2026 Draft: WR

[BobDigital]

So i said WR... Here are my thoughts on the current top ranked guys going by that board.

Boston (rated 30th) - Did a write up already... Looked at him again and he just convinced me more. He plays up to his size. Guys that big and strong are rarely so smooth and fast. Looks like a top 10 overall guy so probably enters as the #1 WR in the draft. Probably out of our range.

Jordyn Tyson (rated 25th) - He looks very clean out of his breaks, seems to have the little moves down. His quickness with the first step is good. Makes him hard to stop at the line and hard to stay with in a box. That being said, after the first step the quickness isn't elite. His speed isn't all that good. Strength is average at best. Seems to lack some instincts but makes up for that by playing very deliberately, makes the most of what he's got. Most of what he does looks very measured and exact. I see him as a professional WR. The solid #2 option, but not elite. I think he's a mid to low round 2 guy. Maybe could be talked into a high 2nd. A 1st seems like a slight reach imo as of now, but he could improve enough to justify it.

Tate (rated 18th) - I just don't see him being 'that guy'. He has good traits but nothing truly note worth . Really good strong hands and concentration in traffic. Won't just be knocked over by a gust of wind... but his power isn't impressive. Nor does his wingspan seem to be. Speed/Quickness is fine i guess. He will lay out for you for a catch, but I don't see any particularly special talent here. From what I saw and i may be wrong... looks more like a scrappy 3rd WR than a #2. Take him in the 4th.

Williams (rated 26th) - The thing that jumps out is his speed. That what will make or break him in the NFL. He's pretty fast. Not blazing fast but just enough to be a real threat, but not enough to be game changing. Add in he does everything else pretty well but fairly average from an NFL perspective and he can be a #2 in this league i think. An all rounder with a threatening speed type. But not as solid as Tyson who shows a bit more of that 'something special'. Low 2nd/high 3rd.

Evan Stewart (rated 28th) - Now this guy i like a lot. He's doesn't weigh much. But he's 5'11. May need to put on a few lbs which could slow him down a bit. Plays with some real quickness and has plenty of speed to go with it as well as some nice moves. And man is he scrappy. I read he plays at 175lbs. Wow does he have a lot of strength for his size if that is true. He fights for those extra yards! A few issues though outside of him being light. WAAAY too much catching with his body. And he just seems to make some questionable choices. Diving for balls he doesn't need to. Sliding when he could catch low cause he doesn't trust his hands maybe? And while he made a nice one handed catch. Sometimes his catches don't appear as secure as they could be. Small hands? Guy smells like a bit boom or bust prospect. But the risk vs reward here is very reasonable. Just needs to clean up a few things to really rise up my board. I'll split the difference and say he cleans up some of it. Mid-low second rounder.

Nyck Harbor (rated 31st) - Okay... I get it... He's huge. Huge wingspan. And he is fast in a straight line. I can see the potential. I see why someone could love him. I can see why someone can believe they can train up this raw 19 year old to be truly great. I do. But.... no. Just no. He may still be growing into his body... I hope so... but man does he lack coordination. He has no real shake and bake I see, and yes i say that taking his size and weight into account. Even for that he lacks any. No quickness. Doesn't have the power and strength you'd like to see for his size and weight. You think you can turn him into the next Megatron or something? Nah. I don't think so. He just seems so out of his element on the football feild. He is beyond raw. I don't think he's on the menu. Take a flyer in the 7th if he shows more maybe? Right now... I wouldn't even draft him. I assume he will improve. Maybe he will really shoot up boards if he comes back a new man next year. But i don't think he will improve enough. He just looks all wrong. Not raw. Wrong. IMO, the kid doesn't have it. UDFA.

So i'm going to put a post i made in another thread is this one and tell you where i am on these guys now. Where i think i was right and wrong. I made this breakdown before the year started going on 2024 and my own projections.

Boston - Do i still think he is worth a 10 top pick? I think so. Do i still have him as the #1 WR? Well I will keep him there for now. But I will admit while he has taken a jump, is it the jump i thought he would? Not exactly. Very close, but showing a little more inconsistency than i thought he would. I still think he's great. But right now he is my barely preferred top WR of the guys I'd looked at. A soft tie based on fit. But it is close.

Tyson - This guy i was wrong about. I won't say i under projected him, cause that won't cut it. I had him maybe the in the 30th-50th range. I left the door open to him improving enough to be a low 1st. He has shown more than that. I also think i underestimated his speed and quickness a little. The guy looks so much better this year and looks better than i thought he would. So i won't give myself a pass. He's a top 10 prospect and right there with Boston right now for me. So this to me is not just a 'slight underestimation'. I think this has to be considered a wiff if i'm calling it fair.

Tate - If Tyson is a potential wiff. Tate is a fail. Had him as a projected 4th going into the year. That certainly didn't age well did it? But while some are putting him higher I stand by him not being a #1 WR in this league. I don't consider touching him till day 2. He is not a day 1 guy to me. However considering i had him about 115th or so before and a mid to late second round guy now (I still argue he would be better value as a late 2nd rounder) I got to take the L here. But i still think some people are over hyping him.

