THIRD ANNUAL STILL-TOO-EARLY 2025 RANKINGS
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Honorable Mentions will not have write-ups, but I may do a section on them exclusively next week.
THIRD ANNUAL STILL-TOO-EARLY 2025 RANKING PART ONE – QB/TE
QBs
This QB class is wildly different from the first two I have had to analyze during these early segments. While there was a lot of fluctuation between the rankings, they all occurred under two strong class anchors (Young/Stroud ; Williams/Maye), which made it seem a lot less messy. Because we are still searching for our QB1, these rankings are still pretty messy. On that note, the combining of tiers 1 & 2 below is likely more of a way to skip Tier 1 without having to skip Tier 1. While I have been very impressed by a few of these QBs so far in 2024, I am not yet willing to confidently rank any of them as a clear locked top 20 pick over the others.
At this stage, I have chosen to break up the QBs in A, B, and C based almost purely on upside. This is not the sole way I would judge these QBs or QBs generally, but the only people who need specific rankings are playing in Devy, and in Devy, if I’m paying for one of these QBs, I would rather take the shot on the upside of Jalen Milroe or Cam Ward, even if I fall on my face, compared to players who still have risks on my board, but have far less upside like Quinn Ewers and Carson Beck. The reasons for these distinctions will be more clear in the player specific notes below. It is also important to note that with one or two players in particular, the A-B-C might not be a perfect ordering of my rankings at this point, though it is very close.
This is not intended to be confusing, but more to represent the open field that the QB class still is.
Draft Capital Guide*: Tier 1 = Day 1 ; Tier 2 = Day 2 ; Tier 3 = Day 3
*: Not necessarily representative of past classes or other positions.
Tier 1 or 2
Tier A: Possible Game Changer
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Tier B: Hopeful & Exciting
Cam Ward, Miami (FL) via Washington State ; Shedeur Sanders, Colorado ; Cade Klubnik, Clemson ; Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Tier C: Good, but maybe low ceiling
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU ; Carson Beck, Georgia ; Quinn Ewers, Texas
Tier 3
Drew Allar, Penn State ; Miller Moss, USC ; Noah Fifita, Arizona
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The players within these tiers have not changed since last week, but I have flipped the order after the Georgia game to more directly make these tiers represent upside, and no one has as much upside in this QB class as Jalen Milroe. With his rushing ability, Milroe has explosive upside for fantasy football, as last year in 13 Games Milroe ran for 806 Yards and 12 TDs. That said, what Milroe has done so far this season is on the cusp of being mind-blowing. If Milroe’s ability to process continues to play out at the same level it did against Georgia, that is an even more impressive developmental leave in my eyes than what Jayden Daniels did in 2023. Milroe, in contrast to Daniels, has always been excellent with generating Big Time Throws (BTTs). Instead, Milroe had significant problems with getting the ball out quickly, and on the season had a preposterous 3.44 second Time to Throw (TTT). Against Georgia, that number was much closer to two-and-a-half seconds. Against Georgia, Milroe not only completed simple AND deep passes, but went over the middle of the field in the intermediate game, grading highly and completing a high number of passes in this area. Because I’ve been working on this Ranking, I still have to go back myself and watch the game in even more detail, but any detail in this context is not something that can disprove what has happened, but more suggests how it might be happening. If the performance continues anywhere near this level, given the physical traits, Milroe might truly enter a conversation that it seemed possible that no one would enter in this class: an actual prospect worthy of going as the #1 overall pick.
Aside from Jalen Milroe, while it may seem odd to do, here it makes sense for us to skip to the “C” Tier. It makes sense to answer the question, why are these players not in the “Hopeful and Exciting” tier?
Quinn Ewers is likely to be near the top of the list of controversial rankings this cycle, and his placement in C is largely because Ewers is a player whose upside does not appear fantasy friendly. There is a presumption of high upside because of HS prospect hype, but fundamentally a special arm alone is not that fantasy friendly. Ewers reportedly got down to 195 lbs in early 2023 and is not particularly fast. The below average frame and size also bring into question whether Ewers has durability issues when taking into consideration his missing games due to injury in each season of his career. By season, Ewers has now missed 3.5, 2, and 2.5 games so far. You could argue that Ewers’ injury conditions could even be seen as more concerning than Penix; while Penix’s injuries were more individually serious, his ability to stay healthy for two FULL seasons helped to erase those concerns. This is all before we get to discussing the Steve Sarkisian offense and the fact that Quinn Ewers doesn’t unlock his arm down the field. The offense features many short passing concepts that are extremely well designed, and Ewers’ short accuracy shines in this role, but outside of this comfort zone, he is not as consistent as other QBs in this class. The comparison with Arch Manning has given us an added layer to this; Manning’s Average Depth of Target (ADOT) is 10.9 while Ewers’ is 6.2. Manning also has more Big Time Throws and a higher BTT%. With the same offense, same personnel, and same coaching staff, Manning shows none of the same downfield concerns that plague Quinn Ewers. Ewers needs to get healthy, stay healthy, and showcase more consistency with his downfield, high-difficulty throw ability if he wants to secure a spot in the 1st Round.
There are a few similarities between senior pro-style QBs Garrett Nussmeier & Carson Beck, the other two members of C. Both of these QBs have some similar pros and cons to Ewers, but unlike Ewers, they have excellent size. They may have less arm talent, but their floors seem more secured because of this. Nussmeier is far more thickly built, and Carson Beck is a fairly large, prototypically sized QB. By my estimation, Nussmeier has shown the most NFL quality film of this trio so far. Nussmeier does have an excellent offensive line, but he has taken advantage of it even adjusting for Pressures, and he has generated BTTs better than the rest of this C tier. Nussmeier has also made a good number of mistakes including in crucial situations, but he’s also the only first year starter in C. If Nussmeier continues to progress throughout the season, he may be able to enter the 1st Round conversation. For Beck, the Alabama game was about as different as I could have possibly expected, but it was not necessarily as bad as it could have been. While the ending INT puts a damper on the comeback story, Beck showcased more high difficulty passing than maybe he ever has in his career. Now to be fair, he was going downfield far more often, but he still put on tape some throws that in this open class are valuable to his future projection. He definitely took a hit on Saturday, and Nussmeier leads this tier for me as he is performing better than Beck, but Beck has plenty of opportunities to rebuild his stock for the 2025 NFL Draft.
