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Sammy Watkins- Where to begin… He is easily the fastest receiver in this draft, but he’s more than just a deep threat. He is quick and can create extra yards after the catch with the best of them—he was used on a lot on bubble screens and end-arounds for this reason. He is an excellent punt/kick returner. If he catches the ball in the open field, it suddenly becomes like a punt return for him—he is capable of turning just about any open reception into a TD.  He has quick hands for catching quick slants and stuff like that, and he is instinctive about catching balls with his hands, not with his body. His hands are reliable for the most part; I would even say his hands, strictly speaking, are great, but he’ll have concentration drops from time to time, which gives him a slightly better than average drop rate of about 6%. He’s got the over-the-shoulder catch down to a science, since running verticals and screens was just about all he did as a rookie. He will have to actually learn to run more than the vertical and bubble screen at the pro level. He didn’t have to do any complicated route running in college, but he can learn that in the pros, it’ll just take time. He’s not the most physical WR on the field (despite his final collegiate game vs OSU, which was surprisingly physical). He’s not going to outmuscle and box-out a DB on a quick slant, or be the best at fighting for a jump ball, but he shouldn’t need to do that. His value comes in being able to get wide open and blow the top off the defense. I would compare him to a faster version of Torrey Smith when talking about a deep threat, or Percy Harvin when talking about his ability to create YAC. He’ll be a top-9 pick, and deservingly so.

Marqise Lee- I’m only putting Lee here with the caveat that if he stays healthy in the pros, he’ll have a great career. He has dealt with nagging knee injuries, which has kept him limited and made him miss some games this recent year. Lee isn’t a tall or muscular WR (6’0,” 195lbs), if these issues develop into a chronic problem, RIP career. But I digress… Lee is like Watkins in a lot of ways: they’re both track stars, they’ve both got excellent return skills, they’ve both got pretty good hands, they can make any catch, and they’re both great at getting YAC. Where Lee is better than Watkins is his ability to run great routes, juke his defenders, and conceal with his body language when a pass is coming by not tipping off the DB until it’s too late. He is a 100% NFL ready WR because he already knows all of the little things that Watkins will learn in the NFL, having played the last 3 years in Lane Kiffin’s pro-style west coast offense. If injuries and poor QB play hadn’t derailed his season, he’d be up there with Watkins, however Lee chose to stay in school another year, which bumped him down from being a top-10 pick in 2013 to a top-25 pick in 2014.

Mike Evans- Six and a half foot tall monster, he’s basically Gronk playing WR. He can jump and fight for a contested catch, and he is incredibly difficult to bring down after a catch. He has average speed, runs alright routes, but isn’t going to juke a defender with his quickness. He doesn’t have a quick first step, but few big men do. He also doesn’t have the quickest hands. A&M had him running a lot of slant routes, but it didn’t seem to be his forte, he dropped a few passes doing that because he doesn’t have quick hands. He is best when catching a sideline pass, a deep jump ball, or a corner fade in the endzone. A lot of his production came when Manziel extended plays with his feet, so he knows about coming back to the ball to beat his DB to a contested catch. If Evans could learn some tricks to gain better separation, he could develop into the next Vjax (a clichéd comparison at this point, but there is no better comparison). I really like Evans going to Detroit to be paired up with Megatron, since then he won’t need to be a #1 WR. I mention this because Evans’ production fell off at the end of the year once he started facing constant double coverage. He’ll be a top 17 pick, which is what he deserves.

Jared Abbrederis- This is where I’m going to lose all credibility, but I don’t care, I’ve watched too much of Abbrederis to not love what he does. Let’s begin by pointing out that Abbredris started out as a walk-on for Wisconsin. He switched from QB to WR, which I think helped him develop into a great WR because he knows what works and what doesn’t from throwing to other WRs. He has been a reliable WR during his time at Wisconsin, hasn’t dealt with injuries, and he has put up a consistent ~900yds/7 TDs per year over the past 3 years. This may sound pedestrian, but it’s necessary to point out that Wisconsin is built on the run, and they have a terrible QB situation (1 year of Wilson excluded), not unlike Georgia Tech, which still manages to churn out talented WRs (not that I’m saying Abbrederis is the next Megatron/D.Thomas). Wisconsin QB Joel Stave is a joke, and I’m not sure why a consistently-ranked institution like Wisconsin can’t recruit even a mediocre QB, but at least Stave’s inability to throw an accurate pass has polished Abbrederis’ ability to dive for difficult balls and catch away from his body—he has a fantastic catch radius, he’ll catch anything. Abbrederis can also fight for contested catches, positioning himself in the best possible place to beat the defender to the ball. However, the beauty of Abbredris is that he doesn’t have to always fight for a contested catch. Abbrederis has amazing first-step quickness, and a full toolbox of stutter steps and juke moves to fake out his defender. He also has good straight-line speed, but he’s not a track star like Watkins/Lee. His drawbacks are that he neither tall (6’1”) nor muscular. Scouts supposedly took notice of his lack of muscle definition at the Senior Bowl. However, Abbrederis is NFL ready. He may not have the highest ceiling, but he is going to be a very solid and reliable WR for the next 10+ years if he gets his opportunity. As it stands now, in this stacked draft class for WRs, Abbrederis is projected to be a 3rd round pick, but he will be an absolute steal if he falls that low. I’d take him in the 2nd.

