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I’ve charted all the routes for Reception Perception, watched all the film and spent the last few months deep in the weeds of the 2025 NFL Draft wide receiver class. We have finally arrived at my wheelhouse.
While this class doesn’t have the same Tier 1 prospects as its 2024 counterpart and has a long way to go to measure up to the ceiling presented by previous years, it’s a solid group. It’s certainly not a bad class. What it lacks in elite WR1s at the top, it makes up for in a Day 2 rich with contributors. If teams are looking to add serious competition at their second and third spots with decent value, this is the year.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
The key for a class like this is trying to identify what role the prospect might fit best in the NFL and if their next team will share that vision. At least in this predraft exercise, we’ll attempt to solve the first part of that riddle as we run through the class by projected draft range.
Obviously, Travis Hunter is more than just a wide receiver. He’s one of the best pure football players that’s ever taken the college field. This should not be a hot take! He won the Heisman because he was the best cornerback in the nation and the best wideout in the nation. Hunter is also the top prospect at both positions in this class.
As just a wide receiver, Hunter is an absolutely ludicrous player with limitless potential, especially since he was rarely in offensive meetings at Colorado.
He separates with ease despite not being fully evolved as a route runner, has a great and varied set of release moves, wins contested catches, possesses A+ ball-tracking skills and rarely goes down on first contact with the ball in his hands.
Hunter is difficult to rank for fantasy football, dynasty or anything of the sort. We simply don’t know what his allocation of snaps will be at the NFL level. Anyone putting their chest out with confidence on this is just exercising some performative bluster. What I know for sure is that he’s one of my favorite wideouts I’ve ever evaluated and we should all know by now not to put limits on special football players. If you don’t think Hunter has already shown himself to be a special football player, I’m sorry, but you’re just a hater for contrarian’s sake — simple as that.
While the slot-heavy wideout was always the wingman to a superstar in the room, he presents an ultra-reliable target for his next team. Emeka Egbuka beats zone coverage with the best of them and catches everything. There isn’t a wide receiver room in the NFL that wouldn’t benefit from his presence.
This archetype of receiver does need the right type of offense that emphasizes the slot to maximize their production. Emeka’s future as a fantasy producer will become much clearer once we know that team.
Matthew Golden doesn’t have the multi-year resume of production we typically see from Round 1 wide receiver prospects.
It does feel like that fact is a little brushed aside by most of the NFL Draft community. The reason why is pretty easy to see; you cut on his film and you see a really excellent football player. He separates at the breakpoint of intermediate and deep routes with ease, has excellent hands in contested situations and can move across the formation.
In my opinion, he’d be best deployed as a multi-position WR2 across from a true gravity-shifting No. 1. Think of the role that Jordan Addison holds for the Minnesota Vikings. A popular spot for him in mock drafts fits the bill perfectly:
Widely considered the runaway top non-Hunter wide receiver in this class for most of the 2024 season, there’s been a break in consensus with Tetairoa “T-Mac” McMillan as the draft process has gone on.
Some still hold fast that he’s a top-10 prospect, while others have found holes to pick in his game. I come down somewhere in the middle and still view him as a clear first-round-grade wideout.
McMillan separates at a higher level than you think, especially on in-breaking patterns. While he fits the X-receiver prototype, I believe he can move around the formation and play multiple spots. Overall, I really like his game and believe he could be a fringe No. 1 wide receiver in the league.
Luther Burden III is the most difficult evaluation in this wide receiver class. If you just grade to the flashes, he looks like the best prospect of the bunch, but there’s much more to projecting a player than that part of the process.
Burden was primarily used in a Mickey Mouse gadget role in college but flashes the ability to run real-deal routes and beat man coverage. But they were just flashes because of the role. However, unlike a prospect like Treylon Burks from 2022 who played in a similar role, you can actually find those reps on film. However, there were some low moments for Burden and his feel for zone coverage down the field left me wanting.
