Three Wide Receivers to Buy, Sell, or Hold in Devy Leagues
We are back with another installment of Buy, Sell or Hold for devy leagues. This week we will go over wide receivers again and have some high-profile players. You can check out the last installment on wide receivers here.
Now let’s get to the good stuff, which includes one player who is not thought of nearly highly enough.
BUY: J. Michael Sturdivant, UCLA
Sturdivant was a top 200 recruit from Texas in 2021 who chose California over Arkansas, Florida State, and Baylor. In his freshman year, he had only two targets but that went way up to 102 targets in 2022. He turned those targets into 65 receptions for 755 yards and seven touchdowns. He lined up mostly outside – 66% of his snaps. He also was able to bring in around 48% of his contested catches and 70% of his production was more than 10 yards down the field.
With all the production, Sturdivant was able to transfer to UCLA. He should benefit from being on a better team and offense under Chip Kelly. His ADP on Campus2Canton is WR47 but the staff there has him ranked as WR33. He is probably still going under the radar and the more run-heavy offense at UCLA doesn’t help perception. The offense did have almost 40 rush attempts a game but with QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and RB Zach Charbonnet gone, the offense should be more balanced this year. The Bruins leading receiver had 84 targets last year with the offense only attempting 23 passes a game. So, there should be plenty of opportunities for Sturdivant. He most likely won’t be a first round but he could move up boards and could be a rising player.
Pac 12 Returning Wide Receivers – Most Contested Catches 2022:
1. Dorian Singer – USC (12)
2. Brenden Rice – USC (9)
2. Devaughn Vale – Utah (9)
2. J.Michael Sturdivant – UCLA (9)
5. Montana Lemonious-Craig – Arizona (8)— Arrogant Nation✌🏻 (@FightOnRusty) July 10, 2023
SELL: Xavier Worthy, Texas
I know this name may surprise a lot of people on the sell side of the article. Worthy was highly recruited and after two years he has over 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns. His production did go down from his freshman and sophomore years and he did show some concentration lapses and drops. There were some trends that did not favor Worthy: a decrease in yards per reception and yards per route run, and an increase in drop percentage from four to ten percent. No one doubts his talent and he creates separation which will turn heads in the NFL but with his lack of size and some of the concentration issues, I just worry other wide receivers may pass him by in the 2024 NFL Draft.
He is currently being drafted as WR5 in Campus2Canton’s ADP but in their consensus, he is ranked as WR11. Another thing I am concerned about is the improvement of the WR group around him. Adonai Mitchell transfers in from Georgia and freshman Johntay Cook comes in too. I think Cook could really take over in this group eventually and with more talent, Worthy may see fewer looks, especially if his drops continue. I would put feelers out to see exactly what you could get back from Worthy as many have him very high on boards.
HOLD: Rome Odunze
In his third year at Washington, Odunze broke out with over 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns. Before 2022 he had just combined for 500 total career yards. With the help of transfer Michael Penix Jr, the Washington offense was explosive and ranked eight in points per game. From 2021 to 2022, Odunze really switched to more of an outside receiver role and his snap percentage went from 44.2% to 84%. Also he was a constant big-play threat as five of his seven touchdowns were of 20 yards or more.
With Penix returning, the offense and Odunze look to have another great year and this could catapult him into the first round. He is being fairly drafted as WR23 and ranked on Campus2Canton as WR19. Normally, I would advise to sell a player with this uptick in hype but if he can go in the first round with two straight years of great production, I would want that player on my NFL squad. I could see a scenario where he is the third WR taken behind Marvin Harrison Jr and Emeke Egbuka.
Rome Odunze Stutter Go 🔥
Don’t be surprised if Rome follows recent four year wide receivers like Chris Olave and DeVonta Smith and goes round one next April
pic.twitter.com/jDO7HRk2IV— Joe O’Leary (@TheHQNerd) August 4, 2023
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