Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft is in the books, but for dynasty fantasy football league managers, Day 2 should bring a ton of action to watch. There are a ton of high dynasty rookie draft picks that will hear their names called during Round 2 and Round 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft. Let’s take a look at a few of the big names left on the board. Thor Nystrom helps by providing his NFL Draft preview, rankings, and player comps for each of the top skill position players remaining.
- Thor Nystrom’s Best Remaining Day 2 Prospects
- NFL Draft Day 1 Winners & Losers
- Round 1 NFL Draft Picks: Dynasty Rookie Draft Outlook
- Dynasty Rookies: Best Remaining Day 2 Picks & Predictions
- Dynasty Rookie Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
Round 2 & Round 3 Dynasty Rookies Picks & Predictions
Here are the top skill position players remaining entering Day 2. Thor Nystrom provides his 2023 NFL Draft outlook, rankings, and player comps for each dynasty rookie prospect.
Quarterbacks
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 15
- Positional Ranking: QB4
- Player Comp: Carson Wentz
Strengths
Live-wire player in every sense. Big, strapping, athletic quarterback with an enormous right arm. That arm has flashes of crazy talent. Has throws on tape where his feet aren’t set that’ll drop your jaw. Levis’ deep balls are gorgeous. The ball comes out of his hands with smoke rings when he’s trying to drive it through a window. Strong accuracy when his mechanics are sound.
Levis has the ability to tuck a ball perfectly between two defensive backs more than 20 yards downfield. Those throws where the placement matches the arm it took to get it there are why the NFL is excited about him. No wasted motion on the release — gets it out quickly. Extremely tough kid. Played through multiple nagging injuries last year. Admirable guts in the pocket. Stands tall as long as possible and is willing to take the shot to uncork a ball. Above-average athleticism for his size. Rushing element of his game waned last year, likely due to injuries, but Levis should be expected to leave the pocket more in the NFL. Experienced at full-field reads after playing in a pro-style system under former Rams OC Liam Coen.
Weaknesses
Doesn’t sense pressure. Saw him get crash-test-dummied numerous times in the pocket. Levis doesn’t manipulate the pocket well enough to wear blinders in it — danger can reach the front door quickly and unexpectedly, and Levis doesn’t tend to acquit himself well once it does. Maddening bouts of inaccuracy on account of mechanical haphazardness. When Levis’ base is set, and he marries his upper half to it, the ball tends to go exactly where he wants it to.
Levis has less work to do on his mechanics than Richardson — physically speaking. But there are two complicating factors: Levis tends to totally forget his mechanics under duress, and Levis is far less comfortable and accurate throwing left than right due to the truncated follow-through on his compact motion in that direction. He is also far more nonchalant in clean pockets with his technique than you’d like — he’s like a center fielder who will attempt to randomly bucket-catch three fly balls per game. This explains random bouts of inaccuracy, even on layup throws.
He’s athletic, but it’s north-south athleticism. Not the runner his tall-tale Josh Allen comps would have you think. He’s an upright, straightforward target in the open field, leading to big collisions. In the NFL, he’s going to have to learn to surrender, or he’s going to get hurt — especially because I worry he’s going to be taking damage in the pocket, at least initially. Noticed on film a penchant for throwing hospital balls that I didn’t note with the other quarterbacks in my top four, leading receivers directly into descending defensive backs.
Lacks throwing nuance — a hammer that sees only nails. Flashes of touch don’t come through nearly often enough, though we know he’s capable of them. Took a huge step backward last season after losing a lot of his supporting cast. Not only did he stop running, but roughly one-quarter of his passes were behind the line of scrimmage.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 65
- Positional Ranking: QB5
- Player Comp: Jordan Love
Strengths
Fun combo of dual-threat utility and deep-ball acumen. Love the way he attacks downfield. When he’s got the look he wants, Hooker confidently lets it fly and typically drops a catchable ball on the hands. Legitimate running threat when he takes off. Makes good use of mobility in pocket. Hard target to hit flush – makes defenders miss in close quarters. As a scrambler, does a good job maintaining throwing threat until the moment he crosses the line of scrimmage, delaying the downhill trigger of coverage defenders. Astute at sensing pressure and working away from it while continuing to hunt downfield. Works with good timing — a trait needed in the Vols’ system.
Hooker rarely missed his window of opportunity to fire the ball in. Studious learner who improved every year in college. Mechanics have come a long way. He is very cognizant of his base when throwing — diligence that led to improved accuracy throughout his career. Appreciate how he keeps the ball out of harm’s way while providing a big-play threat. Hooker’s 58/5 TD/INT rate over the past two years is a testament to that.
Weaknesses
Hooker’s torn ACL from November needs the okay from your medical staff — and could delay the start of his rookie year. Which is unfortunate because he’s old for a prospect. Hooker, a sixth-year senior, will be 26 at the end of his rookie season. Late breakout in college. Didn’t scare anyone with his arm at Virginia Tech. Light came on after transfer to Knoxville. But that was under ideal circumstances. So much of Hooker’s production comes from the scheme. Josh Heupel is one of the sport’s best play-callers.
The Vols’ scheme cleaved the field in half for Hooker. Boy was Hooker confident reading his half of the field — but you just so very rarely see his head move from one side of the field to the other. The plays you’d see him go to the other side felt schemed – stacking receivers on one side of the alignment to create eye-candy confusion, feigning interest in that direction post-snap for a beat before hard-resetting to the other side of the field for the actual first-read.
How he’ll do with full-field reads in a pro-style offense at the next level is an open question. While Hooker senses pressure well and prevents defenders from crashing down on him early when he intends to leave the pocket, he’s strangely very little threat to actually throw while moving. Per PFF, Hooker completed only seven passes over 151 dropbacks the past two years when moved off his spot. NFL scouting reports will zero in on that tendency.
Running Backs
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 43
- Positional Ranking: RB2
- Player Comp: Todd Gurley
Strengths
Play style that has an answer for most questions. Charbonnet is a muscular north-south thumper with a twist. His movement skills and long speed sneak up on defenders.
Charbonnet’s a handful between-the-tackles. I appreciate his vision and patience, and his ethos of taking at least what the defense gives him – sometimes much more. Charbonnet is so dang clever in cramped quarters. He sets up and then shakes defenders in the hole with a one-cut-then-punch-it ethos.