At worst, I think he’ll be an asset with the ball in his hands. He’s bigger and more powerful than you think in the open field. If his next team’s wide receiver coach really dials in on him and expands his deployment, I can see a diet version of Malik Nabers in his game. If he doesn’t take on the work to improve, then he could end up a mercurial “created touches” player who struggles to find a regular spot in the target pecking order.
Jaylin Noel is the guy I will have ranked higher than consensus. There’s just so much to love about his game.
Noel is a vertical slot presence who has the man-coverage ability to hang as an outside option in two-receiver sets. These types of players almost always stick in the league and prove to be useful options. I’d love to see Noel land in an offense with an aggressive passer who will push it downfield. In addition to his separation skills, he’s better than most players with his frame at winning contested catches.
Ayomanor is still a work in progress as a route-runner but does have some nice flashes against man coverage. His release from the line does need work and his feel for zone coverage is lacking. Worse yet, he is a mess in contested situations and is haunted by drops. If he cleans those up, he has the blocking ability and rugged approach to the game that could make him a coach’s favorite. He reminds me of Romeo Doubs.
Kyle Williams has been something of a late riser in the NFL Draft process and I think — if you follow me down this rabbit hole I took on Football 301 — I know why:
Williams is just a good football player. He doesn’t have the size that most evaluators typically crave but he runs precise routes, beats press and makes plays as a run-after-catch threat. Pretty cool-sounding player! If Williams goes to a wide-open depth chart, I wouldn’t rule out that he contributes early and his role expands throughout his rookie year.
Higgins has some big fans in the draft analyst space. I’m a little more mixed on him. He has excellent size and catches almost every accurate pass thrown his way when he isn’t covered. However, he gets stuck at the top of his routes against man coverage far too often to be a high-volume X-receiver and doesn’t take full advantage of his wingspan at the catch point. Someone has got to get him to work on fully extending his arms; I don’t need to see them at a right angle ever again.
Higgins is the exact type of big receiver I’d love to see move into the slot. The power slot archetype has been a godsend for other collegiate receivers who don’t separate. If Higgins’ next coaching staff wants to deploy him that way, I’m interested. If they disagree, I’ll be a bit bearish.
Harris comes from an offense at Ole Miss that only asked him to run three routes — the nine, slant and screen — at high volume. He is a straight-line X-receiver through and through.
That archetype is littered with misses but when it hits, it hits big … think DK Metcalf in 2019. Even a guy like Alec Pierce has proven to be a useful player with the Colts. Harris has the movement skills and flashes some route savvy that makes me want to bet on him as a Round 2 receiver.
Jack Bech is one of “my guys” in this wide receiver class:
While he doesn’t have the long speed to be a full-time No. 1 X-receiver in the league, he can do just about everything else. He separates at a dominant level at the short and intermediate parts of the field, catches everything and breaks tackles after the catch. If he goes to a team with a play-caller of the McVay tree, I’ll be all-in. He fits their type of receiver so well.
Jalen Royals came from a stripped-down offense at Utah State and didn’t face stiff competition. He ran slants or curls on 54% of the routes I charted for Reception Perception and only lined up on one side of the field.
Players with this usage typically need multiple years of development or serious role-catering in the NFL. Rashee Rice is an example of a player who carried many of these red flags, and has almost the exact same build and an identical 10-yard split (93rd percentile) to Royals, but got the role catering he needed in KC as a run-after-catch big slot. If Royals’ pro team has a great vision for him, I’ll keep an eye on him as a rookie.
Horton is my favorite sleeper prospect in this class. I think he’s going to go much higher than people think. My guess is he leaves the board before Day 2 ends, as most teams feel good about the injury that ended his 2024 season.
Horton is a smooth operator at the line of scrimmage who beats press coverage. He works well on in-breaking routes and can pick up yards after the catch with his long strides. You also get plenty of moments where he plucks the football in tight coverage. His route running is a plus.
You should be thrilled if your team calls his name in Round 3 and I’d bet he climbs a depth chart sooner than later.