Antonio Williams - Can't say yet. Not enough tape, only 1 game played. I'll stick with my prediction.

Evan Stewart - Injured. Bad luck.

Nyck - I made my view clear on him already. Hasn't moved up much sense. I wouldn't even use a 5th on him at this point. Even a 6th is highly dependent. I think come draft day a lot of players i'd rather take a shot on will be there. 7th or UDFA? Why not. But anyone thinking his current play warrants a IMO highly valuable 4th based on his potential, i believe, are very mistaken. Maybe i will be proven wrong. Won't be the first time.

 

[manxman2601]

So i'm going to put a post i made in another thread is this one and tell you where i am on these guys now. Where i think i was right and wrong. I made this breakdown before the year started going on 2024 and my own projections.

Boston - Do i still think he is worth a 10 top pick? I think so. Do i still have him as the #1 WR? Well I will keep him there for now. But I will admit while he has taken a jump, is it the jump i thought he would? Not exactly. Very close, but showing a little more inconsistency than i thought i would. I still think he's great. But right now he is my barely preferred top WR of the guys I'd looked at so far. A soft tie based on fit. But it is close.

Tyson - This guy i was wrong about. I won't say i under projected him, cause that won't cut it. I had him maybe the in the 30th-50th range. I left the door open to him improving enough to be a low 1st. He has shown more than that. I also think i underestimated his speed and quickness a little. The guy looks so much better this year and looks better than i thought he would. So i won't give myself a pass. He's a top 10 prospect and right there with Boston right now for me. So this to me is not just a 'slight underestimation'. I think this has to be considered a wiff if i'm calling it fair.

Tate - If Tyson is a potential wiff. Tate is a fail. Had him as a projected 4th going into the year. That certainly didn't age well did it? But while some are putting him higher I stand by him not being a #1 WR in this league. I don't consider touching him till day 2. He is not a day 1 guy to me. However considering i had him about 115th or so before and a mid to late second round guy now (I still argue he would be better value as a late 2nd rounder) I got to take the L here. But i still think some people are over hyping him.

Antonio Williams - Can't say yet. Not enough tape, only 1 game played. I'll stick with my prediction.

Evan Stewart - Injured. Bad luck.

Nyck - I made my view clear on him already. Hasn't moved up much sense. I wouldn't even use a 5th on him at this point. Even a 6th is highly dependent. I think come draft day a lot of players i'd rather take a shot on will be there. 7th or UDFA? Why not. But anyone thinking his current play warrants a IMO highly valuable 4th based on his potential, i believe, are very mistaken. Maybe i will be proven wrong. Won't be the first time.

Please give Makai Lemon a watch.

 

[mayoclinic]

And Chris Bell, too.

 

[BobDigital]

So i planned to watch all the top prospects at WR in the draft at some point. But i will do a few today. Typically i want to stick to rd 1 and rd 2 guys... maybe rd 3. I want #1 WRs as we have more than enough #3 options. We need top end guys. So anyway.... Makai Lemon. I knew there was hype and i knew i'd like him. So no surprise, yeah, I like him a lot.

What sticks out to me outside of the obvious is his awareness and mental game speed. The way he speeds up and slows down. The moves he makes to angle guys. One thing maybe no one will talk about is this one play in 2024 vs Texas A&M at about 8:15 in the 4th. Check that one out. He does this really insane thing. Not so much the moves he makes... he gives an almost entirely blind stiff arm behind him to the head a closing defender near the end of the play. I mean... who does that? How did he even see him there? I watched the damn thing 3 or 4 times. I could see how it is possible, but wow. It is eerie how aware he is of other players on the field.

Sometimes he tries to get a little too cute trying to 'video game' people. He is always looking for angles and sometimes won't do the obvious. Look at that 62 yard TD vs GASO. He had that easy at the 20 yard line, he had them beat. It was over. All he had to do (I believe) was break to right at a bit an diagonal angle. I didn't have a great view but i'm 99% sure he had that angle on them. But he just keeps going straight and needs to instead get in with some shake and bake. It looks impressive as hell. But without the help of the all 22.... I think he already won, then made it harder on himself. This is a long way to say that same impressive shake and bake may get him into trouble at times. I have concerns about defenders coming behind him to knock the ball loose. He is super aware... but if you keep opening yourself up to that option it will happen.

But overall? Speed is really good. Quickness obviously elite. Really good hands. Great awareness. Plays with a decent power for his size. But i think his game will not translate as well as some other guys. He will dance and break tackles at the next level. But he won't make NFL defenders look near as silly. The one good thing about him dancing around is he doesn't tend to do it going backwards. I don't have him as my #1 WR He is #3 behind Boston/Tyson. But still a #1 in the NFL. I'd call him a mid first rounder. Something i like about him more than Tyson is that Tyson sometimes goes backwards to try to make a play. Lemon doesn't do that. That is a big plus is my book and one of the reasons why i have Boston 1A vs Tyson 1B still.