He’s always attempting to get defenders to over-commit in the beats before contact, and he has a deep bag of tricks to evade them once they do. Charbonnet’s movement in short quarters creates off-angle shots he runs through – his contact balance is outstanding.
Per PFF, Charbonnet ranked No. 3 with 122 forced missed tackles since 2021. He was also top-20 in the nation in elusive rating. Defenders descending upon him in the second and third levels have to be very cognizant of the nasty stiff-arm Charbonnet deploys.
Surprisingly reliable receiver for a back of his ilk. His hands are very reliable. Over 90 collegiate targets, Charbonnet had only five drops. He’s a taller back with long arms – the catch radius is atypically large for a running back, and he’s reliable with anything you can drop into that net.
Once he corrals the ball, Charbonnet’s a handful to wrestle down chugging upfield. He averaged over 10 yards after catch (YAC) last year, and posted a career mark of 9.1. Charbonnet ranked No. 13 last season in PFF receiving grade among all qualifying FBS running backs.
Weaknesses
Charbonnet is more of a secondary/checkdown option in the passing game at this time than a featured weapon. He will run routes if you ask him, but didn’t create a ton of separation doing so. I think Charbonnet has untapped potential in this phase – but for now, he’s a reliable safety blanket with YAC utility.
I love how diverse Charbonnet is as a runner. But his upright style gives defenders a lot of surface area to hit when he doesn’t beat them with movement. Charbonnet gets lower when he has the ball around the line of scrimmage, but his running style stretches him out when he gets into space.
I’ve mentioned areas where Charbonnet is underrated. One area where I think he’s overrated is in pass-pro. You will see instances of Charbonnet laying the wood to a blitzing linebacker coming through a gap. But those occurrences left you wanting more on his other reps.
The last two years, UCLA only kept Charbonnet in to block on 55 passing snaps. He allowed six pressures and three quarterback hits in those reps. His 44.5 and 33.5 PFF pass-blocking grades over those two campaigns, respectively, greatly underwhelmed. To be fair: Small sample size, and definitely not an aspect of his game that the Bruins prioritized.
Lastly – and this one is nitpicky – while Charbonnet has good speed (4.53), he needs to build up to it. Last year, he ranked No. 11 in breakaway yard percentage. But you wonder if that part of his game will be accessed as easily at the next level.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 66
- Positional Ranking: RB4
- Player Comp: Travis Etienne
Strengths
I’ve been a fan of his for years – when he flashes, hide your eyes or you’ll temporarily lose your vision. This past year, those flashes turned into consistent production.
Spears has been one of the biggest draft-process winners this cycle so far. NFL executives & scouts named Spears the Senior Bowl Practice Player-of-Week. Spears then impressed at both the NFL Combine and his pro day workout.
He has one-by-one addressed the questions on his eval coming in, turning some into myths – he weighed into the Senior Bowl at 204. Spears, who was listed this past season at 195 pounds, told us in Mobile that he played the bowl game against USC at 197 pounds. Spears said he put on the extra seven pounds over the past four weeks in training. Don’t be surprised if he shows up to Indianapolis closer to 210 – the NFL’s size-threshold for running backs.
Just as important: Spears didn’t lose any of his movement skills at the bigger size. He was easily the most explosive back in Mobile – explosion is his trump card. And it’ll play at the next level.
And after not being used much as a receiver at Tulane, Spears showed easy pass-catching chops at the Senior Bowl, with soft and reliable hands and route-running chops nobody gave him credit for. It appears his sparse work in that area previously may have just been a college usage thing.
With running backs, there’s a natural element to the best ones. An innate ability. Something that cannot be taught, something they couldn’t explain after the fact if they tried. Poetry in motion. You know it when you see it. Spears has that.
He’s eyes-in-his-ear-holes instinctive hurtling down the field at high speeds. He makes the correct decisions at high speeds like a NASCAR driver. He consistently turns defenders into Keystone Cops in the open field. I can’t tell you how many times last season I saw him leave an open-field defender on the ground who didn’t come close to getting a finger on him.
Tyjae Spears plays his position like a boxer. A jab is not a jab – it is setting up the hook, or an upper-cut. And it’s not just on any given run. Watch any of his games start-to-finish from last year. Notice how he’ll offer certain looks early. And then use the doubt introduced into the defender’s head to set up his next open-field subterfuge.
Spears does not slow down as the game progresses. But his opponents do, and they additionally become progressively more unsure of their decisions against him in space. Their feet tend to get stuck to the turf or tied into knots as Spears introduces his newest Guitar Hero flurry.
Weaknesses
Spears tore an ACL in 2020, raising durability concerns.
His NFL playing weight will likely be in the low-200s. Since Spears was never a three-down back at Tulane, the question becomes whether he can become one in the NFL. His franchise may elect to put him on a pitch count with usage by doing as Tulane did and taking him off the field on passing-downs.
The receiving element that Spears showed during the pre-draft process was not as apparent on film. Spears was dangerous after reeling the ball in, but dropped four balls the last two years on 43 targets despite a -0.6 aDOT.
And for a sub-threshold back, we aren’t sure if Spears will offer anything on special teams. This is another phase he wasn’t used in at Tulane. Spears took only 18 special teams snaps for the Green Wave over his three-year career.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 70
- Positional Ranking: RB5
- Player Comp: Jahvid Best
Strengths
Defense is aware of Achane at all times. Devastating, game-breaking speed requires it to be. Achane takes the corner almost at will. So very dangerous when he turns upfield and hits the jets. Angles get erased one-by-one.
Achane was underutilized by A&M as a receiver. But in instances where the Aggies would motion Achane out wide or into the slot, defenders would wildly gesticulate in his direction. All 11 defenders know that if Achane has the ball in space, there’s a chance they’ll all be rendered helpless by his speed – so he garnered as much attention and care as any runner his size who has entered the NFL over the past five years.
Underrated receiver. Soft hands. Too often, when used in this phase, Achane was the last-resort checkdown, and he rarely got the ball in advantageous situations to show off his movement post-catch. Multiple instances on film of poorly-thrown balls to him even as a checkdown – A&M’s quarterback play the last few years was bad.
Achane is an odd smaller back in that he doesn’t dance around much. We’ll return to this below, as it’s both a strength and a weakness – but the part of it that I like is that Achane is an arrow that is generally always pointed upfield with his gas on the pedal.
