2024 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Bo Nix, Trey Benson, Jaylen Wright

This is what we’ve been waiting for, fantasy football enthusiasts. The NFL Draft is under way, and we finally get to see where the rookie prospects are going to launch their professional careers. And NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values.

As the players are selected, let’s dive into what our NFL Draft expert, Thor Nystrom, has to say for each pick made. Here you can find all of Thor’s 2024 NFL Draft Rankings and player comparisons. Below we’ll dive into a few notable names expected to be selected this week.

Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Outlook

Thor’s NFL Draft Profile & Player Comp

7. Bo Nix (Oregon)

6021/214 | RAS: N/A
Player comparison: Matt Corral

Bo Nix is a former five-star dual-threat quarterback with five years of starting experience. He enters the NFL off a statistically dominant season (45/3 TD/INT). Nix’s accuracy numbers surged from around 60% in his first three seasons at Auburn to around 75% in his last two years at Oregon.

Nix has improved as a passer, but he was also flattered by the gimmicky offense he played in and the fleet of playmakers that surrounded him. Last year, only three FBS quarterbacks had an average release time quicker than Nix. Oftentimes, Nix was throwing to his first read immediately after the snap. His aDOT, by extension, ranked No. 93 in the FBS.

Oregon’s offense spread the field and asked Nix to identify his target pre-snap based on the defensive alignment. After the snap, Nix would often immediately shuttle the ball to that first read.

Go back to Nix’s true freshman year at Auburn. In an attempt to protect the inexperienced Nix that season, Auburn called 103 screen passes. Incredibly, as a fifth-year senior, Nix attempted even more – 106 screen passes.

Oregon’s scheme not only juiced his accuracy numbers but also kept the ball out of harm’s way while inoculating Nix from pressure. All three of these things were issues at Auburn, and all were addressed not necessarily through Nix’s game taking leaps forward, but by the offensive scheme.

Nix attempted more screen passes in four of his five individual collegiate seasons than McCarthy did in his entire career combined! In sum, Nix attempted 418 career screen passes to McCarthy’s 74.

Nix has average arm strength. While his repeatable upper-body throwing motion allows him to generate decent intermediate velocity with spin, his downfield attempts have always lacked consistent touch and placement. That’s because he needs to throw the kitchen sink to get the ball down there.

When not stretched beyond his limits, his upper-body mechanics are good. However, his legs and feet can get a mind of their own. When he’s errant, it’s often because his lower body isn’t married to his upper half.

Nix is a decent athlete who will steal yards outside the pocket when you let him. At the NFL level, Nix’s legs will chip in a little value alongside his short-and-intermediate accuracy. Unfortunately, you can’t construct an NFL offense out of YAC yardage on the perimeter like Oregon did, which means Nix is going to have to learn to stand in the pocket, survey his options longer and pick and choose his spots to attack downfield.

Already 24, I’m dubious of his odds of becoming something in the NFL that we’ve never seen him be. I believe he will become one of those players who is either a high-level backup or a very low-level starter, depending on the year. His days of being a standout quarterback are likely over.

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1. Trey Benson (Florida State)

6002/216 | RAS: 9.7
Player Comparison: DeMarco Murray

Trey Benson is the premier size/speed combination in this RB class, with 4.39 wheels at 216 pounds. Over the last two seasons at FSU, he proved to be a tackle-breaker and a solid receiver. He has the highest ceiling of any back in this class. But his evaluation also has a healthy amount of risk.

As a freshman at Oregon, Benson tore his ACL, MCL, lateral meniscus, medial meniscus and hamstring. He only played 14 snaps as a sophomore while returning from the injury. Benson then transferred to Florida State.

In his first year as a Seminole in 2022, Benson set the single-season Pro Football Focus (PFF) record for forced missed tackle rate, becoming the first collegiate RB in the PFF charting era with a forced missed tackle rate over 50%. Over the last two seasons, Benson ranked first out of 226 qualifiers in missed tackles forced per attempt. He was also 86th-percentile among RBs in missed tackles forced per reception.

Benson runs upright, like a sprinter. He doesn’t have the hip swivel to violently swerve at high speeds. For this reason, he doesn’t make many defenders miss in the open field. But Benson makes the first man miss in the hole with one-cut suddenness and can chug through arm-tackle attempts and keep his balance when jarred.

