking for a ton of money to leave Harvard; it doesn't sound like Syracuse is willing to match his price but it sounds like maybe nobody will so he may have to decide if he just wants to take the most he can get or simply stay at Harvard (which is obviously a very good choice too lol). I think we were really hoping Erik Reynolds from St. Joseph's would enter the portal. Similar to Leffew, he's not really a point guard but has shown flashes of passing ability. But what he does have is some of the best shooting/shot creation in the country. Unfortunately it's starting to sound like he'll just end up staying at St. Joe's.

Really knocking the draft out of the park IMO.

Finally got around to watching film of Javon Baker and Jermaine Burton, so I'm up to 23 receivers now. Not sure if I'll ultimately get around to more or not...I had Malik and Tahj Washington circled as two that I wanted to watch but I just don't know if I'll ultimately have the time to get to them. I still have to finish up a few QBs as well. Anywho, sort of brief notes on these two guys as well as where I slot them in in my rankings: Javon Baker Good release package off the line Good body control to hang in the air combined with strong hands makes him a good contested target guy Sets DBs up well, decelerates, changes direction, etc. Ran a lot of vertical routes at UCF but he seems to have the tools to be a good route runner Pretty average acceleration and long speed, that combined with the diet of vertical routes may have contributed to him having one of the lowest "open" ratings in the class per PFF Pretty strong physically, but had a few times across the games I watched where he just allowed DBs to push him tight up against the sideline and basically make it impossible to make the catch in bounds. Kind of just gets in the way as a run blocker vs. someone like Coleman who you legitimately want to design run plays towards Ultimately got an early 2nd round grade from me for his film which puts him at the tail end of the top 10. #10 in terms of my metrics rating as well. Jermaine Burton Effortless speed Impressive ball tracking on the deep ball Will continue to work his way open when his QB is buying time, which could pair very nicely with Allen Strong hands, physical at the catch point Does a nice job of varying speeds in his routes, getting into the DB's blind spot, etc. Has a tendency to run his routes standing straight up/almost running on his tip toes, led to some awkwardness getting in and out of his breaks. Generally poor effort as a run blocker Got an early 3rd round grade from me for his film, #15 in the class. #20 in terms of my metrics rating. Overall Rankings

Yep. I suspect we have our new PG in the next 7-10 days.

Sounds like the staff is feeling good about our chances of getting Jyare Davis, a transfer from Delaware. 6'7" upperclassman that was their starting C this year. Probably more of a PF depth piece for us.

I know you've already addressed it some extent, but of the 43 WRs I researched, his analytics are nearly the worst in the class and of the 86 WRs I've looked at in the previous two years, only one player that's even close to Mitchell's score has had any production (maybe two if you consider Tyquan Thornton to be a success). In both his Georgia and Texas film, there's an alarming number of reps where he just doesn't try even when he's meant to be a valuable part of the play. He's also one of the worst in the class in terms of running after the catch. And nitpicking a bit more, he doesn't fight for the ball in the air particularly well yet (but he does obviously have the size and athleticism to project success there someday).

In order: Troy Franklin Ladd McConkey AD Mitchell Xavier Legette Xavier Worthy But I probably only consider the first two at 28.

My attempt to convince myself the sky isn't falling: A lot of people believe Kincaid will turn into a go-to receiver. A lot of people believe Shakir is blossoming into a good starter. A lot of people believe Curtis Samuel is a good starter. It's still a very deep WR class with a ton of guys that project as starting caliber WRs. The Chiefs just won the Super Bowl in which their top receivers were a declining (albeit still very good) Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Marques Valdes-Scantling. If all of that stuff is true, we should still have a pretty good group of receivers even without trading up in the draft and probably a better group than some of the other contenders have had recently. I don't know how much of that I actually believe though lol.

Feel like we gotta trade up into the top 10 now. I don't know. This feels like an absolute disaster despite Diggs' age and potential decline we saw last season.

I like Klassen, particularly for his QB breakdowns. These are some real interesting rankings. I really don't see it with McMillan personally; he's on my do not draft list. He's much lower on Franklin than I am too, but some of the other stuff lines up pretty similarly with me. Relatively high on Coleman, relatively low on Worthy, Mitchell, and Legette. Interesting stuff. I think you're probably correct that if he's the guy Beane wants, he should just take him at 28. I hope that's not the case though personally.

To be fair, the Lawrence draft after Lawrence was pretty dreadful. Likewise with 2022. I know he said Mond was like the best passer in the draft class which is simply asinine. I can't remember the comments about Corral but somebody has to be ranked somewhat high in each class lol. I don't think his track record is horrendous or anything but he has significant misses just like everyone else does.

I have a really hard time taking anything Simms says seriously after he credited himself with nailing the Josh Allen draft because he ranked them correctly at one point, but in reality, he changed his rankings like 5 times after that and ultimately had Rosen as his #2 QB and Lamar as his #4. I'm fine with the occasional miss, like being weirdly high on Kellen Mond or having Zach Wilson over Lawrence (though that was honestly pretty egregious IMO). I'm not fine with just putting out a bunch of different versions of rankings and then saying whichever one looks the best in retrospect was the real rankings.

#1 QB in the class, and one of two 1st round prospects IMO. Drives me nuts that he might fall to the Patriots in real life and at the expense of my local team too. I really hope this is how it plays out in reality.