This is not a throwaway tendency: Small backs that dance can have a tendency to leave yards on the field if not equipped with elite movement. Big thumper backs get the “always falling forward” moniker – Achane is a small back who shares in common the ethos of getting upfield.
This allows him to both steal excess yards given to him, but also get started hurdling downfield quicker and more suddenly than most backs of this ilk. When Achane shakes a guy in closer quarters, it’s usually via one-cut – getting a downhill defender over-leveraged in one direction and using his momentum against him. He has the hammer of his acceleration and deceleration to-and-from top speed.
Will be an awesome return man on special teams from Day 1 – born to do this.
Weaknesses
Achane weighed into the NFL Combine at 188 pounds, but he’ll likely play around 185.
He’s not a good blocker, in large part due to the lack of play strength. There are instances on film of Achane squaring up blitzers and impeding their process in pass-pro, but never for long – generally he’s a speed-bump.
On play fakes when Achane finds himself in space with the opportunity to block a linebacker or defensive back, he’s generally going through the motions if the play design is the other way. He knows he doesn’t have the muscle to take care of larger defenders, and I think he also knows that his frame can only sustain so much contact each game before his special-sauce movement begins to depreciate.
Returning to Achane’s lack of interest in shaking defenders out of their shoes. He doesn’t have a deep bag of tricks to shake defenders. So when defenders get an angle on him and get on his doorstep, they can get him to the ground without help. Achane isn’t running through arm tackles if he isn’t at top speed.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 87
- Positional Ranking: RB6
- Player Comp: Travis Etienne
Bigsby checked into the NFL Combine at 6’0/210 after being listed at 213 by Auburn. he assuredly lost some weight for the event, and has the frame to bulk up to 220.
He was in a terrible situation at Auburn – former HC Bryan Harsin, embroiled in controversy, was fired mid-season last year – but stuck it out and flashed NFL-caliber RB1 skills over his three years as RB1. Succeeded despite being a marked-man behind that shoddy offensive line. Auburn’s awful offensive line last year ranked No. 93 in PFF run-blocking. Despite this, Bigsby posted an elite 90.4 PFF run grade.
This is because of Bigsby’s plus-plus combination of vision, instincts, lateral agility, and contact balance. He is a fabulous inside runner who takes what is given when it’s there, or creates off-script in instances of immediate penetration. Bigsby can make the first man miss in a phone booth, run through arm tackles, and find an escape hatch by jutting laterally off a violent cut. Super-sudden direction changes off those cuts.
He’s not a dancer. Upfield ethos. Varies tempo. I believe his game will play up behind a strong offensive line due to his vision. Not only runs through soft contact, but doesn’t get knocked backwards by hard contact – he’s taking the extra yards each run by falling forward. Underrated fighter in this aspect. Love the early-down utility – Bigsby’s keep-the-offense-on-schedule skillset will translate.
The big question here is Bigsby’s hands. He had eight drops for a non-ideal 11.6% drop rate on catchable balls at Auburn despite an aDOT of -1.7. And while Bigsby improved as a pass-blocker last season – into the “adequate” range – he mightily struggled in this phase over his first two seasons.
It’s entirely possible that Bigsby will never be much of a receiver. If so, he simply must improve in pass-pro. He has the skillset to do so. This, along with his strides in that area last year, give hope that further improvement is in the offing.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 112
- Positional Ranking: RB7
- Player Comp: Brian Robinson Jr.
Power runner with a versatile skillset. Former quarterback. Team player. Shifted to running back without complaint, despite being stuck behind Bijan Robinson at his new position, and then played on most of Texas’ special teams units.
Straightforward running style – takes what is blocked for him, might get you a bit more. A tall back, Johnson gets a good vantage point of the line of scrimmage, and he uses that for a full-spectrum shot of his options.
He’s a patient runner who lets his linemen do their jobs. Strong short-area burst for a big fella, hits the hole with authority. One-cut power back in the vein of my comp Brian Robinson. Johnson has the footwork to make over-leveraged defenders miss in the hole. He also has the power to put them on their back if they don’t bring their lunch pails.
Johnson is tricky when he gets into the second and third levels. Defensive backs want no part of a battering-ram scenario with him, so often they’ll go low and try to dive-bomb his knees. Johnson has an answer for that: Numerous times in college, he leap-frogged such defenders and kept trucking upfield. Reliable – only one career fumble. Johnson doesn’t have the wear-and-tear that other collegiate backs enter the NFL with due to his situation behind Bijan Robinson.
Johnson showed a little more as a receiver in 2022, but at this time, he’s only a dump-off and run-after-the-catch guy in that regard. Johnson’s real utility on passing downs is in pass-pro. He’ll throw his body around and drop a linebacker. What he lacks in explosion, Johnson makes up for in efficiency. He projects as a strong complementary back with added special teams utility.
Wide Receivers
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 48
- Positional Ranking: WR5
- Player Comp: Santonio Holmes
To this day, the all-time Texas prep leader in receiving yards. Mims flashed immediately at Oklahoma, posting a ridiculous 88.8 PFF grade as a true freshman. Greatness was expected. But over the last two years, his PFF grades fell under 76.0 each time. Mims’ draft evaluation hinges on whether you think that’s his fault, or Oklahoma’s fault.
So let’s explore the last two years of Sooners football. In 2021, QB Spencer Rattler imploded and was eventually benched for true freshman Caleb Williams, and HC Lincoln Riley had one foot out the door. In 2022, following Riley’s departure for USC (Williams left with him), the Sooners were a directionless 6-7 mess under new HC Brent Venables.
This is what I like about Marvin Mims: He was a star immediately for a guy who will go down as one of the best offensive coaches in college football history, he can win from anywhere in the alignment (45.5% slot, 53.8% outside in college), and he is a deep-ball assassin despite his size. Mims’ highlight reel of catches might be the best in this entire class. His body control is incredible, and his hands are ultra-reliable.
Get this: Despite having 36% or more of his usage coming on throws 20+ yards downfield all three seasons of his career — for a bloated career 16.7 aDOT — Mims dropped only seven balls on 177 career targets (5.4% drop rate).
Mims also averaged 19.0 yards per punt return in Norman. He projects as a plus return man at the next level. The risk in his profile comes from his small frame and lack of length in conjunction with his longball-heavy game in college.
In the NFL, Mims will be asked to win in the short and intermediate areas far more often than he was asked to do so at Oklahoma — how will he do with that? Agility does not seem to be a concern. He posted a 73rd-percentile 3-cone at the NFL Combine, and he can very clearly boogie on the field.
