2024 WR Draft Class

[Logic]

Saw this chart on The Ringer today (part of a fun but silly article which nevertheless had some nice info hidden amongst the jokes).

Not a great look for Brian Thomas Jr and Adonai Mitchell, with the takeaway being that while they have everything you want from a physical standpoint and have both shown the POTENTIAL to be good, their college production (not just raw numbers, but yards per route run relative to their target rate) is lacking.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/4/9/24124742/best-wide-receivers-2024-nfl-draft-class-marvin-harrison-jr-malik-nabers-rome-odunze

[DJB]

The one thing about Legette is he had a lot of manufactured screens and plays to get him in space with the ball. Something to consider 

[Logic]

I keep coming back to two of Brandon Beane's comments. The first was "how many different things can you do? Inside? Outside? How versatile are you?". The second was his repeated mentioning of yards-after-catch.

 

They both keep bringing me back to Malik Nabers, Xavier Legette, and Malachi Corley.

All three have serious yards-after-catch ability, all three have some degree of inside-outside versatility (Nabers especially).

I think Beane's (and maybe Brady's) ideal vision for a receiving corps is a bunch of guys who can more or less play any of the positions. Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir both have inside-outside versatility. Diggs had it. I think they want it in the guy(s) they draft. I think they want to be able to put Samuel, Shakir, and the draftee(s) out on the field and be able to put any of them in any of the WR spots, without telegraphing to the defense from snap to snap who will be lined up where.

It's probably a dumb and overly optimistic thing to think, but assuming he's not the first WR off the board, I have this weird feeling that the Bills really love Malik Nabers and want to try to find a way to make him a Buffalo Bill. He just ticks all of Brandon Beane's boxes. Explosive athlete, elite production, outstanding after the catch, positional versatility. All of it. He also instantly elevates gives the Bills a viable WR1 and elevates the entire receiving corps in a way that whoever they pick at 28 likely doesn't. Here's hoping I'm right and that Beane is feeling saucy come draft night.

Edited April 9 by Logic

[BuffaloRebound]

2 hours ago, Back2Buff said:

Because the eclipse was cloudy yesterday, I spent the entire time looking at WR in this draft.

 

I don't understand the Brian Thomas hype.  All he does is run go and hitch.  I respect Josh Norris a lot, and he is also low on Brian Thomas.  The tape just isnt there with Thomas.  It's the same thing over and over again.  Go routes.

 

On the other hand, Xavier Worthy is going to be a problem in this league.  The guy played outside way more than I thought.  The amount of coverage he took away for teammates was insane.  AD Mitchell wouldn't even be a Day 1 or 2 pick if it wasn't for Worthy.  The guy also has multiple years of production and he ran really nice routes.

 

Worthy is my 4th rated WR.  Legette is my 5th.  

I agree with this.  I think Worthy is actually getting dinged for losing some weight and running the fastest 40.  Worthy plays tougher on film than you’d think and he was productive as an 18 year old Freshman.  He’s still only 20 years old.  He’s almost uncoverable and played well against the best competition.  I’d be happy with him at pick 28 but don’t think he lasts that long.  Dudes with big play ability and consistent production like that don’t last until pick 28.  

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, Back2Buff said:

Because the eclipse was cloudy yesterday, I spent the entire time looking at WR in this draft.

 

I don't understand the Brian Thomas hype.  All he does is run go and hitch.  I respect Josh Norris a lot, and he is also low on Brian Thomas.  The tape just isnt there with Thomas.  It's the same thing over and over again.  Go routes.

 

On the other hand, Xavier Worthy is going to be a problem in this league.  The guy played outside way more than I thought.  The amount of coverage he took away for teammates was insane.  AD Mitchell wouldn't even be a Day 1 or 2 pick if it wasn't for Worthy.  The guy also has multiple years of production and he ran really nice routes.

 

Worthy is my 4th rated WR.  Legette is my 5th.  