Boston - top 10
Tyson - top 10
Lemon - top 16

 

[BobDigital]

And Chris Bell, too.

Okay! Busy busy!

Bell is a great example of its not how much you can do, but how well you can do it. Bell has a very straight forward skill set. Not much shake and bake. His quickness is mid. Not a ton of height or amazing strength (very good strength for his size, but you won't confuse him for a 6'5 240 lb physical WR either. He does 4 or so things very well.

He is very fast. Pretty good hands. Knows how to get open at the last second AND tracks the ball well. He is also not an easy guy to bring down. He will go down, but he will fall forward doing it and if you try to use 1 arm he will smack that thing away and keep running till you actually put a body on him. People will talk up his route tree, and i think that is sometimes overblown. A WR should be able to run a decent route tree. There aren't so many branches.

The keys to his game though IMO are obviously his speed, but less obviously his ball tracking and finish at the end of the route. He does REALLY well at setting up defenders at the last second, powering through them to get position or change his position at the last second bending this way or that way or stopping to get the ball. He is very good at not tipping his hand here and because of this he is always a bit more open at the end of semi-contested catches then you'd think he'd be. Look for instance at his highlight catch vs Pitt this year when he knocks a pick away and then catches it. This is often just luck. Not so for Bell IMO. First off that ball shouldn't have been thrown as the DB didn't bite and give space underneath. But the fact Bell tracked the ball back, knocked it out of his hands, then caught it is not a bug or random. It is the kind of play Bell would make on the ball other guys wouldn't. He actually is that good at tracking the ball in the air at making things happen when it gets inside his radius.

But he is limited a bit. He doesn't have that Moss speed or Magetron size to just force his skill set to constantly work in the NFL regardless of who plays him or the game plan. So he is not a first rounder. Is he a second? Maybe. But if he is he isn't taken till very late. Personally i like his value better as a high 3rd than low 2nd. But i could see an argument either way.

He is a side piece to your #1 and i don't think he has any chance to be above that level in the NFL. Others guys you could probably pick in the 2nd may have the potential to be a #1. So i can't justify picking Bell over them. Bell is a top 75 player IMO. But top 64? I just don't think so unless it is a very bad year. And i don't think next year will be. But i think he will be able to transition into the NFL very quickly due to how he is at the end of his route. Even when covered i think he'll make it work.

(EDIT made 11/16: So Bell has gone on to have a great year since most post. This is one i will revisit at the end of the year. So i may change my opinion on him... Of course all opinions are subject to change as more tape comes in, but Bell in particular has poured it on so i will re-evaluate him)

 

[manxman2601]

Great work Bob. Good to get another view on these guys. I have Lemon WR2 and Bell as a 2nd rounder. I was asking for production from Bell and we got it last week. Hopefully it'll continue. He's an ugrade on Mack Hollins and although I agree he's not a WR 1, he'd be a good partner for Diggs and, hopefully, Kyle Williams.

 

[manxman2601]

Would you trade a first for Brown?

 

[mayoclinic]

No.

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

8 receptions for 129 yards and a TD in the first half.

I don't agree with BobDigital about Bell. Top 50 pick to me, and the style of received who I think would ideally complement Diggs and Kyle Williams.

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[manxman2601]

 

[mayoclinic]

Sorry, I just don't see Denzel Boston as a top 10 pick and Chris Bell as a 3rd round guy.

 

[manxman2601]

Sorry, I just don't see Denzel Boston as a top 10 pick and Chris Bell as a 3rd round guy.

Snap!

 

[mayoclinic]

"Contested post".

If I hadn't added a comment I would have snuck in first.

 

[State]

First Round

Makai Lemon, USC

My favourite prospect in this draft so far

Yep. First round WR for the Patriots? That has never worked.

Well, it will now. Kid's the missing piece. He's also got Patriot written all over him.

 

[manxman2601]

Yep. First round WR for the Patriots? That has never worked.

Well, it will now. Kid's the missing piece. He's also got Patriot written all over him.

No-one was higher on Efton Chism and Kyle Williams than me, but Lemon is better than both.

 

[mayoclinic]

Makai Lemon is better than both.

CJ Allen is better than Robert Spillane.

That said, IF Williams and/or Chism show promise, do you spend some 1st round pick to upgrade a position that is relatively ok?

IDK the answer. I guess it would be "yes" IF the player is special enough and depending on who else is available.

 

[manxman2601]

Makai Lemon is better than both.

CJ Allen is better than Robert Spillane.

That said, IF Williams and/or Chism show promise, do you spend some 1st round pick to upgrade a position that is relatively ok?

IDK the answer. I guess it would be "yes" IF the player is special enough and depending on who else is available.

WR is a much more valuable position than linebacker so I say yes.

 

[mayoclinic]

For me, it depends on who else is available, both at WR and other positions, and how Williams is progressing. So for me personally, Lemon is fairly high on my board but I'm waiting to see.