But Mims very clearly lacks play strength. And at Oklahoma, he got free releases plenty. In the NFL, he will be tested in this regard. Corners will play up and try to get their hands on him. Can Mims consistently release clean? Further, will being jarred along the route always be a fly in the ointment of his route-running machinations against bigger, stronger NFL corners?
I don’t believe Marvin Mims will be an NFL star. But it would be a surprise if he isn’t a starter for a long time. He’s too athletic and too skilled — he’s succeeded for too long — not to be.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 56
- Positional Ranking: WR6
- Player Comp: Courtland Sutton
The son of a former NFL receiver and brother of a former FBS receiver, and the product of a powerhouse high school (Bishop Gorman) and blueblood college (Tennessee), Cedric Tillman is being slept on this draft process. Let’s talk about why.
Tillman’s detractors say he’s a fifth-year entrant who was only good for a stretch of his fourth-year junior season. This is a statement that requires context. Between 2018-2020, Tillman’s first three years at Tennessee, the Volunteers were in the last three years of the doomed Jeremy Pruitt era.
The offense was rudderless, helmed by the much-maligned QB Jarrett Guarantano. While the quarterback play and play-calling left much to be desired, the Vols happened to be stocked in skill talent.
In those three years, the receiver rooms included Marquez Callaway, Jauan Jennings, Josh Palmer, and Velus Jones Jr. You can forgive Tillman for getting stuck behind four NFL receivers out of high school (and maybe even give Tillman credit for sticking it out?).
In 2021, the Josh Heupel era began. Heupel realized what he had in Tillman. During the meat of the schedule that year, Cedric Tillman dominated elite competition week in and week out. He continued this into the 2022 season — until he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 3.
If you combine the last seven games of 2021 with the first two of 2022 — nine games total — Tillman posted a 63-1,101-11 receiving line. That’s an average of seven catches for 122 yards and more than one TD per game.
Here’s who Tennessee played in those nine games: (2021) Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Purdue, Kentucky, and (2022) Pittsburgh. Strong competition. And Tillman wasn’t hiding. He was the clear WR1 alpha on the boundary.
Tillman battled back from that high-ankle sprain to have seven catches on eight targets against Georgia’s national-title-winning defense late in the 2022 season. Then he had nine catches against a South Carolina squad that finished the season on a heater.
Of his 101 catches between 2021-2022, 19 were contested. Tillman was insanely efficient on his force-fed targets, dropping a mere 4.4% of catchable career targets. During his breakout 2021 campaign, he posted a mind-melting 155.8 QB rating on his 86 targets.
Tillman is big, strong, long, springy, sure-handed, and north-south explosive. He comes with adequate speed for his size (4.54). He is a proven downfield home-run hitter against the best competition college football had to offer over the past two years.
He’s not the most elusive receiver, with mediocre agility. But his route breaks are crisper than he’s given credit for because of his attention to footwork and his plus body control. What I appreciate about Tillman is he knows his limitations, he works around them, and he’s tailored a game around maximizing his strengths.
I see a prototypical NFL WR2 — the downfield utility speaks for itself and will translate due to Tillman’s body control and ball skills in traffic, and he’ll provide more move-the-chains utility than he’s getting credit for. Will be had on a discount in April simply because of last year’s circumstantial high-ankle sprain.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 64
- Positional Ranking: WR7
- Player Comp: Sterling Shepard
Uber-productive slot with 195 receptions over the past two seasons. Competitive, feisty presence. Wins with movement. Super quick off the blocks with 4.4 wheels on the back end.
Downs wins your trust as a route runner. Consistent and reliable. Has a real knack for timing his break up with the quarterback’s drop. Downs has choppy feet, and the acceleration/deceleration of a SeaDoo. This gets him in and out of breaks lickity-split.
Downs was extremely reliable last year, dropping only three catchable balls on 116 targets. He’s also assuaged any concern about winning at his size in congested quarters, converting 13-of-18 contested-catch opportunities last year.
Downs is a specific kind of prospect, but he’s not a perfect one. He’s tiny, he’s confined to the slot (89% out of the slot), you can jam him off the line, and, for a slot, playing on the cardboard edges of the box, he’s a matador blocker. High-floor, moderate-ceiling prospect.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 80
- Positional Ranking: WR8
- Player Comp: John Brown
Pint-sized slot with lightning-in-a-bottle movement skills. Dell’s separation skills made him an unfair assignment in Senior Bowl practices. NFL teams will try to bully Dell off the line. If they can’t, they’re in a world of trouble.
Dell comes to the NFL as a proven killer at every sector of the collegiate field. Similar in size to Tutu Atwell, Dell is not the same player. At Louisville, Atwell was a two-trick pony. Atwell either caught a screen and tried to create, or he was running a fly route. Defenses weren’t scared of Atwell in the intermediate sector.
Dell’s game has much more nuance. He is not as straight-line fast, but he is more skilled, and the objectively superior route runner. In 2021, Dell posted a PFF receiving grade of 90+ at all four receiving depths.
Last season, the only one he failed to do so was behind the line of scrimmage. In two of Atwell’s three seasons on campus, he posted a 90+ grade at only one of four depths. The other season, his best, he did it in three of four.
Dell lit up the AAC for 228 receptions over the past three years. His jumbo production at Houston was no fluke. In two games against P5 teams this past season as a marked man on Houston’s offense, Dell posted a combined 13-196-1 receiving line.
In 2020, in two games against P5 teams and a third against Cincinnati’s CFP team that featured Sauce Gardner, Coby Bryant, and Bryan Cook in the secondary, Dell posted a cumulative 26-382-2 receiving line.
In summary, across those five games, Dell had 39 catches for 582 yards and three TDs. All five went to a bowl. All came in with one goal: Stop Tank Dell. They couldn’t.
NFL defensive backs will try to bully Dell. On reps they don’t have success, good luck.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 84
- Positional Ranking: WR9
- Player Comp: Braylon Edwards
Injury-prone former four-star recruit who flashed whenever he was on the field. Team leader who was voted captain. Premium mix of size, strength, movement, body control, and hands. But struggled to stay on the field due to injuries.
For a receiver his size, Wilson’s movement really stands out in person — multiple times at the Senior Bowl, Wilson elicited “ahhs” from the Senior Bowl crowd by shaking a smaller cornerback out of a violent route break.