So what qualities do the QBs in B possess that sets them apart?
Cade Klubnik is admittedly probably the hardest one to answer there, but Klubnik has shown signs of development that align with a significant progression that Ewers & Beck have not necessarily made, and Klubnik is making this progression from a much younger and less experienced position. Not only that, but Klubnik has been shockingly effective on the ground. In the past two games, he has TD carries of 55 and 34 yards the past two games. More impressively though, every single category that I look into to spot breakouts, analyze traits, or look for red flags, Cade Klubnik is scoring at an elite level. Among QBs with a minimum of 96 Dropbacks (the fewest a QB has on this list), which is a list of 110 QBs, Cade Klubnik is 13th in PFF Passing Grade, 4th in Big Time Throw%, 34th in Turnover Worthy Play (TWP)%, 24th in ADOT, 6th in Pressure-to-Sack%, and 38th in Time-to-Throw. That could very well be the best array of numbers of any QB on this entire ranking. Klubnik is not the youngest player on this entire list, that would be Allar, but he is significantly younger than most of the QBs and is younger than any QB in Tiers 1-2. Ultimately, it is still early with Klubnik, and it is my opinion that the market has not caught up yet. Klubnik was not impressive in year one starting, and it is my belief that a mediocre performance against Georgia has caused people to stop watching, but J.J. McCarthy was the 10th pick in the NFL Draft, and he was a disaster against Bowling Green in Week 3, so being unimpressive against Georgia in Week 1 seems excusable to me. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I rank these developments as the kind that can more easily align himself with a Tier 1 Grade as a prototypical year 3 breakout.
Shedeur Sanders is probably the next most difficult to defend because Sanders is not a great rusher himself, but Sanders has been an elite passer with Big Time Throws since his first season at Colorado. Sanders' arm does showcase high upside ability not just theoretically, but in practical game situations time-and-time again. From a traits perspective, we can likely attribute this to his excellent ball placement. However, Sanders scores very poorly in areas like Time To Throw and Pressure-to-Sack%. Not all pressures are created equally, so it is a bit hard to judge what the true number should be, but it is definitely not a positive area for Sanders. If he did not score quite so poorly in these areas, he would likely have the easiest track to my QB1, but those red flags compounded with off-field questions keep Sanders away from being a clear QB1, even if he is still in the higher upside tier.
While he is not a dynamic rusher by NFL standards, Cam Ward is probably the second best scrambler in Tier B. However, Ward mostly uses his scrambling to create off-script playmaking. Miami has been excellent this year in creating with the easy stuff, and they’ve been keeping Ward well protected, but when Ward has needed to or seen an opportunity down field, he has been very effective in hitting those big plays. So far in 2024, his Big Time Throw% is now over 10% after being under 5% in 2023 and under 2% in 2022. However, the biggest key for Ward may not be these big plays, but avoiding the big mistakes. Miami (FL) may have secured a victory this past weekend against Virginia Tech, but he had at least two inexcusable turnovers (of 3 total) which could have cost Miami the game. The opening drive fumble was reminiscent of Will Levis, and the Red Zone INT was a point swing Miami only barely recovered from. It is worth mentioning that Ward was constantly pressured in this game compared to his previous two, and there were some pressure-related results worth keeping an eye on. Ward has been better at avoiding sacks in 2024, but his grading when blitzed and pressured are not great. However, the improving pocket awareness, scrambling mobility, and big play upside in the arm of Cam Ward show enough to project as a potential 1st Round QB. There is a long way to go, but Ward’s breakout seems the most prototypical of a Senior QB.
Finally, while Jaxson Dart may not ultimately be one of the higher mocked QBs in this class, he is the easiest one of B to justify as a potentially exciting asset: aside from Jalen Milroe, Dart may be the best QB rusher discussed with the 2025 QB Class. However, Dart suffers from similar scheme problems that affect the evaluation of Quinn Ewers. They are very different systems, but neither offer as many translatable concepts as we see in other offenses around the league. While Sarkisian seems to be excellent at driving up success rate with short passes, Dart’s HC Lane Kiffin seems to be at his best when scheming wide open receivers down the field. This has allowed Dart to excel more as a Big Time Throw QB, but so far Dart’s grading in his career against the higher tier teams has been concerning. So far this season, we’re seeing largely the same. Based on some even advanced numbers I look for on the season, Dart is very impressive. But his 9:1 BTT:TWP ratio against non-Power Conference opponents overshadows his 2:2 ratio combined against Wake Forest and Kentucky. Perhaps it is the system around him, but there also seems to be times where Dart is relying on either a wide open receiver or a wide open rushing lane. At this stage, I’ve still watched more broadcast films on these prospects, but Dart appears to constantly get held up in the pocket holding the ball and often getting sacked when things do not develop clearly and quickly. This might be an unfair leap given how far I’ve analyzed the specific processing of Dart so far, but the performance-adjusted results alone are a big enough reason where if anyone is buying into the BTT and Passing Grade hype that Dart can generate on the surface, I would (and am) exploring trading away Dart shares in Devy.
Ultimately, where I would rank players for an NFL Team and Fantasy Team may be very different. For our purposes, I’m seeing the higher upside players as the ones that I would target first if I had my choice to bet on QB1, and if I’m buying a QB in this class, I want one that I think can be a solid QB1. To my eye, the highest upside QBs, setting aside Jalen Milroe, are Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, and Jaxson Dart, and I’ll include Cade Klubnik in there too for having a more prototypical development, peaking earlier, being a potential early declare, and being much younger than everyone discussed in the top 2 tiers. However, Dart in particular is a player I’m not confident I would actually select over Nussmeier, Beck, or even Ewers as an NFL Franchise, and that needs to be taken into consideration for these particular players as well.
