The 2020 NFL Scouting Combine is over and we now have more clarity towards the 2020 NFL Draft. It’s another week, so it’s time for another mailbag. We have no questions this week so I’ll do my scheduled rant. Who’s WR1?
This one is tough for me. I change my mind every day. Route running is usually king. Jerry Jeudy’s first step will kill you. He won’t fail. The question is just how good is he? I see a better route running version of but slower version of TY Hilton. I also see a potential rich man version of Calvin Ridley. No question that player is valuable. But… does either outcome represent DeAndre Hopkins?
I think that’s what CeeDee Lamb can be. Hopkins ran a 4.57 – 40 time don’t forget. Lamb is a notch faster and might be better with the ball in his hands. I see a lot of Chad Johnson too. He’s not as polished as Lamb’s route running but he gets plenty open and has the tools that make you think elite play maker. Lamb was the entire offense at Oklahoma. He’s the one receiver that changed outcomes in college. Those guys are hard to find.
I’d give the slight edge to Lamb over Jeudy, but I sure as hell don’t feel good about it. I could end up being way wrong. Jeudy may be special enough to where he’s closer to a much faster version of Keenan Allen. Then we’re really talking.
At the end of the day, I’d prefer to wait on receiver. If you take a receiver round one, he better be a star. I have no doubts both Lamb and Jeudy can be. However, I might find a star receiver in round 3. Ask yourself this. Which version is better? Let’s just use the Jaguars as the example who pick 9th. Assuming they’re also out of the quarterback market.
Version 1
CeeDee Lamb Round 1
Nick Coe Round 3
Version 2
Derrick Brown Round 1
Van Jefferson Round 3
I like Version Two a hell of a lot more. It doesn’t have to be Van Jefferson. You have your pick of the litter. This receiver class is loaded. Why take Henry Ruggs at 12 when I can have KJ Hamler two rounds later and pick up a star at another position? Who the hell wants Brandon Aiyuk in round one when I can have Michael Pittman two rounds later? Teams should wait on receiver and pick up stars at other positions.
Andrew Thomas in the 20’s?!? Can you imagine? That’s a Pro Bowl tackle for 12 years. Why would I draft a receiver in this class over that? I think the smart teams will find gems at the receiver position later in the draft and look really smart doing it.
UPDATE – We did get a question
This is a hard question because of how deep this class is. In terms of the best, I’m going with an outside the box pick. How about Michael Pittman of USC. This guy not only has great hands, but won more balls in the air than he should have. Pittman had just 5 drops out of 176 catchable passes in his career. A lot of those came on deep balls which makes that number more incredible. USC’s gameplan was the throw it up to Pittman deep and let him go beat double coverage. It’s amazing that he only had 5 drops given the circumstances.
Another reason I’m going with Pittman is his dad was a former NFL running back. They don’t let the ball hit the turf. Pittman is a really strong and physical possession receiver. Give him the ball on time and on target, he won’t let you down. He will catch practically everything thrown his way.