This was a staple of Wilson’s Stanford film. Wilson flings throwing windows wide open for his quarterbacks in this way. Here’s an athleticism stat about Michael Wilson that’ll shock you: Of all the players at the Senior Bowl, regardless of position, only two finished top 15 in top-end speed and top five in deceleration. Trey Palmer (expected) and Michael Wilson (not so much). But this helps explain Wilson’s utter disregard for human life in route breaks.
It’s rare to see a receiver his size decelerate with that force and precision — and that’s not a throwaway receiver trait. That’s the guaranteed-to-shake-them trait. More proof of concept on that front. Wilson posted a 9.37 RAS. His profile is very quick and explosive, with a 97th-percentile 10-yard split and 84th-percentile vertical. But he’s a modest long-strider who ran a 4.58.
I love Wilson’s play style and physicality. He wants to bury cornerbacks when he’s run blocking. On special teams units, he’s hunting. We don’t want him to ever throttle down, but he does need to learn how to protect his body. Wilson only played in 14 games over the last three seasons due to a variety of nagging injuries.
My other nitpicks about Wilson may or may not be endemic. For instance, I thought his ball skills were better in Mobile than on tape. Then again, so much of Wilson’s career was shaking off rust, trying to kick an injury, and trying to reacclimate himself back in with teammates — is it possible his timing was a little off in some game reps?
Are a few of his drops (8.2% career drop rate) explained by this? He could also stand to work on his release package, which at this time is rather basic. He has the footwork and upper-body strength to not have to worry about press coverage, but he had reps in the Pac-12 where inferior corners were able to disrupt his route path early because he didn’t appear to have a plan out of the chute.
This type of thing is especially important for Wilson because, for all the beneath-the-surface gifts we’ve pointed out, he happens to have sub-20th-percentile arm length (31 inches), allowing aggressive press corners to get into his chest off the snap if he doesn’t beat them with his footwork and/or strength.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 86
- Positional Ranking: WR10
- Player Comp: Chase Claypool
Mingo soared up my board along with everybody else’s following a sensational pre-draft process.
He never equaled the sum of his parts at Ole Miss. But to be fair, his quarterback last year, Jaxson Dart, struggled to acclimate into the system and struggled accuracy and processing issues all season. This had the effect of leaving a ton of unrealized Mingo yards on the field.
Mingo started to open my eyes at the Senior Bowl. That week, I wrote: “Mingo’s route-running chops have been better than advertised. He’s a big, strapping receiver who is impossible to bump off his route plan. Mingo consistently wins the hand-fighting battle downfield, which can sometimes free him in space.”
I was surprised to see that technical aspect of his game up-close — but I still didn’t believe he was going to test well. Boy was I wrong. At 220 pounds, Mingo ran a 4.46, with broad and vertical jumps that both checked in 94th-percentile-or-better when adjusted for size.
Most of his collegiate experience comes on the outside, but some team may see him as a bully-ball slot guy. Last year, the Rebels gave Mingo 261 snaps in the slot.
With better quarterback play at the next level, Mingo’s game could take a jump. He profiles as a No. 2 receiver at the next level with the versatility to win inside or outside.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 90
- Positional Ranking: WR11
- Player Comp: DeVante Parker
Prolific collegiate receiver in a wonky offense. Perry is a true outside receiver with proven downfield chops and an enormous catch radius to go up and get it.
Among my top-20 receivers in this class, the average wingspan is a shade under 76″. Perry’s wingspan beats that by almost five inches, checking in at 6-foot-9. Perry and Quentin Johnston are the only two receivers amongst that top-20 with wingspans over 80″.
The concerns you have with Perry are that he labors to quickly change directions — his 46th-percentile short shuttle was easily his worth test — and is only so-so in contested situations, which he’ll see more of in the NFL. Perry also needs to cut his career 10.4% drop rate into the single-digits.
But he proved the concept with 152 catches, 2,396 yards and 26 TD the past two seasons, and ended up testing well overall this process, including a 4.47 forty.
He may need a year to acclimate into an NFL system, polish off his routes, and add a few more branches to that route tree. But I think he’ll develop into a No. 2 NFL possession receiver who can stretch the field when isolated against shorter corners who don’t have over-the-top help behind them.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 92
- Positional Ranking: WR12
- Player Comp: John Ross
Hyatt has been bandied-about as a top-40 prospect all process. Using that kind of pick on him would concern me.
He’s a one-trick pony and a one-year wonder. His trick is speed, and he ran a tenth of a second slower at the NFL Combine than his prop line at sports books.
His production came last year, and was mostly isolated to five games. Games where the competition was bad and/or Cedric Tillman was injured.
Those games: FCS Tennessee-Martin, Akron, Mizzou, Kentucky, and running by cement-footed, coverage-allergic Alabama SS DeMarcco Hellams on free releases for one game.
Hyatt was never pressed off the line in college. And most of his wins off those free releases came deep after he had toasted a mediocre athlete that HC Josh Heupel had schemed him into isolation with.
I have to rank Hyatt here due to his explosiveness and the ability to win downfield that he showed last year. But the NFL isn’t going to give him running head starts to run by guys with 4.6 speed.
He’s going to have to learn how to win downfield in contested situations, and his raw route-running game is going to have to be fleshed out to force defenders to respect him in the intermediate area.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 98
- Positional Ranking: WR13
- Player Comp: Nate Burleson
The Mustangs peppered Rice with 352 targets the last four seasons — nearly 20% came 20-plus yards downfield. He has experience both in the slot and the outside — 69.0% of his college snaps came on the boundary.
Rice is not the shiftiest. As he himself stated by omission during his draft process by skipping the 3-cone. To his credit, Rice knows his limitations. He isn’t going to shake anyone out of a route break, and he isn’t going to try.
A staple of his game is the north-south explosion to get downtown (92nd- and 98th-percentile jumps). Rice’s long arms come in handy in the sky. He’s like a basketball rebounder in that contact through the back doesn’t affect his concentration.
He has a deceptively large catch radius once there. Rice’s wingspan at the NFL Combine was a shade over 6-foot-4. Rice converted 32-of-66 (48.5%) contested-catch opportunities in college.
He didn’t run a full route tree at SMU. But I like how he changes foot patterns and tempos to keep defenders off his scent. He has the starter kit to develop into a solid NFL WR2.