Kelvin Benjamin- Oh how I wish Benjamin would have stayed in school one more year. He’s making the right choice though: get in now & get paid if you think you can be a first round pick; you never know if/when you’ll get injured. That being said, Benjamin had a proven QB in Jameis Winston guaranteed to be throwing to him next year, so the potential to grow and become a top 10 or even top 5 pick next year was a possibility, but I digress… Benjamin has a good mix of speed and height (he’s around 6’6”). He doesn’t have good first-step quickness, in fact I’d say he’s pretty slow off the line, but he can rev up eventually, making him a good deep threat. Being big, he can jump and fight for the ball like Mike Evans, but he doesn’t have the same physicality that I see in Evans—Benjamin could stand to put on some muscle in this regard. Benjamin is also pretty raw when it comes to… well everything really. He only has one really good year under his belt as an every-down WR. Before this year, he was mostly a 3rd down/redzone threat. Benjamin needs to learn how to run good routes, consistently run the correct routes, and cut down on his drops. Benjamin will probably light up the combine (which is only a couple weeks away), and cement himself as a first round pick on potential alone, however there is still a lot of risk involved with Benjamin. He could very well be an elite football player a few years from now, or he could just be a physical beast/workout hero like Stephen Hill was a couple years back. It’s really hard to rank Benjamin because of the aura of mystery surrounding him.

Davante Adams- Adams didn’t play against much elite competition playing in the MWC, which leads to two concerns: 1) you don’t know how he’s going to play against tougher competition, and 2) there isn’t a whole lot of complete game footage of his games on youtube . Here is what I did see from Adams: a big WR with some speed, shiftiness, and ability to fight for good yards after the catch. Adams is going to measure in at 6’2 or 3,” and it shows because he was noticeably bigger than whoever was matched up against him in his games. Instinctively I want to say that he was physical at the catch, but he didn’t really outmuscle smaller DBs for the ball like I would expect—he wasn’t soft either though, just no Anquan Boldin. His best attribute was being physical after the catch and fighting for extra yards, or positioning himself to make the best play on the ball when covered. His signature catch was the fade route, since he could time it perfectly /w David Carr (when Carr was on-target), using his height and soft yet strong hands to just drop it in there perfectly, and toe-tap on his way out when needed—great body/field awareness. He could also beat you deep, as seen vs USC in their bowl game, and he was actually open quite often just running verticals, but Carr often failed to get him the ball due to his accuracy woes. Another thing I liked was that Adams doesn’t tip off DBs with his eyes; he would just turn his head last second before the ball gets there and make the catch. Adams has some good quickness to separate from defenders, but doesn’t have good top-end speed. I really think Adams made Carr look good, and not the other way around. A lot of Carr’s yardage came on the ground after his WRs caught the ball on quick outs—Adams was a big generator of YAC. I’d spend a 2nd on Adams.

Odell Beckham Jr- Beckham needs some time to develop, but the talent is certainly there. He had a major impact as a return man at LSU, a skill that carries over to the offensive side of the ball when he catches a pass in open space. He has a good mix of speed and quickness, he can juke his defenders, and he is great at finding the open spaces in the defense once he has the ball to optimize his yards after the catch. He is also good at tracking down and adjusting to the ball and makes catches with his hands. He isn’t tall (6’0), he isn’t strong, and he isn’t a burner, but he has a good amount of athleticism to work with. He needs to improve his consistency though, namely his mental mistakes like dropped passes and wrong routes. You could also say Beckham benefited from playing across from Jarvis Landy (more on him later), but Beckham strikes me as a guy who will be a very good #2 WR after a few years in the NFL. A solid 2nd round pick.