When he breaches the second level, watch out. Benson is a problem for smaller defenders in space — if you don’t go low to chop him down, he’ll lower his pads and turn into a speed-to-power wrecking ball. He was 96th-percentile in breakaway rate between 2022-2023.

Benson has shown exciting flashes as a receiver. You can line him up outside for a screen — Mike Norvell loves to do this with multi-purpose talents, and Benson proved to be one of those. He also has a knack for selling the play-action and quickly picking through garbage to get out into his route and make himself available to the quarterback. This skill will play up at the NFL level.

His tape features multiple examples of adjusting to the ball in the air and making the play. Benson has soft, reliable hands. He’s also a good pass-blocker, a rarity in this class, which should keep him on the field on passing downs.

The biggest issue I have with Benson is his vision and feel come and go. He can get tunnel-vision with his initial plan and miss opportunities to stick his foot in the dirt and jut into an alternate path that has opened, which has the effect of running him into contact prematurely.

This is an area of his game that has slowly improved from earlier in his career but it needs to keep getting better. For instance, I liked the instincts I saw of Benson denoting immediate pressure and immediately shifting to an alternate plan, often bouncing it outside.

However, there were also a myriad of instances of Benson doing so when it wasn’t necessary. In college, where he could outrun most defenders and barrel over smaller guys in space, this tendency didn’t come back to bite him — in fact, it was often rewarded. But the habit, if not addressed, will get him chewed out on NFL sidelines and eventually see him ceding touches to lesser-talented players.

Benson is not a perfect prospect. He has work to do. But he has the highest ceiling of any runner in this mediocre RB class, and is worthy of taking at some point in the latter half of the second round.

Check out more NFL Draft profiles and player comps from Thor in our 2024 NFL Draft Guide

2. Jaylen Wright (Tennessee)

5104/210 | RAS: 9.8
Player Comparison: Tony Pollard

Jaylen Wright is a home-run hitter with speed and explosion for days. You cannot let him get out in space. Once there, his wheels will begin erasing defenders’ angles.

The speed Wright showed on the track in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine is all over his film. Wright was clocked at 22.2 miles per hour (MPH) on one run last year, the fastest of any collegiate running back. The former Feldman Freak Lister had 35 carries of 10+ yards on only 136 attempts — a tick over 25%.

In space, Wright is a problem. Fortunately, he has tools to help him get into it. That starts with his explosion from a stand-still. Over half of Wright’s total rushing yardage came on breakaways (designed runs that ended in 15+ yard gains). In sum, Wright ranked top-five in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with a 7.4 yards per carry (YPC) mark.

Like many sprinter types, Wright is an upright runner, limiting his ability to string together change-of-direction combinations in space. However, he does a nice job pressing the issue with his speed, putting defenders to decisions and shaking them with a hard cut in space.

Wright doesn’t lose momentum off these cuts, which becomes a problem for back-end defenders who must drastically alter pursuit routes to account for his speed when his path alters. And, like Benson, another linear sprinter, Wright has good contact balance, particularly when hurdling down the field at high speeds. He bounces off glancing shots while keeping his feet. Wright posted a strong 132.2 elusive rating last season.

During last year’s breakout campaign, Wright improved by leaps and bounds in the passing game. He is still learning his feel for route-running and developing a smoothness for converting from a receiver to a runner. However, he displayed soft hands and an urgency to make himself available to the quarterback. He needs more work in this area but there is exciting untapped potential to develop.

Wright’s 2023 tape also showed strong improvement in pass-pro. Wright is a competitive player who doesn’t mind scrapping. He could become strong in this area with more work on his setup and technique.

Wright also did well in 2023 to address his fumbling problem. In 2022, Wright fumbled four times, which got his playing time cut. Last year, on an increased workload, he only fumbled once.

Wright comes out of Tennessee’s gimmicky spread offense and the standard caveats apply — he was in an ideal situation last year to leverage his strengths. It is easier to find space against light boxes, which is what he mostly saw.

He won’t be able to win with pure athleticism as often in the NFL as he did in the SEC. The instincts he has in space were not always apparent on inside concepts, where he could be swallowed up. He needs to work on improving his vision and plan in constricted spaces.

Wright enters the NFL fresher than most running backs in this class due to being a part of a committee at Tennessee. He only touched the ball 20 times in two collegiate games. It would probably be best to have him initially be part of a committee as he fleshes out his overall skillset.

Wright’s package of athleticism and all-purpose skillset give hope he could in short order develop into a long-term three-down back who generates explosive plays in both phases with regularity.