Tight Ends
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 24
- Positional Ranking: TE2
- Player Comp: Jason Witten
Strengths
An all-around tight end who brings the lunch pail. Mayer’s receiving ability is high-end. What jumped off the tape just as much was his yeoman effort. Mayer’s blocking highlight reel is worth the price of admission. He moves people and doesn’t stop working until the whistle blows. Mayer was PFF’s No. 1 graded tight end in the FBS last season. He did that in a poor offensive environment. Notre Dame didn’t have much skill talent outside of him. And the Irish were forced to roll with QB2 Drew Pyne, a noodle-armed scrambler, after the starter was knocked out for the year in early September.
Mayer was marked by opposing defenses, and his touches were force-fed. Notre Dame didn’t have another option to move the chains. With more coverage attention than ever before, Mayer continued to shine. His body positioning at the catch point could be a Tom Emanski video. Mayer is the quintessential basketball rebounder boxing out his man. His hands are extremely reliable, with a strong 5.6% drop rate in 2022. Mayer doesn’t create separation as easily as Dalton Kincaid, but he is ridiculously awesome at catching the ball in tight quarters. Last year, Mayer easily led this class with 17 contested catches. Mayer went 17-of-26 (65.4%) in those scenarios, a stupid conversion rate. Mayer can get jarred from behind and have a defender hanging off his back; he can be double-covered – it usually doesn’t matter if Michael Mayer is catching the ball.
I love Mayer’s hard-hard approach to inline work. But his receiving skill plays from anywhere on the alignment. Notre Dame moved Mayer around more than most realize. Last season, Mayer played 45.0% of his snaps in the slot, 39.9% inline, and 14.2% out wide. Mayer is as reliable in the intermediate area as you’ll see. He won’t make you miss as a runner, but Mayer can run over those who go high or leap over those who try to dive-bomb his knees. Mayer’s 12 missed-tackles-forced last fall tied for No. 5 in this class.
Weaknesses
Mayer was long considered the best tight end in this class, but Kincaid has gained rapid ground on him. This is all due to receiving utility. For all Mayer’s strength in this area, his ceiling is capped, primarily because Mayer doesn’t threaten deep like Kincaid, and Mayer is also a more limited route-runner. Mayer is detail-oriented in this phase, but he doesn’t have Kincaid’s fluidity in and out of route breaks, and he doesn’t create the separation that Kincaid does.
Mayer is exceptional in contested situations, but he gets into more of those than you’d like because he doesn’t naturally separate. Mayer posted a strong 4.7 forty at the NFL Combine, but 50th-percentile showings in both agility drills, a 76h-percentile broad jump, and a 56th-percentile vertical. Mayer’s lack of upper-echelon explosion and agility is apparent on tape. He builds up to top speed and is exaggerated and deliberate off the snap – not bouncy and explosive. Mayer is elite in contested situations – but he almost has to be for the type of game he plays. And that skill had better translate because he’s almost assuredly going to be in even more of those scenarios in the NFL.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 39
- Positional Ranking: TE3
- Player Comp: Owen Daniels
LaPorta is criminally underrated. His unique game will translate cleanly to the NFL. He’s a bit of a throwback in the mold of Owen Daniels.
LaPorta is an extremely versatile weapon. Last year, his snaps were distributed about as evenly as any tight end in this entire draft class – 30.1% slot, 20.5% wide, and 48.4% inline. The year before, he played 69.2% of his snaps inline. These snaps came in about as bad of an offensive environment as you can imagine. Iowa finished No. 130 out of 131 FBS teams in yards per game. LaPorta was force-fed targets in that horrid Iowa offense – and defenses still had a very difficult time slowing him down.
For a 240-plus pounder, LaPorta is shockingly agile and sudden – both with the ball and also along his routes. He knows how to get open. Against zone coverage, LaPorta quickly identifies the soft spot and makes himself available. Against man, LaPorta neutralizes his man by splitting him down the middle, altering tempo and footwork to cover his tracks, and snapping off sudden route breaks. He leaves flat-footed defenders a few yards in his wake as he snaps his head back to the quarterback.
LaPorta is your quintessential chain mover. In the last two years, 74 of LaPorta’s 111 catches went for first downs or touchdowns (66.7%). The Hawkeye offense would have been historically-impotent without him. Don’t hold LaPorta’s low touchdown total against him. Last season, the Hawkeyes scored only 19 offensive touchdowns – four individual players scored more. A mere seven of those touchdowns came on passing plays. LaPorta finished with 24 more catches and 271 more yards than any other Iowa receiver last year. It was the second-straight year he’d led both categories by margin.
LaPorta’s special sauce comes when he has the ball in his hands. This is when his agility, vision, and power coalesce. He’s a bull-in-a-china-shop runner who weaves through traffic and doles out punishment at the contact point. If you come at LaPorta from an off-angle in space, get ready for your nose to meet your facemask via one of his nasty stiff arms. Last year, LaPorta was No. 1 among all FBS tight ends with 20 missed tackles forced. That’s the fifth-highest single-season total for a tight end over the nine seasons PFF has tracked the stat.
LaPorta was a strong, workmanlike run blocker in college. But this area of his game could use refinement. LaPorta shows much potential as a blocker in space, but his aggressive nature works against him – he can come in too hot and only deliver a glancing shot or overextend himself into contact and get slipped. In tighter quarters, you like LaPorta’s haste in getting to the correct shoulder to win leverage, but he simply doesn’t have the play power to neutralize power ends. With some technical work, LaPorta projects as a solid space blocker working out of the slot. But against teams with powerful, long-levered ends, you’d prefer someone else inline handling that assignment.
LaPorta needs to cut down his 9.4% drop rate from last season (career: 8.4%). He reminded me a little of Quentin Johnston in terms of technique at the catch point in that both players are by-the-book extenders on the difficult catches – downfield, full-extension stabs of errant throws outside their frames – and more nonchalant on the easy stuff. Like Johnston, LaPorta sometimes appears to be thinking about his run-after-the-catch on the easy stuff. This is when the ball gets more into their frames, leading to a few extra flubs. LaPorta needs to understand that he’s a preternaturally skilled runner who doesn’t need to sacrifice catch-point technique for head starts in that department.
