By: Brandon Carr
One of my favorite things that I look forward to every year is the NFL Draft. I know we are only in the summer and we still have an entire college football season to play, but I figured it isn’t too early to take a look at some of college’s best prospects. I wanted to focus on the wide receivers in this article because this class is being hyped up as being even better than the class we just had, which an argument can be made for that. But that isn’t the focus of this article. In this article, I will be previewing the class and what I think about each receiver, so without further ado, let’s get right into it! (These are not my rankings, will come at a later date)
Ja’Marr Chase (LSU)
Ja’Marr Chase is coming off of maybe the best sophomore wide receiver season we have ever seen in college football. Chase last season caught 84 passes for 1,780 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns. Chase led the NCAA in receiving yards and in receiving touchdowns this past season playing for the national champion LSU Tigers. This performance led to Chase winning the Biletnikoff award for being the nation’s most outstanding wide receiver, being an unanimous All American, and earning a first team All-SEC selection in 2019.
From what I watched on film from Chase, I saw that he clearly has that dog in him that a true number one wide receiver possesses. Chase is a phenomenal athlete who is great after the catch, a great route-runner, a great jump ball receiver, and can separate against most corners. Here are a couple of in game clips from Chase….
Chase I believe doesn’t have any weaknesses to his game, except for one thing that I noticed when watching one of his games. When LSU played Mississippi State this year, Chase caught 5 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, which sounds like a decent game but what gets talked about is when he lined up against Cameron Dantzler in that game. Chase only caught 1 pass for 6 yards when he lined up against Dantzler. Dantzler is a tall corner as he is 6’2 and uses that to his advantage when going against his competition. Chase struggled to get separation against Dantzler, especially in press coverage. This wasn’t the only time Chase struggled against physicality at the line of scrimmage. When LSU played Alabama this year, Chase did have a great game but there were times if you go back and watch the tape, Chase was being pressed and tended to struggle getting separation due to those corners getting up in his face. This doesn’t mean that Chase is necessarily not physical. Look at Chase when he is attacking the ball in the air and when he gets the ball in his hands. He will need to find different ways to separate against those types of corners, but he’s just so good that I know he can figure it out and this is something that can be worked on.
Really think about what Chase did last season. He showed that he was the alpha wide receiver on a LSU team that arguably is the greatest college football team of all time and he was only a sophomore. That is unbelievable!
Chase is just too damn good to not really see a significant drop off in his production. Plus, there are a lot of targets that are no longer on LSU with Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Thaddeus Moss all heading to the NFL. Chase already has gotten praise from people in the NFL. Here is a quote from a NFC executive on Chase, How good is he? He’s better already than Odell [Beckham] was coming out,” said one NFC exec. “Dynamic. A game-changer.” And if he’d been eligible, he’d probably have been the first receiver to go this year.” Chase could’ve very well been the first guy off the board. He will have a new quarterback in Myles Brennan this year but I think with a larger target share in this offense, means that he will receive more volume which means his numbers will still be good. Look for him to be a Biletnikoff finalist once again this season and a early first round selection in the NFL draft.
Rashod Bateman (Minnesota)
Next we have Rashod Bateman from the Minnesota Gophers. Bateman, unlike everyone else on this list, has opted out of this season due to COVID-19 concerns. For Bateman it makes a lot of sense considering he is already being seen among NFL scouts and draft analysts as a first round prospect. Why is he a first round talent? All you have to do is just watch Bateman play to see that he can be an alpha WR at the NFL level.
Bateman served as the team’s second option in the passing game for the first two seasons of his college career as he played alongside Tyler Johnson who eventually would be selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 NFL draft. Bateman last season posted phenomenal numbers when he caught 60 passes for 1,219 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns even with Johnson in the fold. Bateman’s performance earned him First Team All-Big Ten honors, a semi-finalist finish in the Biletnikoff award race, and was named the Big Ten receiver of the year when he won the Richter-Howard award.
Bateman when you watch him on film is just so talented. You can make an argument that Bateman is the best all around receiver in the class. He’s not the fastest or the most athletic receiver in this class but he makes up for it with his superb route running, separation, hands, and RAC ability. Here are a few clips that show Bateman putting all of these tools to use….
Bateman if he had played this season could’ve cemented himself as the best WR in this class because he would be the no doubt alpha on this Gophers team with little to no competition for significant targets. Bateman even though he didn’t produce as much as Johnson did, you could tell that he was far better than Johnson was on the field which says a lot of how good Bateman can be at the next level. I don’t suspect his draft stock will fall with him opting out of the season, he has two years worth of film for teams to look at and I think that’s enough for teams to be content with selecting Bateman in round 1 of the draft.
Chris Olave (Ohio State)
Chris Olave from Ohio State is next up to talk about. Olave, coming off of his sophomore year, was one of Justin Fields’ go to options in the passing game. Olave racked up 48 receptions for 840 yards and 12 touchdown receptions which earned him Third Team All Big-Ten honors.