 

I agree with you on Thomas. He is a total one trick pony. It is just he is really good at the one trick and that one trick is one that give you explosive plays that change ball games. I have Legette 4, Thomas 5. I have Worthy 7. I think Worthy in the right offense will be a star. But he is one of the most scheme specific. I can well imagine a team like Carolina taking him and trying to shoehorn him into a traditional WR position in a traditional west coast offense that is all about precision and timing and him struggling to make an impact. 

[34-78-83]

36 minutes ago, Logic said:

Saw this chart on The Ringer today (part of a fun but silly article which nevertheless had some nice info hidden amongst the jokes).

Not a great look for Brian Thomas Jr and Adonai Mitchell, with the takeaway being that while they have everything you want from a physical standpoint and have both shown the POTENTIAL to be good, their college production (not just raw numbers, but yards per route run relative to their target rate) is lacking.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/4/9/24124742/best-wide-receivers-2024-nfl-draft-class-marvin-harrison-jr-malik-nabers-rome-odunze

Interesting... Both AM and BT have other peer stud receivers on the field with them. I imagine that was a factor in the statistic.

[NickelCity]

40 minutes ago, DJB said:

The one thing about Legette is he had a lot of manufactured screens and plays to get him in space with the ball. Something to consider 

 

Fair, but it's worth recalling that those (1) still take up a share of a finite amount of offensive plays/QB targets, and (2) he's such a physical presence during RAC that they wanted to manufacture touches for him.

 

 

[Solomon Grundy]

21 minutes ago, Logic said:

I keep coming back to two of Brandon Beane's comments. The first was "how many different things can you do? Inside? Outside? How versatile are you?". The second was his repeated mentioning of yards-after-catch.

 

They both keep bringing me back to Malik Nabers, Xavier Legette, and Malachi Corley.

All three have serious yards-after-catch ability, all three have some degree of inside-outside versatility (Nabers especially).

I think Beane's (and maybe Brady's) ideal vision for a receiving corps is a bunch of guys who can more or less play any of the positions. Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir both have inside-outside versatility. Diggs had it. I think they want it in the guy(s) they draft. I think they want to be able to put Samuel, Shakir, and the draftee(s) out on the field and be able to put any of them in any of the WR spots, without telegraphing to the defense from snap to snap who will be lined up where.

It's probably a dumb and overly optimistic thing to think, but assuming he's not the first WR off the board, I have this weird feeling that the Bills really love Malik Nabers and want to try to find a way to make him a Buffalo Bill. He just ticks all of Brandon Beane's boxes. Explosive athlete, elite production, outstanding after the catch, positional versatility. All of it. He also instantly elevates gives the Bills a viable WR1 and elevates the entire receiving corps in a way that whoever they pick at 28 likely doesn't. Here's hoping I'm right and that Beane is feeling saucy come draft night.

I'm going with the guy "that convinces you to forget his timed speed." Played inside/out, physical, good RAC receiver, helluva contested catch guy 

[zevo]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

Saw this chart on The Ringer today (part of a fun but silly article which nevertheless had some nice info hidden amongst the jokes).

Not a great look for Brian Thomas Jr and Adonai Mitchell, with the takeaway being that while they have everything you want from a physical standpoint and have both shown the POTENTIAL to be good, their college production (not just raw numbers, but yards per route run relative to their target rate) is lacking.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/4/9/24124742/best-wide-receivers-2024-nfl-draft-class-marvin-harrison-jr-malik-nabers-rome-odunze

The more I read and listen to…I want no part of Brian Thomas jr. Especially if he requires a trade up. This is the thing that would make me most miserable on draft night 

42 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I agree with you on Thomas. He is a total one trick pony. It is just he is really good at the one trick and that one trick is one that give you explosive plays that change ball games. I have Legette 4, Thomas 5. I have Worthy 7. I think Worthy in the right offense will be a star. But he is one of the most scheme specific. I can well imagine a team like Carolina taking him and trying to shoehorn him into a traditional WR position in a traditional west coast offense that is all about precision and timing and him struggling to make an impact. 

