After a crazy offseason in terms of trades and potential holdouts, the wide receiver marketplace might be one of the major storylines to follow throughout the 2022 NFL Draft.
On paper, this is one of the deepest wide receiver classes in recent memory with plenty of first-round prospects including Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Drake London, and Jameson Williams, all of who have already confirmed their attendance for the draft in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Even with these aforementioned names, there still may only be a handful selected in the first round, with even more high-quality receivers expected to be available on Day 2.
Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network, thinks there are some heavy hitters at the top of this draft class, as far as wide receivers are concerned.
“To me, those (Wilson and London) are the top two wideouts in the class. I have Garrett Wilson as the top wideout,” Jeremiah said in a conference call with the media, before adding, “I think there’s been a healthy obsession with speed in this league, so I would probably come down to Chris Olave and Jameson Williams. “
Jeremiah is also high on a receiver out of Arkansas, who’s drawing hype because of comparisons to one of the most exciting young players in the NFL.
“I really like Treylon Burks. He’s a stud. He reminds me more of AJ Brown probably more than Deebo. Maybe like Deebo from the standpoint you can put him in the backfield and pitch him the ball and do some of those things, but kind of a different urgency to him. I think Deebo had a little more explosiveness initially, suddenness we say, and I’d say there’s a little more buildup there with Burks.”
There appears to be a lot of versatility in this wide receiver class, where there’s a large variety of receivers that are built differently and could be great fits in certain offenses because of their unique skillsets.
Jeremiah also mentions how important it is to look towards the value you’re saving on these rookie contracts, compared to trading for a veteran like a Deebo Samuel or Tyreek Hill, that are commanding nearly 20 million per season.
There’s an important calculation that teams looking for wide receivers are going to have to make at this year’s draft and we could see plenty of wide receivers hear their names called on the first two days of the draft.