Because this section is more about why they are not considered in the top 2 tiers, I wanted to start by highlighting that these players are among the best QBs in College Football, and still could rise either this year or next. With that said, there was some promise with Miller Moss after LSU, but he has not maintained that same rate of high-level, efficient play. In his last two games against Power Conference opponents, Moss is completing 60.4% of his passes at a rate of 6.2 YPA, which is very mediocre efficiency. I’m not saying he can’t rise to the 1st Round, but it is extremely difficult to be a highly drafted QB as a one-year starter without special tools. Moss does not have special tools to my eye, which means at this point a more reasonable hope would be to establish himself as someone to watch going into the 2025 season and the 2026 Draft Class, as Moss can return to USC next year for a 5th Year. Drew Allar will be a popular name here, but Allar simply has not progressed in key areas like generating Big Time Throws or quick decision making. Allar has only 3 Total BTTs on the season, which is 81st, and even adjusting for his lower Dropback count, he is 63rd in BTT%. In Time to Throw, Allar ranks 109th of 110 QBs, and the combination of this long time to throw without substantial higher difficulty plays on the other end is at the very least questionable. There are also a few other players on our list here to be fair, but despite that 2nd-highest TTT, Allar has been pressured the 6th-least of any QB in the FBS (min. 96 dropbacks). Drew Allar does have prototypical tools and room to grow, but like with Miller Moss, I believe his most likely positive paths lead to 2026. Finally, the simplest case is Noah Fifita: Fifita’s listed size by Arizona, a measurement usually favorable to the player, is 5’ 10”. Without Kyler Murray’s level of athleticism, it is hard to imagine a team drafting Fifita very highly. If he heads to the NFL after college, his NFL dreams will likely begin as a back-up. There are reasons to give Fifita a lot of credit, as he is showcasing many signs that would ordinarily align with a breakout at the CFB level, and next to Klubnik and Allar, Fifita is the only true junior on this list. But ultimately, particularly with Bryce Young going the way he did, it is just borderline impossible to believe the NFL will give Noah Fifita a legitimate shot at least as a high-investment QB.
Overall, I am still limiting my confidence on the individual level, but there are a batch of contenders here between tiers A and C that could contribute to two, three, or even more QBs drafted in the First Round in the NFL Draft.
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The TE position may be the most difficult to evaluate and project overall. That said, I feel pretty strongly about the group listed here today both for their NFL potential and their upside as pass catchers.
TEs
Draft Capital Guide*: Tier 1 = Fringe Day 1 ; Tier 2 = Day 2
*: Not necessarily representative of past classes or other positions.
Tier 1
Colston Loveland, Michigan ; Mason Taylor, LSU
Tier 2
Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green ; Tyler Warren, Penn State
Honorable Mention: Elijah Arroyo, Miami (FL) ; Bryson Nesbit, North Carolina ; Jake Briningstool, Clemson
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My confidence level in splitting up these groups is pushed down quite a bit in part because of how TE works. However, the simplest justification for Colston Loveland and Mason Taylor is that they fall in line with the highest number of prototypes. Loveland and Taylor both play in major conferences, are each very large TEs, have production throughout their careers, and are young enough to be considered early declares. The other two TEs here fail by at least two of these criteria. Taylor has clearly had the more impressive 2024, as he’s taken over seemingly as the top pass catcher for LSU in the absence of Nabers and Thomas Jr. He hasn’t put up stats like that, but he has been very consistent and reliable in big games. Loveland will struggle to produce this year outside of team proportions as his current QB does not really pass the ball much. Speaking of those proportions, Loveland has 41.8% of his team’s receiving yards, which would be considered an elite ratio if it came with just a bit more volume. Still, he has plenty of excellent big game tapes from 2023 to highlight his performance with an NFL 1st Round QB.
There is a strong argument for Harold Fannin Jr. to be in the top tier, and it begins with his performances against Penn State and Texas A&M: Fannin Jr. had 19 Receptions, 282 Yards, and 2 TDs. He followed this up with yet another massive performance against Old Dominion. While I do often have a bias towards the larger conferences, these games largely wipe that bias out. My concerns with Fannin are more directed towards his size and build. I’m not even sure Fannin looks like a TE, and if his 6’ 4”, 230 lbs listed size is at all generous, he may be an awkward fit at the NFL level. Even Bowers was listed at 6’ 4”, 240 lbs. Compared to the other 3 TEs listed around him, Fannin Jr. is far smaller. If we get to the combine and it doesn’t appear that teams have any concern about Fannin’s translation to the NFL due to his size, he will be in the top tier. Right now, it is very hard for me to give a grade that confident. For Tyler Warren, while he does have the size, he also has the unfortunate combination of being the least productive of these 3 TEs entering 2024 despite the fact that Warren has been in college for two more seasons. Age as a factor of longevity is not really important to us at the TE position, but even at TE, I would favor players who produce early and often. Warren is not hitting that threshold yet, but there does seem to be significant upside and buzz that suggests he may not be on the board still by the mid-3rd Round of the NFL Draft.
There is not too much to cover here with TEs, but it would not shock me if any of the first three listed ultimately ended up being the TE1. Because of Fannin’s size, the safer bets still appear as Loveland and Taylor.
THIRD ANNUAL STILL-TOO-EARLY 2025 RANKING PART TWO – RB
RBs
While the lack of high-end QBs may weigh-down the draft pick values in Superflex formats, all signs point to this being an excellent class in 1QB leagues, and this RB class is a massive reason why. Not only does it have potential in the top-end, but there is great potential in the depth of this RB class.
On my board, the clearest gap in this class is between the top 4 RBs and everyone else. I know Jeanty in particular is considered by the majority to be in a tier of his own, but the bigger fall-off currently on my board is after RB4. I do like a good number of the RBs in 2 and 3a, but ultimately I have a hard time distinguishing anyone who truly deserves at this point to be the RB5, so Tier 2 are my top candidates. In that same vein, 3a could be seen as my top candidates for RB10.
Draft Capital Guide*: Tier 1a = Fringe Day 1 ; Tier 2 = Day 2 ; Tier 3a = Day 3 – High Upside / Possible Day 2 ; Tier 3b = Likely Day 3
*: Not representative of past classes or other positions.