He has legit on-field speed that some teams will find extremely tantalizing. However, a disappointing final collegiate campaign, hit-or-miss technique as a route runner and serious off-field concerns will likely push him deep into Day 3.
An ultra-productive receiver for Cam Ward last year, the pre-draft process has not been kind to Xavier Restrepo. He’s dealt with injuries and turned in a disastrous 4.85 40-yard dash at his pro day. That may have also been impacted by a hamstring issue but he’s just not much of an athletic tester. However, given his skills as a slot receiver, I can see him fitting into a room and, maybe in the right system, turning in a popgun 80-catch season at some point.
I liked Felton’s tape for what he did against zone coverage and in the open field. However, he has some shaky moments with drops and whiffs in contested situations. There are enough skills here to eventually carve out a role as a speed-based WR3 and he brings value as a possible kick returner.
Johnson has a great sense for zone coverage but doesn’t bring the on-field speed or press coverage chops as the last small receiver to outkick his draft capital in Tank Dell. I’m rooting for Johnson but I didn’t see standout traits.
Badger beats man coverage and works well in the intermediate area. He’s an interesting sleeper at the X-receiver spot who got more YAC chances and thrived with them at Arizona State before transferring to Florida.
While TeSlaa had very little production at Arkansas after dominating at Hillsdale College, he is a freakshow of an athlete. That has me intrigued.
Additionally, I found his movement skills translated to the film and he was tough at the catch point. He’ll go quite late in the draft but if I was a wide receiver’s coach, I’d want to develop this guy while he stars as a special-teamer for the club.
Armstrong was actually the productive man at Arkansas. He lined up almost exclusively at X-receiver and has good ball skills. He does need to clean up some footwork issues as a route-runner but there’s something here. Armstrong will also turn 25 as a rookie.
Continue reading...
While this class doesn’t have the same Tier 1 prospects as its 2024 counterpart and has a long way to go to measure up to the ceiling presented by previous years, it’s a solid group. It’s certainly not a bad class. What it lacks in elite WR1s at the top, it makes up for in a Day 2 rich with contributors. If teams are looking to add serious competition at their second and third spots with decent value, this is the year.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
The key for a class like this is trying to identify what role the prospect might fit best in the NFL and if their next team will share that vision. At least in this predraft exercise, we’ll attempt to solve the first part of that riddle as we run through the class by projected draft range.
Tier of his own
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Obviously, Travis Hunter is more than just a wide receiver. He’s one of the best pure football players that’s ever taken the college field. This should not be a hot take! He won the Heisman because he was the best cornerback in the nation and the best wideout in the nation. Hunter is also the top prospect at both positions in this class.
As just a wide receiver, Hunter is an absolutely ludicrous player with limitless potential, especially since he was rarely in offensive meetings at Colorado.
He separates with ease despite not being fully evolved as a route runner, has a great and varied set of release moves, wins contested catches, possesses A+ ball-tracking skills and rarely goes down on first contact with the ball in his hands.
Hunter is difficult to rank for fantasy football, dynasty or anything of the sort. We simply don’t know what his allocation of snaps will be at the NFL level. Anyone putting their chest out with confidence on this is just exercising some performative bluster. What I know for sure is that he’s one of my favorite wideouts I’ve ever evaluated and we should all know by now not to put limits on special football players. If you don’t think Hunter has already shown himself to be a special football player, I’m sorry, but you’re just a hater for contrarian’s sake — simple as that.
Round 1 candidates
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
While the slot-heavy wideout was always the wingman to a superstar in the room, he presents an ultra-reliable target for his next team. Emeka Egbuka beats zone coverage with the best of them and catches everything. There isn’t a wide receiver room in the NFL that wouldn’t benefit from his presence.
This archetype of receiver does need the right type of offense that emphasizes the slot to maximize their production. Emeka’s future as a fantasy producer will become much clearer once we know that team.
Matthew Golden, Texas
Matthew Golden doesn’t have the multi-year resume of production we typically see from Round 1 wide receiver prospects.