Lastly, while LaPorta is a problem in the short-and-intermediate areas, he’s not as effective down the field. He also needs to separate to give himself a shot to flex his run-after-the-catch muscles. Over LaPorta’s career, he was a mere 18-of-44 in contested situations.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 50
- Positional Ranking: TE4
- Player Comp: Martellus Bennett
Darnell Washington is an alien. He’s nearly 6-foot-7 and will play in the NFL at over 270 pounds. He played games in college over 280, and his frame would easily support additional weight if his team ever wanted to try him at offensive tackle. Luckily, there shouldn’t be any need for that – Washington has a shot to be the third first-round tight end taken this spring. He provides huge dual-threat utility in a league moving towards more 12-personnel and formation multiplicity.
Over Washington’s career at Georgia, he played 66.2% of his snaps inline – an extremely high percentage. Washington is a true “third offensive tackle” as a blocker. Edge players who lack power get rag-dolled by Washington. He has the frame, athleticism, length, power, tenacity, and mobility for almost any assignment. Not only that, but Washington will sprint downfield on long runs or completions to block downfield. He is a terrifying proposition for defensive backs in the third level. Most simply give up, folding to the ground or letting Washington push them whichever way he wants instead of standing their ground and hearing the Mortal Kombat guy yell, “Finish him!”
Washington’s 81.3 PFF run block grade last year was elite for a TE prospect, and Washington never graded below 72.4 in any season on campus. Several TE prospects in this class never earned a 72.4 run block grade during any collegiate season. In an era where boxes get thinned out, spreading the field with Washington inline could prove devastating. Washington will be his running back’s best friend in the NFL.
And his versatility doesn’t end there. Washington will immediately plug a spot on your special teams’ units. He had 145 special teams snaps on last year’s title-winning team. But, despite Washington’s athletic profile and despite his circus catch at the NFL Combine, he remains a thoroughly unrefined receiver. His routes are straightforward, and he doesn’t change directions on the field as his testing numbers would lead you to believe.
Beyond that, Washington had a 10.0% career drop rate in college, which is especially troubling for an intermediate safety blanket that doesn’t win downfield. He cut that number to an appropriate 6.7% in 2022 – if he can keep it in that range, he’ll be fine – but his drop rate was well over 10% heading into last season.
Washington caught only three career balls 20+ yards downfield over his entire career. He played with Brock Bowers – TE1 in next year’s class – and Arik Gilbert, both seam-stretchers… but that doesn’t really excuse Washington’s lack of utility in this area. Georgia would have let him do it if he was good at it. And for all Washington’s athletic gifts and power as a blocker, he’s shockingly easy to tackle. Over his entire career, he only forced 14 missed tackles, less than Kincaid or Iowa’s Sam Laporta had last season alone.
Washington simply must become an ultra-reliable intermediate option during his chances. This is the crucial point of his eval. Because if Washington can’t win downfield, and if he isn’t going to gain many yards after the catch… he simply must cash in the opportunities he’s presented with over the middle of the field.
Tucker Kraft (South Dakota St.)
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 54
- Positional Ranking: TE5
- Player Comp: Dawson Knox
Injuries hampered Kraft’s 2022 season. He got hurt in the opener against Iowa and didn’t return until Week 8. He only played 84 more career snaps than Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave (albeit in one less active season on campus). But Kraft faces competition questions that Musgrave doesn’t. Not only is Kraft leaping up from the FCS, but we have precious little data on him against high-end competition. In his only full career game against an FBS opponent, Kraft was SDSU’s third-leading receiver by yardage in a 2021 victory over hapless Colorado State.
That’s why we were so excited to see how he’d do against Iowa’s nasty defense in the 2022 opener – but Kraft suffered a high-ankle sprain on the opening drive.
He’s a tremendous athlete. He did the full gamut of tests and was 73rd-percentile-or-higher in all of them – in a large frame. Kraft weighed into the NFL Combine at 254 pounds but could carry 260-plus at the next level.
Kraft moves well on the field. He’s a coiled spring off the snap. When he punches the gas, he can reach top speed quickly. He used his combination of strength and acceleration to earn separation in college. Sometimes to a comical degree – running free after dusting an inferior athlete. Things are going to get trickier in the NFL. Kraft was reportedly offered multiple six-figure NIL deals to transfer up to the FBS but declined them. I would have liked to see him on a Power 5 team next season – up a level; he would have been forced to work on the finer points of his… ahem… kraft.
He’s not a nuanced route-runner. He could be straightforward in that area in the FCS and win anyway because of his physical gifts – that’s not happening at the next level. Between his high-end acceleration and his strong agility, Kraft has the tools for the job. But that’s going to take some work. He also needs to refine his blocking technique. Kraft succeeded in this area in college through effort and physical ability. But he wasn’t punished for his wonky technique at the sub-division level, as will happen in the NFL.
Kraft wins the early advantage through his quickness off the snap and his initial speed-to-power pop when he gets his hands on you. But he doesn’t block under control, particularly when he’s asked to pick off a second-level defender, a lunger who tries to win with a knockout punch when the fight has only just begun. When he learns to keep his skis under him and realizes why it’s problematic not to have a steady base under him in this area, his natural ability will play up, and he’ll achieve consistency. But again, this is theoretical.
Lastly, Kraft’s 10.8% career drop rate will need to drop at the next level. He did cut that to 6.9% during last season’s half-campaign. But it was a trouble-area 9.7% during his breakout 2021 year over more usage.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 71
- Positional Ranking: TE6
- Player Comp: Cole Kmet
Musgrave is the nephew of former NFL QB Bill Musgrave. He was a multi-sport athlete in high school with eclectic tastes – lacrosse, track, and a ski racing champion in addition to football. He’s a primo north-south athlete in a long, rangy frame. Musgrave’s max speed of 20.05 mph at the Senior Bowl was the fastest any tight end in Mobile has ever been tracked in the five years they’ve been releasing that information. Musgrave backed that up by running a 93rd-percentile 4.61 forty with 96th-percentile-or-higher splits and 90th-percentile-or-higher jumps.
Musgrave wasn’t dominant at the Senior Bowl. But he had a strong week, and his athletic advantage over all the other tight ends was plain as day. In Mobile, we saw some of the downfield utility Musgrave sporadically flashed at Oregon State. He caught 7-of-13 targets 20+ yards downfield the past two campaigns with no drops. Musgrave is a pure dice roll on potential. Because right now, all we have on him is 13 collegiate starts and 47 collegiate catches over four seasons. Last season was supposed to be the breakout year. But Musgrave suffered a season-ending knee injury in the final minutes of the Sept. 11 game against Fresno State.