Tier 1a
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State ; Nicholas Singleton, Penn State
Tier 1b
TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State ; Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State via Ole Miss
Tier 2
Jordan James, Oregon ; Kaleb Johnson, Iowa ; Dylan Sampson, Tennessee ; Devin Neal, Kansas ; Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
Tier 3a
Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma St. ; Damien Martinez, Miami (FL) via Oregon State ; Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, South Carolina via Arkansas ; Jonah Coleman, Washington via Arizona ; Phil Mafah, Clemson ; D.J. Giddens, Kansas St.
Tier 3b
Kaytron Allen, Penn State ; Kalel Mullings, RB, Michigan ; R.J. Harvey, UCF ; Kyle Monangai, Rutgers ; Ja’Quinden Jackson, Arkansas via Utah
Honorable Mentions: Donovan Edwards, Michigan ; Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech
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One of the most versatile players in this class, Ashton Jeanty possesses a unique blend of compact power and pass-catching traits that have the potential to translate into long term, high-upside fantasy scoring. Because Jeanty does not play in a major conference, his biggest roadblock this year was a non-conference game against Oregon, and he absolutely massacred the Ducks. Aside from that, Boise State is reasonably well position to achieve the #12 seed in the CFB Playoff as the best conference champion of a non-power conference, which could mean more high profile games. While I do not have many questions about Jeanty’s translation to the NFL level, Jeanty’s size is probably more of a question than most people have given it credit for. Listed at 5’ 9”, I would estimate Jeanty to be around 5’ 8 ¼” based simply on some recent listed size difference. Jeanty has a compact build, but he is not necessarily the kind of stout you find in a player like Maurice Jones-Drew. As of now, the push from the market has me moving Jeanty up closer to RB1a than before where he was closer to my 1b, and particularly with Draft Capital being equal, Jeanty’s versatility would likely showcase him as having the most upside. While this remains controversial, and I don’t necessarily anticipate this holds Jeanty back, I’m not completely convinced that size-related traits are a non-factor for Ashton Jeanty’s draft capital and NFL Grades.
Depending on how you define it, Nicholas Singleton is the highest upside RB in this class; his capacity seems greater than any other RB. Given Jeanty’s superior pass-catching ability, maybe that’s not true for our game, but it is certainly true at the NFL level. Singleton has the kind of explosive ability that should not exist in a RB his size (listed 6’, 226 lbs). From the start of his collegiate career, Singleton was one of the most explosive players in College Football. However, he struggled significantly in 2023 to produce the same explosive plays he had as a freshman. So far this year, Singleton is back to his 2022 form, and he’s getting slowly and subtly worked into the passing game more and more as well. There are areas of nuance and feel that Singleton needs to improve upon, but I believe a team will draft him that highly and give him that chance to be an explosive NFL Playmaker at RB.
For most of the season so far, there has been little to say about TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins due to their schedule. After their first game in Big Ten play, this has largely remained true. At this point, we are still largely basing our assessments on these two players by what they have done previously. While Judkins is one of the best RBs of the four here at running between the tackles, he has the lowest pass catching profile even compared to Singleton at this point, and so for that reason, I am leaning towards Judkins ranking in at #4, but the gap between even #1 to #4 is fairly small here at least compared to other lists. Most of Henderson’s highest upside receiving performances were as a true sophomore in 2021, but we have at least seen it unlocked. These are two of the best RBs in College Football, but right now we’re still mostly in standby mode when it comes to having anything new to discuss.
While Tier 1 has substantial upside and depth on its own, the real upside in the class may be found in the depth at RB shown in Tier 2/3a. Jordan James has one of the best combinations of explosive ability and contact balance in this class. James plays far beyond his size and seems to always move forward after initial contact, and while James is not particularly large (5’ 10”, 210 lbs), he has better size than his former teammate, Bucky Irving. Dylan Sampson has also shown excellent explosive ability as well as some upside as a pass catcher. Sampson is taking on a larger role than we saw from Jaylen Wright last year, and it is also notable that Sampson is taking on this workload at a very young age. To my knowledge, Sampson is the youngest player on this list and one of the younger players I have ever evaluated in terms of his potential early declare age. Through 4 Games, Sampson is averaging 19 Touches/G after Wright averaged just 13.25 Touches/G during his breakout 2023. Perhaps not possessing any unique upside trait, my estimation is that Devin Neal has excellent feel for the game of football, running lanes, and does possess enough size, explosive ability, and lateral agility to make it as a starting RB at the NFL level. Unlike the other two names on this list, Neal is a Senior, but he is a very young Senior who is also getting the opportunity to showcase that he can stand up to a heavier workload in 2023. Neal’s overall Touches/G do not appear too different, but that is because of how he was load managed against the FCS. Against upper division teams, Neal had 17.7 Touches/G in 2023. Through 3 Games against FBS teams in 2024, Neal has 20 Touches/G, with 50 Carries recently in a 2-week stretch, a total he has never hit in a 2-Game stretch.
Kaleb Johnson is a player who followed up a promising freshman season with a disappointing sophomore campaign. Through four games this year, Kaleb Johnson has already surpassed his 2023 Rushing Yards total, and that is because he has at least 173 Rushing Yards in each of his last three games, and these include games against state rival Iowa State and a road game against Minnesota. This will be a harder class to rise up than last year, but Johnson will continue to rise as he continues to showcase these dominant performances. At this point, I’m not sure Johnson has the capability to jump into the Tier 1 grade, but perhaps I’m underselling him. More feasibly, Johnson is setting himself up as a potential lead candidate among the next tier of RBs. Hopefully, Johnson will continue to punish opposing defenses as he gets further into Big Ten play. While some will criticize Singleton for something similar, Omarion Hampton is the RB that is knocked on my list the most for his general feel for the game. It is hard to explain the gap between Singleton and Hampton in writing, but essentially outside of the differences in the extent of their size-speed explosiveness, while I do have questions about Singleton in certain specific areas of vision, nuance, and feel, Omarion Hampton seems to run with as little pace, patience, planning, or manipulation of angle as anyone in this class. Hampton had a huge workload as a Sophomore and is showing out well in a number of categories so far in 2024, so perhaps this is a player I am treating too harshly, but right now, he is not clearly above any RB in Tier 2. Hampton is still extremely physically talented, which is why he’s ranked so highly, but ultimately I am not sold on his ability to translate his athleticism to production compared to some other RBs in the class.