It does feel like that fact is a little brushed aside by most of the NFL Draft community. The reason why is pretty easy to see; you cut on his film and you see a really excellent football player. He separates at the breakpoint of intermediate and deep routes with ease, has excellent hands in contested situations and can move across the formation.
In my opinion, he’d be best deployed as a multi-position WR2 across from a true gravity-shifting No. 1. Think of the role that Jordan Addison holds for the Minnesota Vikings. A popular spot for him in mock drafts fits the bill perfectly:
Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
Widely considered the runaway top non-Hunter wide receiver in this class for most of the 2024 season, there’s been a break in consensus with Tetairoa “T-Mac” McMillan as the draft process has gone on.
Some still hold fast that he’s a top-10 prospect, while others have found holes to pick in his game. I come down somewhere in the middle and still view him as a clear first-round-grade wideout.
McMillan separates at a higher level than you think, especially on in-breaking patterns. While he fits the X-receiver prototype, I believe he can move around the formation and play multiple spots. Overall, I really like his game and believe he could be a fringe No. 1 wide receiver in the league.
Luther Burden III, Missouri
Luther Burden III is the most difficult evaluation in this wide receiver class. If you just grade to the flashes, he looks like the best prospect of the bunch, but there’s much more to projecting a player than that part of the process.
Burden was primarily used in a Mickey Mouse gadget role in college but flashes the ability to run real-deal routes and beat man coverage. But they were just flashes because of the role. However, unlike a prospect like Treylon Burks from 2022 who played in a similar role, you can actually find those reps on film. However, there were some low moments for Burden and his feel for zone coverage down the field left me wanting.
At worst, I think he’ll be an asset with the ball in his hands. He’s bigger and more powerful than you think in the open field. If his next team’s wide receiver coach really dials in on him and expands his deployment, I can see a diet version of Malik Nabers in his game. If he doesn’t take on the work to improve, then he could end up a mercurial “created touches” player who struggles to find a regular spot in the target pecking order.
Day 2 options
Jaylin Noel, Iowa State
Jaylin Noel is the guy I will have ranked higher than consensus. There’s just so much to love about his game.
Noel is a vertical slot presence who has the man-coverage ability to hang as an outside option in two-receiver sets. These types of players almost always stick in the league and prove to be useful options. I’d love to see Noel land in an offense with an aggressive passer who will push it downfield. In addition to his separation skills, he’s better than most players with his frame at winning contested catches.
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
Ayomanor is still a work in progress as a route-runner but does have some nice flashes against man coverage. His release from the line does need work and his feel for zone coverage is lacking. Worse yet, he is a mess in contested situations and is haunted by drops. If he cleans those up, he has the blocking ability and rugged approach to the game that could make him a coach’s favorite. He reminds me of Romeo Doubs.
Kyle Williams, Washington State
Kyle Williams has been something of a late riser in the NFL Draft process and I think — if you follow me down this rabbit hole I took on Football 301 — I know why:
Williams is just a good football player. He doesn’t have the size that most evaluators typically crave but he runs precise routes, beats press and makes plays as a run-after-catch threat. Pretty cool-sounding player! If Williams goes to a wide-open depth chart, I wouldn’t rule out that he contributes early and his role expands throughout his rookie year.
Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
Higgins has some big fans in the draft analyst space. I’m a little more mixed on him. He has excellent size and catches almost every accurate pass thrown his way when he isn’t covered. However, he gets stuck at the top of his routes against man coverage far too often to be a high-volume X-receiver and doesn’t take full advantage of his wingspan at the catch point. Someone has got to get him to work on fully extending his arms; I don’t need to see them at a right angle ever again.
Higgins is the exact type of big receiver I’d love to see move into the slot. The power slot archetype has been a godsend for other collegiate receivers who don’t separate. If Higgins’ next coaching staff wants to deploy him that way, I’m interested. If they disagree, I’ll be a bit bearish.