He was humming up to that point. Musgrave posted a 6-89-1 line in the opening-week upset over Boise State. He was Oregon State’s leading receiver again in the upset over Fresno State, posting a 5-80-0 line. Those high on Musgrave argue that if he’d never gotten hurt, he would have gone ballistic all season and been viewed as a consensus first-round prospect. They fail to mention that Musgrave’s first two games of 2022 – Musgrave caught 11-of-15 targets (8.3% drop rate) – were entirely out of line with the three years that came before them.
He left college with a career drop rate of 16.1%. That’s six percentage points above the “red flag” area. Musgrave is also not super reliable in contested situations, going a career 7-for-18 in them. This could be a problem at the next level because Musgrave’s average agility doesn’t buy him much separation in the intermediate area. His agility tests were his worst during the pre-draft process, with a 56th-percentile shuttle and 76th-percentile three-cone. His collegiate routes in that sector were typically straightforward one-note affairs with rounded breaks.
Musgrave needs to beat you with acceleration and speed along his route, catch radius, and body positioning when the ball is descending because he doesn’t create any with deception or shake. This also goes for when Musgrave has the ball in his hands. Neither a powerful runner nor an elusive one, Musgrave is a straight-line, upright mover. He gives you lots of surface area to hit and is target practice for hungry linebackers and safeties flying downhill. Per PFF, Musgrave broke only two tackles over his entire career.
Musgrave is a mediocre blocker. He understands his assignment and leverage, and those things, in conjunction with his frame, feet, and initial punch, helped him win skirmishes in the Pac-12. Musgrave mostly played inline for the Beavers, and his frame certainly makes him look at home there. But Musgrave doesn’t have the play strength or nasty attitude to trust against NFL edge defenders – he gets bullied by power. So it’ll be interesting to see if Musgrave’s NFL team uses him more out of the slot than he got used to in Eugene.
What you like about Musgrave is how you’ve seen him win downfield and how his frame, length, and athletic profile would seem to indicate that this aspect of his game will translate. He tracks the ball well downtown, keeps his hands in until the moment of truth to prevent the defender from getting a head-start, and has a really good feel for his surroundings. What we’ve seen of Musgrave’s body control navigating the end zone and sidelines are upper-echelon. He can pin a defender to his back and get his feet in while snatching the ball cleanly. This is the area of the game where you see some of that multi-sport athlete poking out.
I love that stuff – and it has big value at the next level. But there are simply too many questions in Musgrave’s eval for me to rank him any higher.
- Overall NFL Draft Ranking: No. 85
- Positional Ranking: TE7
- Player Comp: Mike Gesecki
We just got done discussing a pair of high-upside dice rolls. Kuntz is another. He’s a former celebrated four-star Penn State tight end who transferred to former PSU OC Ricky Rahne’s program at Old Dominion after getting stuck behind Pat Freiermuth on the depth chart out of high school.
At ODU, for one season at least, Kuntz was an unfair assignment for G5 defenders. He posted a 73-692-5 receiving line during his breakout 2021 campaign. But Kuntz returned to campus in 2022, and – stop me if you’ve heard this one before – suffered a knee injury in early October that ended his season early. ODU was frisky in 2022 when Kuntz was healthy. After Kuntz went down, the entire team went into the tank.
During the pre-draft process, Kuntz posted a perfect “10” RAS score – i.e., the most athletic size-adjusted athlete at the position ever to enter the NFL. Kuntz accomplished that despite not ducking a single test. Was it any surprise? This kid was a high school hurdles state champion despite his elephantine frame. He posted a stupid 4.55 forty at over 6’7 and 255 pounds. Both of his jumps and agility drills were similarly 95th-percentile-or-better. On the field, he’s a towering presence who can get down the seam in a hurry. He has an enormous catch radius, and I love his aggressiveness in attacking the ball in the air downfield.
Kuntz also has some nuance to him as a route-runner. He varies his tempo and footwork and cuts clean corners when snapping off a route. He accelerates quickly out of those cuts, becoming a flashing neon light to the quarterback at his size once the separation begins. Kuntz could be a matchup problem in the red zone in the NFL. His length is a problem in jump-ball scenarios, and he hangs onto the ball when taking a shot. He’s experienced in both the slot and inline, but Kuntz offers even more versatility than that. You can line him up outside – ODU was doing this more and more up until Kuntz got injured last season – and also in the backfield. And he will also factor into several of your special teams’ units – Kuntz played 287 special teams snaps between 2019 and his 2022 injury.
He was a solid blocker in the G5, but I doubt that part of his game translates to inline NFL work. Kuntz had a tsunami strategy with smaller defenders, getting on top of them quickly, popping them, and washing over them with length to finish the job, but his technique is shoddy. Like Kraft, he loads up for contact at the expense of his base, which makes him far easier to slough – and he lacks play strength. Kuntz is a high-cut athlete with very long legs. You wouldn’t expect him to have much anchor, and he doesn’t. These two issues in conjunction left Kuntz’s feet stuck in the mud after the contact point against power defenders, something we’ll see more often at the next level if he’s asked to block edge defenders. But Kuntz’s effort, athleticism, and frame should help him take care of nickel defenders.
The lack of power also shows up after the catch. Kuntz’s YAC yardage usually comes from running away from a defender he separated from prior to the catch. He is surprisingly easy to take down when you touch him. Kuntz only broke 10 tackles over his career on 88 catches. If you’re going to value Luke Musgrave, you simply must value Kuntz – the strengths and risks in each profile are very similar. Kuntz started only 15 games in college. Both of those prospects struggled to make an impact early (though Kuntz has the better excuse for that, stuck as a teenager behind veteran Pat Freiermuth).
Kuntz’s insane testing opened some eyes, but he’s still being underrated. I have to rank him behind Musgrave because Musgrave is a bit more fluid, with better body control, and Musgrave has superior downfield utility. But they’re far closer in reality than is commonly depicted.
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Bryce Young to the Panthers
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for C.J. Stroud to the Texans
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Anthony Richardson to the Colts
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Bijan Robinson to the Falcons
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Jahmyr Gibbs to the Lions
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Jaxon Smith-Njigba to the Seahawks
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Quentin Johnston to the Chargers
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Zay Flowers to the Ravens
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Jordan Addison to the Vikings
- Check out the full NFL Draft profile for Dalton Kincaid to the Bills
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