Jonah Coleman is another player on the rankings today who would be a strong candidate to appear in a Week 5 Risers post. While he may have transferred to a Washington team that has lost most of its quality weapons, for Coleman that largely means he gets to be the major focal point of the offense, and while the team's success was not ideal this past weekend, Coleman’s own numbers were fairly strong. Coleman has 85 Touches and 627 Total Yards on the season through 5 Games, and he is forcing missed tackles at an elite rate. Coleman is listed at 5’ 9”, which most likely means he is shorter, but Coleman is also listed at 229 and seems to have the stout frame to support interior running at the next level. Coleman is another RB who I’m not sure possesses the upside to crack into Tier 1, but he does have strong Day 2 upside. For Phil Mafah, there were times late last year where despite the hype surrounding Will Shipley, it seemed like Mafah was the better, more explosive player. Shipley missed the game against Notre Dame in 2023, and Mafah took full advantage of his opportunity: 36 Carries, 186 Yards, and 2 TDs in a victory. He actually played through a significant portion of the previous game against N.C. State after the injury, and in that game Mafah had 16 Carries, 84 Yards, and 2 TDs in relief. Shipley did come back and they split the workload the remainder of the season, but in the 10 games since and including when Mafah took over for an injured Shipley against N.C. State, Mafah has 165 Carries, 952 Yards (5.8 YPC), and 11 TDs. Mafah possesses fantastic size (listed 6’ 1”, 230 lbs) and good explosive ability, and is still a true senior (4th year) even if he is not an early declare. Certain players in every cycle become “box checkers” over time, and Mafah seems to qualify for a player who might check quite a few boxes, and continue to check boxes throughout the 2024 season.
With Tier 2 in the books, it’s time to have the Ollie Gordon II conversation. It actually seems to make potential sense to segue from Rocket Sanders to Ollie Gordon, as if Gordon’s season doesn’t turn around quickly, he may be returning to CFB next year like Sanders did after his disappointing 2023. Gordon is not a player I was particularly fond of in the off-season, but I would have never anticipated it to be this bad. That said, Gordon does struggle out of the gate in my estimation, and this is a poor skill to have in most modern offenses. Even this past weekend where he had more efficiency against Kansas State, his success rate was poor overall. The proportion of Gordon’s carries that went for -3, 0, or 2 yards was very, very high. This has essentially been my problem with Gordon going back to last year: despite his size and how you would expect him to be successful, Gordon succeeds almost exclusively on the back of explosive plays, and is a RB who is often lacking in success rate. This can work for certain archetypes, but ultimately for this style of RB, a more explosive player would probably be preferable. As of right now, the ease at which defenses have limited Gordon’s success rate combined with the perceived scheme limitations I see are largely what drove down Gordon for my rankings in the off-season. Gordon has not moved much if at all in my rankings, though it may be less controversial at this point. Right now, I see Gordon as someone with upside in the right situation, as he does possess good pass catching traits for a RB his size, but I struggle to see the translation to the NFL as easily as others, as Gordon’s struggles out of the gate will hamper him even more at the NFL level.
Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, Damien Martinez, and DJ Giddens are three more RBs with excellent size and size adjusted explosiveness. Rocket Sanders is the more natural fantasy fit, but it is hard to know exactly what to expect from Sanders at this point. He is entering what I call simply the “cursed” category, where anytime you feel like momentum is building again, something shuts it down. Sanders was in my Week 3 CFB Risers after an explosive performance against LSU which we hadn’t seen from Sanders since his sophomore year in 2022, but he was injured in the early stages against Akron, and appears to now be nursing an ankle injury. The one game against LSU was phenomenal, but it will be hard for Sanders to reclaim his stock from the sidelines, and while it probably is not a significant concern, it is worth noting that unlike Devin Neal, Sanders is fairly old for being a true senior. Sanders is about 14 months older than Neal despite being members of the same HS Class. All that said, Sanders still has an advantage over Damien Martinez with his more pass-catching friendly background and receiving outputs. This is the primary area of concern for Martinez, as although he has one of the better size+speed combinations in this class as well as excellent contact balance, Martinez has not been utilized much as a receiver and particularly not outside of checkdowns. Martinez has been more involved recently as a receiver, and has done a good job at times slipping into the flat, but we still likely need to see a bit more. Like Devin Neal, Martinez is a player who I personally believe showcases a strong ability at the very least in the open field to pace and tempo himself in ways that can help generate Missed Tackles Forced in the open field, and Martinez is also one of the younger RBs on this list. Finally, DJ Giddens has a particular appeal in that pass catching game on the surface statistics, but digging under the surface reveals some potential areas for concern. Giddens has caught under 70% of his career targets, which is a pretty poor number at the RB position, and so far in 2024 he has caught only 7 of 14 targets and been credited with 3 Drops. As much as some of this may be the fault of erratic passing, and Kansas State hasn’t had the highest quality passers, ultimately the 30% Drop rate on catchable passes so far this season is fairly inexcusable. Still, Giddens does showcase similar size and explosive ability to the other RBs in this section, and coming off an explosive 187-yard performance against Oklahoma State, Giddens may very well have been a Week 5 Riser this week.
While Kaytron Allen is a fairly well-sized RB at 220 lbs, part of what separates Allen from the tier above is a level of explosiveness; while I think Allen can compete at the NFL level, I do not think he has the raw explosiveness of those other RBs. However, Allen was the lead RB for his team in 2022 and 2023, which would not be significant if not for the fact that Penn State is also the team of Nicholas Singleton. Allen has received more work as a pass catcher the first two years for Penn State, but we’re seeing signs in 2024 that Allen’s receiving role is gradually ceding to Nicholas Singleton, though that could easily change quickly. Next to Singleton, Allen doesn’t look like the type of RB I would focus on in the first couple days, but that ultimately might be a traits comparison that is unfair as most RBs in the class are spared that comparison. Ultimately, if Singleton has the breakout this writer is expecting to continue, it may make more sense for Allen to be a member of the 2026 class, though it is worth mentioning on that front that Kaytron Allen is older than you would expect for an early declare according to his listed DOB, and by my math Allen would already be 22 Years, 8 Months at the draft this year. 23 Years, 8 Months in 2026 would make him likely one of the older RB prospects in the draft.
