2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Tai Felton, WR Maryland
Tai Felton broke out in his senior season in College Park, putting up some of the best receiver stats in the nation and earning first-team all-conference honors. Now, he’s participating in the Senior Bowl practices and preparing to potentially hear his name called during the NFL Draft. We’ll analyze Felton’s career and take an early look at his dynasty outlook.
Recruitment
Felton’s recruiting profile, courtesy of 247Sports.
Taishar Felton, Tai for short, attended Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia. In his sophomore year, he was on track to be one of the top wide receiver recruits in the country. He caught 50 balls for 1,050 yards and 13 touchdowns at only 15 years old, earning First Team All-County, All-Region and All-State honors for that season.
Unfortunately, at the end of the 2019 season, a torn ACL ended his high school career. A three-star recruit, he received offers from Duke, North Carolina, Nebraska and Virginia, amongst other Power Four schools He had received an offer to attend Virginia Tech, one he was planning to accept, but that offer was rescinded after the injury.
Maryland did not rescind their scholarship offer, and Felton committed to the Terps in November of 2019 and enrolled for the 2021 season.
Collegiate Career
Tai Felton’s collegiate stats courtesy of Sports Reference.
Felton played a part-time role with the Terps through his first two seasons. Playing behind Rakim Jarrett, he caught 28 balls for 360 yards and two touchdowns. He started six games as a sophomore and appeared in all 13 games. Perhaps his best performance came in that year’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl against NC State, where he caught four balls for 69 yards. Jarrett did not play in that game.
He became a full-time starter as a junior, leading the team in receiving touchdowns with six of them. He earned all-conference honors, being named third-team All-Big 10. He had his best game against Indiana, setting a career-high with seven receptions, 134 yards and three receiving touchdowns.
His senior year was by far the best of his college career. He caught 96 balls, a school record, for 1,1124 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the team in all of those categories. That was good enough to earn him First-Team Big 10 honors, finishing second in the conference, and fourth in the nation in receptions. For his career, he finished behind only Jermaine Lewis, Stefon Diggs and Torrey Smith in Maryland career receiving yards. He’ll attend the 2025 Senior Bowl in Mobile Alabama in preparation for the NFL Draft.
Strengths
- Felton’s route-running jumps off the tape
- Finds open space in his routes, can separate vs man-coverage
- Solid and creative after the catch, forcing missed tackles
- Improved every season in college, room for growth
- Great level of competition in the Big 10, with lackluster quarterback play
- Targeted 143 times last season, holding up to the massive workload
Weaknesses
- Struggles at the release point, especially in press coverage
- Skinny frame
- He isn’t a burner, though he is quick and shifty, especially with the ball in his hands
- Bad drop rate, especially in 2024. Three in one game vs. Iowa State.
- ACL injury in high school
Draft Value
Mock Draft history for Felton courtesy of Mock Draft Database.
Currently, Felton is projected to go in the fourth round of this Spring’s NFL Draft. That puts him as the 16th wide receiver off the board, but there is plenty of time for that to change over the next couple of months. This week, he’s putting his talents up against a loaded class of wide receivers at the Senior Bowl, giving him plenty of space to climb the draft boards if he has a big week. Route running and hands are a major focus for scouts at the Senior Bowl practices, so it could go either way for the Maryland product.
Felton will probably start out his career as a rotational Y-receiver, maybe developing into a number two for a team down the road. There are plenty of teams that need just that type of receiver, including a few that play in the state of Maryland.
Dynasty Outlook
The DLF Consensus Expert Rookie Rankings have Felton as the number 32 rookie overall and the 14th wide receiver off the board in single-quarterback drafts. He could end up being a really nice value in that spot, especially if he can sneak into the third round. Felton is a developmental piece, but he has the size, route-running savvy and play-speed to have a chance at the NFL level.
I’m not sure Felton will ever be a safe, starting option in dynasty fantasy football leagues, but he projects as more of a bench piece. Last year, we saw Jalen McMillan being drafted in a very similar spot. McMillan projected as a rotational player for the Bucs, but injuries helped him have one of the best rookie wide receiver seasons of the year. We should learn a lot about Felton’s game from his performance at the Senior Bowl practices this week.
- 2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Tai Felton, WR Maryland - January 30, 2025
- 2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Tez Johnson, WR Oregon - January 23, 2025
- 2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: TreVeyon Henderson, RB Ohio State - January 16, 2025
