NFL Scouting Combine: Dynasty Wide Receiver Winners and Losers
For months we’ve been hyping up this wide receiver class as the crown jewel of the 2024 NFL Draft class and a perfect combination of elite talent and depth. These receivers sure didn’t let us down and they put on an absolute show over the weekend at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Let’s break down a few of the winners and losers from this star-studded group of pass catchers.
Winners
As the years go by it seems like WR prospects are getting more athletic and running faster 40 times at every subsequent NFL combine. It’s become difficult to select just a handful of winners who stood out from the rest but I’ve narrowed it down to three players I think answered a lot of questions this past weekend.
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t believe that Texas’s Xavier Worthy really “won” the combine. Every other media publication kicked off their combine coverage with his record-breaking 40 time but that’s not that exciting to me. Everyone knew that Worthy was fast and would have the best time of any WR this weekend.
Brian Thomas Jr, LSU
Thomas started the weekend off on the wrong foot when he measured in at 6’2’’ and 7/8 inches even though he was listed at 6’4’’ at LSU. This issued a blow to his reputation as a big-body receiver but he recovered nicely when it came to the athletic testing and earned an RAS of 9.97 which is the tenth highest for a WR since 1987.
Courtesy of RAS.
Thomas’s 4.33-second 40-yard dash was the second fastest time of any WR and he paired that with excellent numbers in both the vertical and broad jump. Thomas combines a stellar last season of production with great athleticism and respectable size and should have solidified himself as a first-round NFL draft pick.
Ricky Pearsall, Florida
This may be a bit biased because I have a soft spot for Pearsall, but I think he had a really impressive combine! He profiles as an excellent slot WR who would be the perfect third option in an NFL offense and I figured he would be firmly locked in as a fourth-round selection. However, after a great Senior Bowl and combine he has risen all the way up into the round two conversation.
Pearsall ran the 11th fastest 40, had the 3rd highest vertical, the 8th longest broad jump, and the fastest three-cone drill. He finished the weekend with a 9.76 RAS which is 70th all-time for the WR position. His performance over the last few weeks means we have to take him seriously as a legit day-two NFL prospect.
Ladd McConkey, Georgia
No one has risen on boards of both NFL draft analysts and dynasty fantasy football prognosticators alike as much as McConkey. His tape is excellent and he’s earned fantastic efficiency numbers when he’s been on the field for the Bulldogs. However, the biggest question mark surrounding his game was how he’d hold up against more athletic NFL corners.
McConkey did everything he could to dispel those concerns with his performance this past weekend. He walked away with the 7th-best time in both the 40-yard dash and the 10-second split. He showcased elite top-end speed with a 4.39 second 40 along with short-area burst with his split.
Adonai Mitchell, Texas
The final WR who I want to highlight as a winner of the combine is Mitchell. I didn’t have him in my initial list of winners but after further reflection, I think he belongs in this group. As I tend to view a winner in this context as somebody who vastly outperformed expectations, I didn’t believe Mitchell fit the bill.
I was wrong and he sure did impress. He measured in at 205 pounds, 10 more than his listed weight at Texas, which is noteworthy because his frame was definitely a concern. Not only did he come in a bit heavier, but he dominated the athletic events and earned a 9.98 RAS which is the highest of the entire group and the 8th-best score since 1987. He had the 3rd best 40, the 8th best vertical, and the #1 broad jump. He’s an athletic freak, and like Brian Thomas probably cemented himself as a first-round draft pick.
Losers
It’s difficult to identify WRs who are really big losers from this NFL combine because so many of them tested well and looked good in the drills. Especially when you consider that the average 40-yard-dash time has been steadily increasing over the last decade. However, some players failed to live up to their own expectations and paled in comparison to their competition.
Football Fans
The first loser of the combine is us as football fans. I’m sure your timeline has been flooded with think pieces on players opting out of the combine and what it means for the future of the event. I’m going to avoid all of that and just say it sucks not to see Marvin Harrison Jr and Malik Nabers, the consensus top two WRs in this draft, out there doing drills and competing in the athletic testing.
Troy Franklin, Oregon
It’s hard to say that Franklin ran a slow 40-yard-dash at 4.41, but based on expectations from his time at Oregon it’s hard to call it anything but a disappointment. He was projected to run a low 4.3 and didn’t get anywhere close to that number. To make matters worse, he measured two inches shorter and 10 pounds lighter than what he was listed at Oregon last season. He’s still fast and nearly 6’2’’, so it’s not the end of the world, but he did raise some eyebrows.
However, the icing on the cake was his incredibly disappointing gauntlet drill which saw him struggle to catch the football and overall just look awkward. I’m not going to put too much stock into one specific drill against air but it’s worth mentioning in the totality of the circumstances which added up to a disappointing weekend for Franklin.
Javon Baker, UCF
A popular sleeper, Baker entered this weekend as a player many believed had a chance to impress with his size, speed, and athleticism combination and that wasn’t really the case.
He ran a 4.54 40-yard dash which was the 4th slowest of the entire WR group. Then he only jumped 37 inches in the vertical which was below average. He finished up his athletic testing with 10’1’’ in the broad jump which was the 6th worst mark of the WR group this weekend.
Courtesy of RAS.
In a vacuum Baker’s performance was fine, however, when compared to some of the performances we saw this weekend, he fell short.
Keon Coleman, Florida State
By the time the NFL draft rolls around in late April, we might not have a more hotly debated skill position player than Coleman. In late September there was a real debate about whether Coleman was a better NFL prospect than Marvin Harrison Jr. However, there’s been a laundry list of concerns that have mounted over the last six months that now make it uncertain whether Coleman will even be selected in the first two rounds.
Piling on Coleman is low-hanging fruit but his 40-yard dash was definitely concerning. 4.61 seconds was the 2nd slowest of the entire WR group at the combine and in the 32nd percentile of all WRs in history.
This is another example of a WR that only lost because everyone around him looked so good. To be honest, I’m not nearly as concerned about his 40 time as others might be. He tested well in the vertical and broad jump and looked excellent in the gauntlet drill.
During the college football season, he was being talked about as WR2-3 and projected to go as the 1.06 in rookie drafts and I always thought that was way too high for Coleman. Now it seems like he is routinely available at the 2.08 in rookie drafts and it might be time to think about buying the dip.
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts: A View from the 1.02 - April 22, 2024
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts: A View from the 1.06 - April 18, 2024
- Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Profile: Devontez Walker, WR South Carolina - April 17, 2024