Jordan Matthews- Matthews is a very solid receiver. He is physical with other DBs, mainly because he has to be—he doesn’t get much separation. He’s not going to juke a guy out too much, but he usually gets just enough separation to get open for an easy catch. You can depend on him to run a good route, catch the ball, and get you a few tough yards after the catch. He’s big and strong (projected at 6’3”), has strong reliable hands, a good catch radius, adjusts well to the ball, and is probably faster than I’m making him out to be. He really can make any catch on the field: a quick slant with a DB in his face, or a deep vertical with a DB on his back. He has some potential to get good YAC, but it’s not his strongest attribute, he’ll get caught from behind in the pros if he tries to break one deep. I like to compare him to Colston, although Boldin comparisons are more popular. He’d be a solid 2nd round pick.

Devin Street- Since I’ve already ruined my reputation by putting Abbrderis in my top 5, let me further go out on a limb myself by putting the lesser-known Devin Street in my top 10.  Like Abbrederis, Street has been a consistent contributor who has put up solid numbers throughout his career despite shaky QB play: ~850yds/5 tds per year the past 3 years. The only thing Street lacks to be elite is speed. Street is slow for a WR, there’s no getting around it, but he is reliable in absolutely every other way: good route runner, reliable strong hands, fights for the ball, creates just enough space to catch balls cleanly. I would compare him to Marques Colston (Like Colston, Street is around 6’4”), a guy who doesn’t take the top off a defense, but who makes reliable catches and moves the chains when you need a critical 3rd down. He’s currently projected as a 5th-6th round selection, but if he runs a good 40 at the combine, he’ll shoot on up. He’d be a good 2nd or early 3rd round pick imo.

Brandin Cooks- A poor man’s Tavon Austin, Cooks is an exciting player to watch for all of the same reasons as Austin. He’s elusive, quick, fast, and can break any catch deep. He doesn’t let his speed ruin his patience though; he will let a play develop, let blockers get in place on a bubble screen or any catch with blockers ahead, or if he’s returning a punt/kick. Cooks will also engage in blocks pretty well on his own for a guy who is kind of light and small in the 5’10” range. He’s got a pretty good stutter step and juke move that lets him break tackles pretty easily. He’s your ideal quick little slot receiver, and could make for a solid 3rd round pick, since not every team wants a little slot receiver.

Paul Richardson- An exciting player to watch, Richardson has a wide catch radius, diving for balls away from his body, jumping for contested catches, and making good hand catches. He needs to improve upon his over the shoulder catch, since he dropped a few of them. He plays strong, makes good catches across the middle, has strong hands, and good awareness to keep his feet in-bounds along the sideline. He has a nice stutter step to get open pretty reliably. He has slightly above average speed and good quickness, average height (6’1” supposedly), but he plays bigger than he is. He was open deep a lot deep, and seemed to run a lot of go-routes, a testament to his ability to get separation. He lost a year to a torn ACL, but he came back in 2013 to have a pretty good year. Would be a good 3rd to 4th rounder imo. 

Allen Robinson- I am just not buying into the Allen Robinson hype. Robinson has slightly above average speed, average quickness for a big man, good height (6’3”), some good ability to create YAC, and some good fight for gaining tough extra yards. He also has good vision to see where to run to maximize his YAC. However, Robinson often received passes designed to gain YAC (bubble screens, quick passes etc), and received some good blocking to get it. Robinson is also an instinctive body catcher, his catch radius is rather small compared to other receivers who catch with their hands. Robinson is decent at catching in traffic and jumping for the ball, but don’t expect him to do too well catching away from his body. I’ve seen him ranked just above Jordan Matthews as a 2nd rounder, but he is going to disappoint if he’s drafted that high. He’d be a solid late 3rd to 4th round pick.

Jarvis Landry- What I notice about Landry is that he makes everyone around him better. He runs reliable routes, finds open space in zone defense, has strong hands, fights for the ball, and throws good blocks (an underrated aspect, but he always looks to block). He doesn’t have good speed, he doesn’t have an outstanding catch radius, and he’s only 6ft tall, but he does have good strength and is just solid all around. If he could adjust to the ball better I’d feel fine comparing him to Boldin or Keenan Allen, but he’ll probably still be a decent depth WR/special teamer. Some mock drafters have him rated pretty highly, but I only see late 3rd to 4th round value here, especially in this draft class. His combine could change my perception of him though.

Michael Campanaro- Your prototypical little white slot receiver… EXCEPT Campanaro needs to refine his route running. Campanaro was used to free-wheeling it and just finding the soft spots in the zones with stop routes, sitting at the LOS as an outlet receiver, or running jet sweeps and end-arounds. He still has decent speed, elusiveness, and hands. Compare him to your usual Welker, Edelman, Stokley etc. He can return punts too. He’ll be a good early 6th round pick, since not every team needs a little slot receiver.