One common factor holding down many players in Tier 3 is age. While not a completely restrictive factor, a list made this early in the season is likely going to punish players who returned to school particularly for a 2nd time instead of going into the NFL even more harshly than a similar ranking closer to the draft. Ja’Quinden Jackson and Kalel Mullings are both later breakouts who have at least partially excused later breakouts due to late career position changes. Both of these players also have fantastic size for the position, and have the exact same listed Height & Weight (6’ 2”, 233 lbs). Jackson was recruited by Texas as a QB, and Mullings spent the first several years of his career at Michigan playing primarily LB. Both are producing well for top-Conference teams, and seem to have at least the requisite explosive ability to get drafted at their size. Neither of these players have what you would call a complete season, but with that complete season, perhaps they could rise into the Day 2 conversation as well.
While many RBs in this tier may be here because they have not had complete seasons, R.J. Harvey and Kyle Monangai are super Senior RBs who have put together complete seasons, but do not necessarily have the physical tools of Jackson or Mullings. Both players are listed at 5’ 9” and under 210 lbs, and so that puts my estimation for their true height at around 5’ 8 ¼”. These players have another unfortunate similarity: while the rushing success is fantastic, neither player has a particularly large receiving profile. However, these players are quite different. R.J. Harvey is likely the more explosive of the two, and so given the other limitations, that would probably have me leaning towards Harvey as a talent evaluator. It is also worth noting that Harvey was utilized at least this past weekend in the receiving game. It may be only one game, but 4/92/1 is a pretty significant game, particularly when Monangai is sitting at 3 Receptions for 8 Yards on the season. On the broadcast for the Washington/Rutgers game, they mentioned how part of Monangai’s reason for returning was to catch more passes, but if that’s the case, he needs to start working on that soon, because 3 Receptions for 8 Yards in 4 Games isn’t going to cut it. On the positive end, Monangai has far better contact balance, and may be the better down-to-down success rusher between the two, and potentially could be far better than a number of RBs in this class at the next level; he is just a RB that I can see teams passing up on for a player with higher perceived upside. Harvey has more benefits from his scheme, system, and surrounding team, so if you’re comparing the statistics throughout the season, Harvey should be significantly more efficient. Ultimately, as someone who focuses on profiles, it can be hard to talk about Harvey and Monangai, because their similar qualities are essentially a poor combination of size, overall athletic ability, and age. That isn’t to say particularly their athletic ability is poor, but the combination of those three elements for these RBs is undoubtedly poor. That said, they are flat-out good football players, and so I can see them having requisite tools still making an impact at the next level, I just think it is more likely to happen as a back-up than as a player a team drafts to be a part of the future.
Overall, I’m not quite sure yet if we have a 1st Round RB or not necessarily, but I do think we have a chance at it, and more importantly I think we have a chance at a few in the top 50. While obviously going at the very top of the draft is better, even the top 50 picks have fairly reliable consistency at RB. This doesn’t mean they always hit as they clearly don’t, but particularly top 50 picks in good situations seem like very safe investments. If I had to guess, we’re going to get a strong number of RBs again in that 70-85 pick range this year like we did in 2023 (Kendre Miller, Tyjae Spears, De’Von Achane, & Tank Bigsby).
THIRD ANNUAL STILL-TOO-EARLY 2025 RANKING PART THREE / FINAL – WR
WRs
Right now, I see the WR class as a mixed bag that is fairly strong on top, but falls off quite quickly and does have a number of question marks. As long as the top tier players maintain their status through the draft, the class at WR should be fairly strong at least as far as the 1st and early 2nd Rounds of Fantasy Drafts go, but the depth might be a bit questionable at the top should anything unforeseen happen to some of the prospects in the top tier. Whether or not Travis Hunter is an asset or not outside of IDP leagues is also something to consider.
Draft Capital Guide*: Tier 1 = Top 10 Pick ; Tier 2a = Top 40 Pick / Fringe First Round ; Tier 2b = Top 60 Pick / Second Round ; Tier 3a = Top 75 Pick ; Tier 3b = Day 2 / Day 3 Fringe
*: Not representative of past classes or other positions.
Tier 1
Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona ; Travis Hunter*, Colorado ; Luther Burden III, Missouri
Tier 2a
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State ; Isaiah Bond, Texas via Alabama
Tier 2b
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford ; Antonio Williams, Clemson ; Evan Stewart, Oregon via Texas A&M
Tier 3a
Tre Harris, Ole Miss ; Xavier Restrepo, Miami (FL) ; Jack Bech, TCU ; Tai Felton, Maryland
Tier 3b
Dane Key, Kentucky ; Deion Burks, Oklahoma via Purdue ; Nick Nash, San Jose State ; Kyren Lacy, LSU ; Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr., Ole Miss via South Carolina ; Barion Brown, Kentucky
Honorable Mentions: Ricky White, UNLV ; Elijah Sarratt, Indiana via James Madison ; Xzavier Henderson, Cincinnati ; Jayden Higgens, Iowa State ; Jaylin Noel, Iowa State ; Pat Bryant, Illinois ; Zakhari Franklin, Illinois via Ole Miss ; Tory Horton, Colorado State ; Matthew Golden, Texas via Houston
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Since it is such a unique conversation to have, we’ll start off this section with the most spectacular player in College Football, Travis Hunter. This is an aside that probably belongs on a different piece, but for all the people I see clamoring for Ashton Jeanty being a non-traditional Heisman as a RB from the Mountain West, if a non-traditional Heisman is going win in 2024, I believe Travis Hunter deserves it most of all. Once again, the Bye week and Colorado’s lack of bye so far factors into these numbers, but Hunter now has the highest number of Routes Run in the entire FBS with 216. No one else in College Football has run more routes than the guy who has played 335 Defensive Snaps, tied for 21st most in CFB. Among players with at least 150 Defensive Snaps, Hunter is 6th in PFF Defensive Grade, and among WRs with at least 30 Targets, Hunter is 8th in PFF Receiving Grade. I genuinely don’t know what any of this has to do with Fantasy, but Travis Hunter is quickly becoming my favorite player in football. When it comes to analyzing Hunter in the what-if scenario as a pure-WR, I used to wonder how we would adjust his numbers to account for his defensive performance. However, aside from the game he left from injury, Hunter has now played 13 Games as a member of Colorado. Hunter has 101 Receptions, 1,261 Yards, and 11 TDs in 13 Gs. There are areas of his game that would deserve nitpicking if he decided to be a full-time WR, but if Hunter decided that he was never going to play CB again, he would be my 1.01 and I wouldn’t think twice about it. If he chose to play RB, I’d probably draft him in the top 10 too.