I assume at this point that JJ and Bell stick around to start on the wings so we end up with a lineup of: PG: ???, maybe Erik Reynolds but not sure SG: JJ Starling SF: Chris Bell PF: Donnie Freeman C : Eddie Lampkin I fear the paint defense will be atrocious again as JJ and Bell haven't really shown the effort to defend on the perimeter and Lampkin almost literally cannot jump. Gotta hope Red gets those guys to buy in on defense to minimize Lampkin's flaws defensively. Offensively, we could be good. A little nervous about the ball-handling/shot creation but if Reynolds ends up being the guy, he gives us a lethal shooter on the move. Bell is a great stand still shooter. JJ isn't particularly great at anything but shot it pretty well the second half of the year and has shown some flashes of creating off the dribble. Lampkin is a guy you can run the offense through in spurts; his size is tough to deal with even if he isn't super skilled and he's a creative passer (albeit very careless with the ball like Copeland was). Not entirely sure what to make of Donnie offensively yet. He didn't shoot the ball well in high school, but he's supposedly been shooting it very well at the McDonald's practices/scrimmages. He's a good athlete and is fairly comfortable with the ball in his hands, though I wouldn't really expect him to break people down off the dribble. At any rate, if Lampkin ends up being the guy, then it definitely feels like we're hoping to score enough points to make up for our defense. Lampkin does not have the skillset I would personally prioritize in a center, particularly with the likely roster we'll have next season. But I don't know what other options are really feasible for us so maybe this is the best we can do. I'd prefer someone that can protect the rim and elevate around the rim offensively but the fact that we can just post Lampkin up would probably provide some value.

And just like that, Eddie Lampkin is reportedly visiting today.

Think it’s a pretty safe bet he’ll have plenty of suitors. Sounds like we’re targeting Eddie Lampkin from Colorado.

Maliq Brown in the portal Guess my source was right…just took awhile.

Matt Harmon, my favorite guy out there for breaking down WRs, published his scouting reports of Brian Thomas Jr, Ladd McConkey, and Keon Coleman today (and has published the top 3 guys already as well). Behind a paywall, but I'll post some of the stuff that stood out to me below, as well as Harmon's tweet including some of their various charts: Brian Thomas Success rates against both man and zone coverage were above average Success rate against press coverage was elite Route chart is unsurprisingly very limited; Harmon compared his usage to DK Metcalf in college. His success rate specifically on go routes was otherworldly Noted that he is also a very good YAC threat; going down on first contact less than 50% of the time Ultimately said he could be a super fast version of Tee Higgins Sounds like Thomas is Harmon's WR4. Ladd McConkey Success rates against both man and zone coverage were elite. His success rate against press coverage is horrific, so definitely not projected to be an X receiver in the NFL. His route tree and general usage in college suggests flanker is probably his ideal role but he would likely thrive in the slot as well. Said he's the best in the class at running out routes, partially due to how much vertical pressure he puts on DBs. Ultimately compares him to Tyler Lockett. Along those lines, Lockett has generally been a fringe top 10 WR in the NFL in Harmon's opinion, and his development against press coverage was a big reason why so that McConkey will likely need to improve there in order to hit those same heights. Sounds like he'll be somewhere in Harmon's Tier 3 or Tier 4 (late round 1 vs. priority round 2). Keon Coleman His success rate against zone coverage was above average, but his numbers against man coverage and press coverage were both very bad. Longer bullet here, but the most interesting part IMO was that Harmon said he's charted 29 WRs that were below the 35th percentile in two of three categories (man, zone, press). 22/29 amounted to nothing in the NFL. 2/29 are tough to categorize as a hit or a miss (Christian Watson and Will Fuller). The remaining 5 are inarguably hits (he specifically mentions Amon-Ra St. Brown, Rashee Rice, and Juju Smith-Schuster as three of the five) and the thing all five of the hits have in common is that they all transitioned to being a big slot in the NFL. That is ultimately where he believes Coleman has the best chance of success. To that end, Coleman was pretty good at finding holes in zone coverage, pretty good on in-breaking routes, pretty good making catches in traffic, and pretty good at making defenders miss after the catch; all attributes that should help him win from the slot. Two other guys he mentions as comparisons where it goes wrong is Treylon Burks and Jonathan Mingo; their coaches didn't see the vision for them as big slots so they got stuck out wide and have floundered. Based on Harmon's scouting report, Coleman would not appear to be a logical option for the Bills as we don't need a slot or zone specialists right now. Harmon has him as a Tier 5 prospect (Good Day 2 option, but probably no higher than late 2nd round).

I think his tape is mostly very good. The main negative that I questioned a bit on film and was seemingly confirmed at the Combine was his hands. He didn’t drop the ball in the games I watched but it didn’t really look like he was super confident catching the ball and it left me wondering if he just kinda got lucky in the games I watched. Then he struggled with it at the Combine. Definitely a concern. I think he’s one of the few in this class (outside the top 3) that has a true calling card though. Most of these guys require projection or are solid in some areas but it isn’t super clear where they can win on day 1. Franklin showed he can get open in the short passing game with creative releases at the line and that’s something we could definitely use. Add his vertical ability on top of that and you have one of the best WR prospects in the draft IMO (if you can get past the potentially shaky hands).