Tre Harris, Ole Miss
Harris comes from an offense at Ole Miss that only asked him to run three routes — the nine, slant and screen — at high volume. He is a straight-line X-receiver through and through.
That archetype is littered with misses but when it hits, it hits big … think DK Metcalf in 2019. Even a guy like Alec Pierce has proven to be a useful player with the Colts. Harris has the movement skills and flashes some route savvy that makes me want to bet on him as a Round 2 receiver.
Jack Bech, TCU
Jack Bech is one of “my guys” in this wide receiver class:
While he doesn’t have the long speed to be a full-time No. 1 X-receiver in the league, he can do just about everything else. He separates at a dominant level at the short and intermediate parts of the field, catches everything and breaks tackles after the catch. If he goes to a team with a play-caller of the McVay tree, I’ll be all-in. He fits their type of receiver so well.
Jalen Royals, Utah State
Jalen Royals came from a stripped-down offense at Utah State and didn’t face stiff competition. He ran slants or curls on 54% of the routes I charted for Reception Perception and only lined up on one side of the field.
Players with this usage typically need multiple years of development or serious role-catering in the NFL. Rashee Rice is an example of a player who carried many of these red flags, and has almost the exact same build and an identical 10-yard split (93rd percentile) to Royals, but got the role catering he needed in KC as a run-after-catch big slot. If Royals’ pro team has a great vision for him, I’ll keep an eye on him as a rookie.
Tory Horton, Colorado State
Horton is my favorite sleeper prospect in this class. I think he’s going to go much higher than people think. My guess is he leaves the board before Day 2 ends, as most teams feel good about the injury that ended his 2024 season.
Horton is a smooth operator at the line of scrimmage who beats press coverage. He works well on in-breaking routes and can pick up yards after the catch with his long strides. You also get plenty of moments where he plucks the football in tight coverage. His route running is a plus.
You should be thrilled if your team calls his name in Round 3 and I’d bet he climbs a depth chart sooner than later.
Other names to watch
Isaiah Bond, Texas
He has legit on-field speed that some teams will find extremely tantalizing. However, a disappointing final collegiate campaign, hit-or-miss technique as a route runner and serious off-field concerns will likely push him deep into Day 3.
Xavier Restrepo, Miami
An ultra-productive receiver for Cam Ward last year, the pre-draft process has not been kind to Xavier Restrepo. He’s dealt with injuries and turned in a disastrous 4.85 40-yard dash at his pro day. That may have also been impacted by a hamstring issue but he’s just not much of an athletic tester. However, given his skills as a slot receiver, I can see him fitting into a room and, maybe in the right system, turning in a popgun 80-catch season at some point.
Tai Felton, Maryland
I liked Felton’s tape for what he did against zone coverage and in the open field. However, he has some shaky moments with drops and whiffs in contested situations. There are enough skills here to eventually carve out a role as a speed-based WR3 and he brings value as a possible kick returner.
Tez Johnson, Oregon
Johnson has a great sense for zone coverage but doesn’t bring the on-field speed or press coverage chops as the last small receiver to outkick his draft capital in Tank Dell. I’m rooting for Johnson but I didn’t see standout traits.
Elijah Badger, Florida
Badger beats man coverage and works well in the intermediate area. He’s an interesting sleeper at the X-receiver spot who got more YAC chances and thrived with them at Arizona State before transferring to Florida.
Isaac TeSlaa, Arkansas
While TeSlaa had very little production at Arkansas after dominating at Hillsdale College, he is a freakshow of an athlete. That has me intrigued.
Additionally, I found his movement skills translated to the film and he was tough at the catch point. He’ll go quite late in the draft but if I was a wide receiver’s coach, I’d want to develop this guy while he stars as a special-teamer for the club.
Andrew Armstrong, Arkansas
Armstrong was actually the productive man at Arkansas. He lined up almost exclusively at X-receiver and has good ball skills. He does need to clean up some footwork issues as a route-runner but there’s something here. Armstrong will also turn 25 as a rookie.
Continue reading...