If you play in Devy leagues, by far your safest two assets in this class, both of whom have substantial upside, are Tetairoa McMillan and Luther Burden III. The Missouri Tigers have not gotten off to a very hot start this year, and the statistics on offense for the team across the board are very poor, but while I would like to see it improve throughout the year for Luther Burden, I’m personally not worried at this point. To put it simply, the numbers might not be the most impressive, but from my viewing, every time Missouri has needed a big play, Luther Burden has swooped in to the rescue. Missouri goes down 14-3 to Boston College, and Burden hits a 44-yd explosive to flip the field, and on the next drive after an interception, hauls in a 19-Yd TD pass. Receiving the ball to begin the second half now up 17-14, Burden hits a 38-yd explosive to get the team into the Red Zone. Burden also had a 25-Yd TD catch in OT against Vanderbilt. Burden still has a 2.65 Yards per Route Run (Y/RR) and is tied for 5th in the FBS in missed tackles forced with fewer receptions than anyone tied or ranked above him. Aside from this, it is worth mentioning that Burden functions in a primarily slot role. Previously on the podcast, I’ve mentioned how I’m starting to use three different labels: “Inside/Outside,” “Slot Heavy,” and “Slot Only.” The biggest concern is of course the last one, but ideally players who excel in the slot profile as the first category. While his role currently is primarily in the slot (over 80%), I do label Burden as “Inside/Outside,” though it may be fair to call this a projection. Burden is not a traditional high-end WR prospect as shown by his ball-carrying playmaking and slot-heavy role, but he is an elite WR prospect.
One of the biggest disagreements I have with others who I see do rankings comes down to the projected upside of Emeka Egbuka. While it is hard to talk about upside in different terms, it is a philosophy of this show that size and elite traits often align more with floor than with ceiling. Some of the things that can actually suggest ceiling are found in the production and performance of WRs. For Egbuka, as a true sophomore in 2022, his season was about as good as you ever hope to see from a prospect. While the numbers won’t blow you away, his proportions were excellent, and he was right in-line with teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. In his fourth year in college, Emeka Egbuka’s Y/RR in three of his four seasons (including this current partial season) are all above 3. Only in his injured 2023 did his Y/RR end up below 3. Egbuka may not be the fastest or strongest or biggest WR, but neither are players like Amon-Ra St. Brown or Cooper Kupp. Those comparisons are lofty, and at this point there is a reason Egbuka is not in my top tier as a player who is still a senior, but I still find myself gravitating towards Egbuka when ranking players outside the absolute top tier.
When it comes to Isaiah Bond and Evan Stewart, the question is ultimately what kind of production they can put together in what looks likely to be their final years in college. So far, neither has had what you would consider a significant season. Between the two, Bond seems more promising at this point. While he is not being worked in at a particularly high proportion, Bond is functioning as the #1 WR for a Texas team that is potentially #1 in the country. Bond’s 364 Yards are more than anyone else has for Texas, and Bond is also sitting comfortably at over 3 Y/RR. Bond’s role in the offense is most similar to Xavier Worthy, and it is very unlikely that Bond is as testing fast or even on-field fast as Worthy, but he also has better size and showcases potentially more upside in a more traditional receiving role. This is not a huge statement from a show that was lower on Worthy, but Bond will likely have a higher pre-draft grade on my board than Xavier Worthy. On the opposite side of things, Evan Stewart is still being discussed here, but I have dropped him to the next tier and am questioning whether or not he is 1st or 3rd among Antonio Williams and Elic Ayomanor. The main reason for this is that, while he does possess elite separation ability on paper, the realization for Stewart has never fully occurred on the field for more than a single game stretch. Ultimately, when players struggle to be productive, we can debate the reason, but when it happens to this extent, we may just have to trust that there is a reason. This might be hitting Stewart at a particularly low point, and he still has a ton of promise, but this past Saturday was the second game this season where Stewart ran 38 Routes and produced 15 or fewer receiving yards. McMillan, Burden, Hunter, and Egbuka have elite stretches of at least a season’s worth of games. So far this season, Bond has a Y/RR above 3, and Burden for his lower outputs has a Y/RR of 2.65. Stewart is sitting at 1.31 after four games. Maybe this is a fluke, but even if you give him some leeway as a transfer who might have been expected to be a #2 with Tez Johnson, having 9 Yard performances is pretty abysmal.
On this subject of production, while the numbers for Elic Ayomanor on the surface may not jump off the page, the Stanford WR has been exceptional when it comes to the proportions of his team’s statistics. Against FBS opponents so far in 2024, Ayomanor has 51% of his team’s receiving yards and 40% of his team’s receiving TDs. These are elite ratios, and continue on his dominant numbers that began during his breakout performance against Colorado. Ayomanor has excellent size and physicality alongside great ball skills, so the questions for Ayomanor as a prospect will likely come down to his ability to separate. At his floor, he is the kind of receiver who cannot separate and makes little impact. At his absolute ceiling, he is a player similar to Michael Thomas. Antonio Williams cannot claim the production proportional or otherwise that Ayomanor has, but Williams was very impressive as a Freshman, becoming Clemson’s leading receiver, and since then has done nothing truly wrong but be hurt. Williams missed most of 2023 with injury, and without too much production so far this year, it is reasonable to question where he is at in his development. As a receiver, Williams has some similarities to a player like Emeka Egbuka. While Williams will play significant snaps from the slot, I do believe he classifies as being Inside/Outside versatile. Williams is the youngest WR to my knowledge on this list, and so that is a minor factor in his growth projection as well. Ultimately, Williams has looked solid so far this season to build on the hype of 2022, and if he can start to produce a bit better statistically, Williams will be a player ranked very highly in the 2025 Draft.
