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Three College Wide Receivers to Stash, Trash, or Keep in Devy Leagues

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Johntay Cook | © Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports
Brandon Haye Posted On July 6, 2024
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We have made it to wide receivers again in our Stash, Trash, or Keep in Devy Leagues series. The NFL has been trending to a more pass-happy league and employing more spread offenses. Wide receivers are so important to find coming out of college. So, let’s look at some moves you could make for that position.

Stash: Jeremiah Hunter, Washington

Hunter was outside the top 500 prospects in the 2020 class. In his first year at California, he only had 31 targets but turned that into 388 yards and a touchdown. He was more involved in 2022 with over 900 yards and six touchdowns. In 2023, Hunter increased targets but went down in receiving yards. After a down year, he will transfer to Washington and hopefully continue to move up draft boards.

Hunter will be moving to a better offense with new coach Jedd Fisch who left Arizona. Arizona was in the top 20 in pass attempts the past two seasons. The top three receivers are gone, so there will be plenty of opportunity. Washington also will be missing Michael Penix Jr but did bring in Will Rogers, who has over 12,000 passing yards in his career.

 

In our DLF Devy Rankings, Hunter is not ranked but campus2canton.com has him as the WR44 and the WR21 of eligible players for next April’s NFL Draft. Hunter has good hands and excellent body control. His career contested catch rate was over 61% and in 2022 27% of his yardage was over 20 yards down the field. If Hunter can return to his 2022 production, he could make his way into a day two NFL Draft pick. He is not as highly thought of as others in this upcoming wide receiver class, so now is the time to get him cheap before he becomes more well-known.

Trash: Antwane Wells Jr, Ole Miss

Antwane Wells Jr started his college career at James Madison and played there for two years. In 2021, he had over 1,100 yards and 13 touchdowns. This led to him moving up in competition and transferring to South Carolina. He had a strong season with over 900 yards and six touchdowns in 2022 with the Gamecocks but injuries derailed his 2023 season.

Wells decided to transfer for a second time and was the fourth-ranked wide receiver in the transfer portal. He will be playing for the Rebels in 2024, but it is not clear where he fits in the receiving depth chart. Trey Harris and Jordan Watkins both had over 70 targets last year.

Wells is currently WR20 in our DLF Devy Rankings but on campus2canton.com he is ranked lower at WR33. Wells has dealt with injuries the last two years, so this year is crucial to his draft stock. He is a fifth-year player who could be passed by other wide receivers in the NFL Draft next April. I like Antonio Williams and Matthew Golden who are ranked behind him better as NFL prospects.

Keep: Johntay Cook, Texas

Cook was a big name in the last recruiting cycle. He was a top 40 prospect on 247 Sports and the seventh wide receiver in the class. I thought that he would make a bigger impact in his first year. Cook only received 126 snaps and had just a total of 12 targets in his freshman year. I did not anticipate Adonai Mitchell having as big of a role as he did.

Now most people are probably not trading Cook right now. This is more of a do not panic and wait and see. The top five receivers in targets from last year are gone, so I see Cook having a huge role this year. He is the only receiver on the team with more than 10 targets from last season. Cook is WR15 in our rankings but campus2canton still has him in the top 10 of their rankings. He was heavily targeted in the spring game, so expect big things from Cook in this retooled Longhorn offense.

 

Brandon Haye
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