Legette is the guy I desperately want

[wppete]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5g1CK9u2WY/?igsh=MTA5OTJ6Z28wYmRrMQ==

[MrEpsYtown]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I agree with you on Thomas. He is a total one trick pony. It is just he is really good at the one trick and that one trick is one that give you explosive plays that change ball games. I have Legette 4, Thomas 5. I have Worthy 7. I think Worthy in the right offense will be a star. But he is one of the most scheme specific. I can well imagine a team like Carolina taking him and trying to shoehorn him into a traditional WR position in a traditional west coast offense that is all about precision and timing and him struggling to make an impact. 

 

I like comps. Do you have a comp for Thomas in your mind? What about Leggette? 

 

Walterfootball compares Thomas to MVS and Leggette to Breshad Perriman. I would be pretty disappointed in both of those outcomes. 

 

ESPN compared Thomas to Tee Higgins and Leggette to AJ Brown.  

[DCOrange]

1 hour ago, zevo said:

The more I read and listen to…I want no part of Brian Thomas jr. Especially if he requires a trade up. This is the thing that would make me most miserable on draft night 

Legette is the guy I desperately want

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.

17 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I like comps. Do you have a comp for Thomas in your mind? What about Leggette? 

 

Walterfootball compares Thomas to MVS and Leggette to Breshad Perriman. I would be pretty disappointed in both of those outcomes. 

 

ESPN compared Thomas to Tee Higgins and Leggette to AJ Brown.  

He's obviously nowhere near as jacked as DK was, but skillset/usage wise, Thomas is very similar to DK right now IMO.

[Bills_inthe6]

Look at this crazy draft i got myself... they all just fell to me

 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Get it done. 

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

8 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Get it done. 

 

 

No way I’m trading pick 28, pick 60 and next years 1st to move up to pick 9 for a WR.  Chiefs traded less to us to move up for a QB.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I agree with you on Thomas. He is a total one trick pony. It is just he is really good at the one trick and that one trick is one that give you explosive plays that change ball games. I have Legette 4, Thomas 5. I have Worthy 7. I think Worthy in the right offense will be a star. But he is one of the most scheme specific. I can well imagine a team like Carolina taking him and trying to shoehorn him into a traditional WR position in a traditional west coast offense that is all about precision and timing and him struggling to make an impact. 

My biggest negative on Brian Thomas is I believe he lacks that alpha dog attitude. Very laid back dude. That could be a good thing coming from Diggs but I want an Alpha. I’m starting to fade on Thomas.

 

I think he can do more than what we see in his highlight package. The guy is an explosive 6’3 athlete with strength and strong hands. I just worry about him as WR1.

[CNYfan]

I believe approximately 5 or 6 of the 16? first and second rounders identified on this Board will pan out.   History tells us this, BBB better get one of the good ones.  

[Back2Buff]

31 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

No way I’m trading pick 28, pick 60 and next years 1st to move up to pick 9 for a WR.  Chiefs traded less to us to move up for a QB.  

 

Absolutely not.  Most I would trade to move up is next years first (just because that Minny 2nd is going to be high) and a 4th this year.  However, it would need to be for Rome or Harrison.  If both those guys are gone, I'm picking at 28.

[The Jokeman]

33 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

My biggest negative on Brian Thomas is I believe he lacks that alpha dog attitude. Very laid back dude. That could be a good thing coming from Diggs but I want an Alpha. I’m starting to fade on Thomas.

 

I think he can do more than what we see in his highlight package. The guy is an explosive 6’3 athlete with strength and strong hands. I just worry about him as WR1.

He wasn't even the alpha at LSU, while he offers a lot in terms of height and speed he seems limited to certain route that take advantage of his speeds. He kind of reminds me of Alvin Harper in Dallas who when moved on to Tampa to be a #1 he didn't live up to the billing. While I love his skill set I do have reservations. Ultimately I'd stand pat at 28 and see what fell to me, as am okay if we take Legette at 28, or Chop or Darius Robinson or Newton and then look at a WR in Round 2. As we have a few holes to fill and even without Diggs I don't think WR is the worth reaching for if other quality prospects fall. 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

Arizona wants 3 first round picks for #4 overall. 🤣