Olave has a lot of great wide receiver skills that can translate to success at the next level. The only thing he lacks in my opinion is that he’s not a big enough receiver to be effective after the catch and be a physical presence but everything else that Olave is good at are all traits that can make him a solid NFL wide receiver. Olave is sneaky fast, he’s not your usual 4.3 Ohio State wide receiver, but he’s faster than a lot of guys on the field. He’s a crafty route runner who plays more physical than he looks with his above average jump ball ability. Here are a couple of clips so you can get a visual representation of what he can do….
Olave this upcoming season is going to feast with K.J. Hill, Austin Mack, and Binjimen Victor all out of the picture. Olave will work alongside sophomore Garrett Wilson and a lot of incoming true freshman. Olave should be the number one for Justin Fields this season once again and his numbers are bound to improve even more. I think Olave is a guaranteed second round pick for the 2021 NFL draft, with upside to crack the first round.
Jaylen Waddle (Alabama)
We’re going to finish up part 1 of this article by talking about two Alabama wide receivers. First let’s get to Jaylen Waddle. Waddle this past season took a dip in his receiving numbers from his freshman season but Waddle in the 2019 season finished with 33 receptions for 560 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns. What Waddle excels at is his kick/punt return ability. Waddle returned 20 punts for 487 yards, returned 5 kicks for 175 yards, and finished with 2 special teams touchdowns. Waddle led the NCAA in punt return yards (487) and average yards per punt return (24.4 YPPR). Waddle’s season led him to be named the SEC special teams player of the year and to be named to the First Team All-SEC team.
If I could use any word to describe Jaylen Waddle, it would probably be electrifying. When he gets the ball in his hands, good luck to opposing defenders. Waddle is elite in the open field, he’s got extremely fast twitch reflexes that cause him to be able to change direction on a dime while maintaining his speed. His ability to make people miss might be the best I have seen in a long time. Enjoy these clips I found that will just blow your mind on how good Waddle is with the ball in his hands….
Waddle this season with Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs leaving for the NFL draft, will have an expanded role in the 2020 season. His only real competition for targets will be DeVonta Smith at Alabama which means he’s due for a huge season in the receiving game. Waddle had been operating as the team’s fourth string receiver ever since he was at Alabama and he’s done a lot with his opportunities when he has gotten on the field. To me it speaks volumes that in his freshman season he was able to catch 45 passes for 848 yards and 7 touchdowns, being behind all of these other guys. Waddle needs to expand his route tree with his larger role and he’s still raw in some technical areas of his game, but from what I have seen from him when he runs the routes he is asked of, he looks really sharp. I think that this transition to a larger role will be no problem for Waddle and I can’t wait to watch him go to work this year. I think Waddle also is a name to watch for the Paul Hornung award this year as the nation’s most versatile player based on what he’ll do on offense and special teams this year. Waddle I project will be a first round pick when we get to the 2021 NFL draft.
DeVonta Smith (Alabama)
Now we get to the other Alabama wide receiver and his name is DeVonta Smith. Smith in his junior season last year, caught 68 passes for 1,256 yards and 14 touchdowns. Smith earned himself the First Team All-SEC honors with this peformance.
Smith reminds me a lot of Chris Olave who I talked about earlier. Both are the same height at 6’1, but both also are lean with by weighing under 200 pounds. Smith will need to put on more muscle in order for him to fare better against physical corners, but like Olave, they both can beat coverages with footwork and route running ability. Smith is sneaky fast, along with being a great route runner, he is a guy who isn’t afraid to go across the middle with sure hands and make plays after the catch. Smith is a great all around wide receiver, who can succeed at the NFL level. Here are some clips I found of Smith that show his strengths….
Smith in 2021 just like Waddle, will be able to capitalize with more targets set to come his way however unlike Waddle, Smith was able to have a monster season despite Ruggs and Jeudy being there. Smith led the team in receiving touchdowns and yards so his chances of doing that again are even higher with more targets his way. When a receiver puts up a stat line of 11 receptions for 274 yards and 5 touchdowns in a game against SEC competition, you know that they have to be something special, and that’s what Smith is. To think of what he did last year and with those numbers being even better, it’s truly mind blowing that he could break Alabama team records. This makes Smith a favorite to win the Biletnikoff award in 2020.
For both Waddle and Smith losing Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback is going to be a challenge, however Mac Jones I think will be competent enough for Waddle and Smith to produce, especially how both can separate at a high level, it’ll make Jones’ job a lot easier. Smith will be at the very least a second round pick, and if he has a better year than last year, he should earn himself a first round selection in April.
That will do it for part 1 of this early preview of the 2021 wide receiver class. Make sure you follow my Twitter @bcarr_13 so you can know the next time I put out another article!
Brandon's Breakdowns 