Particularly after the explosive performance he put up against Kentucky, Tre Harris is likely one of the most controversial rankings on this list. To begin, it is important to remember that when I say production at WR is important, I mean certain specific rules and ideas. Yes, Harris had an explosive performance this past weekend and that came in a game where Jaxson Dart otherwise struggled. However, just the fact that he is a 5th Year Senior and 23.5 to begin next season alone are reasons to at least have some kind of doubt, and are more in-line with the production philosophies we are talking about. While it will ultimately lead to older players being underrated in early-season lists, it is probably going to be a rule I stick to in most cases particularly for super-senior players like Harris. If Harris was a perfect player, it would be easier to ignore these rules, but Harris does struggle to separate in a way that causes at least some concern at the next level. Ultimately, if Harris maintains his production, he has plenty of room to move up these rankings. Another one of the more common names that probably others would place a half tier above is Xavier Restrepo, the WR from Miami (FL). Above with Luther Burden, it is mentioned that there are three labels/profiles on my board for a “Slot,” and Restrepo, unlike Burden, is a bit more someone I profile as “Slot Heavy.” This is not nearly as bad as “Slot Only,” but I’m not sure I see the explosive versatility to profile as an Inside/Outside Versatile WR. For his role this season, over 90% of Restrepo’s snaps have come from the slot, including almost 93% in the last four games. WRs like this are a strange middle ground particularly projecting this far out; Restrepo can be good for an NFL team and better than many players ranked around him. However, both the fantasy upside of some realistic roles in that projection and the on-field NFL upside may be a bit limited, which on my board right now places Restrepo between the 3rd and 4th Rounds.
Jack Bech and Tai Felton are the “out of nowhere” breakouts for the year, so perhaps it is a bit premature to have them even this high, though we aren’t talking about catapulting them even into the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. Both players did have some kind of profile coming into the season, but nothing that suggested a breakout on this level was imminent. TCU’s Jack Bech will have many people afraid of the profile for the school alone, but Bech played his first two seasons at LSU, so maybe the vibes cancel out a bit. There’s nothing to make me extremely confident Bech can be a high-end player at the next level, but at WR we’re looking for traits and production. Right now, Bech seems to have at least some degree of both. Once listed as a TE, Bech may not have the explosive speed necessary for the next level, but he does have physical size that may keep him on NFL rosters and boost his draft profile quite a bit. Unlike Felton, Bech kept his hot streak going this past weekend. Bech had 10 Receptions, 131 Yards, and 2 TDs bringing his 4 Game FBS total to 33/636/6 or about 159 Yards and 1.5 TDs per game. For Tai Felton, the calling card will be how translatable the NFL sees his open field playmaking and missed tackles forced ability. Felton shows some versatility outside of this function, but this area allows for him to offer teams high level traits which might see him rise and ascend NFL Draft boards. Felton left early against Indiana, so he does have some excuse for his lack of production, but he hadn’t been efficient yet in the game. It is worth noting that like Tre Harris, Felton’s early season schedule has been particularly soft. This is even in contrast to someone like Jack Bech. We’re likely not expecting too much out of Felton, but he can be a more diverse version of a Malachi Corley-type player if he can continue to build this profile once we get to tougher competition.
Another potential riser in this class, Kentucky WR Dane Key is a possession WR with good size who showcased some potential upside as a true freshman in 2022. However, Key struggled in 2023 including with Drops, which is an issue he has never had in his career aside from 2023. Between his 2022 and 2024 seasons, Key has been credited by PFF with only 1 Drop in 93 Targets. In 2023, that number was 6 Drops in 68 Targets. Key would potentially be a riser as he is coming off a 8/105/1 performance against Ole Miss which now creates a two game stretch where Key has produced 15/250/1, although the first performance was against the Ohio Bobcats. So far on the season, Key is sitting at a 43.3% proportion of his team’s receiving yards, and those are the kind of numbers we simply can’t ignore. Opposite of Dane Key, teammate Barion Brown has a higher NFL floor in a sense because of his projectable ability on Special Teams, but Brown has not quite overcome the struggles he was dealing with throughout 2023. He did have a good performance in this past game against Ole Miss, but that was his first good regular season performance in about a calendar year. Ultimately, the on-field product for Brown may not be deserving of a spot on this list, but in earlier stages of the process and for younger players like Brown, I like to try to keep the faith until they truly prove me otherwise. Brown has been a faller once this year already, but coming off his best performance in a year, there is reason to at least hope better days are ahead. If not, Brown still likely gets drafted in a range that aligns with this grade purely for his Kick Return / Punt Return upside.
While they haven’t quite lived up to the expectations thrust upon them this off-season, Oklahoma’s Deion Burks and LSU’s Kyren Lacy are two WRs who still seem well positioned to make leaps up the 2025 Class. Burks shows short area burst that translates well for a receiver working the short and intermediate game, and there also seems to be an indication that Burks can unlock the deeper part of the field as well. We saw a taste of that when Burks was a receiver with Purdue, and that is largely what led to Burks having a fairly high prospect grade, but we haven’t seen too much of it yet this year. It is important to note that Burks missed the last game due to injury. For Kyren Lacy, while the surface stats look quite a bit better, I am a bit bothered by when they were accumulated so to speak. Lacy was dynamic in the very first half of the first game of LSU’s season against USC, but he was absent in the second half and largely absent for the next two games. Lacy still had fairly mediocre numbers late in the South Alabama game when in the 3rd Quarter of a 35-10 game at the time, Lacy had 66 Receiving Yards on a single drive. This bolstered his full-game performance, but even if we ignore the circumstances behind this last half of football, Lacy’s production has left a lot to be desired outside of the first and last half of football he has played this year. If his reported age is correct, Lacy will also be over 24 ½ years old next year at the start of the season, and so this is something to keep in mind as well.
Speaking of older WR prospects, in the past draft class we saw Xavier Legette (~23 Years, 7 Months as of Sept. 1) and Ricky Pearsall (24 Years, 0 Months as of Sept. 1) drafted in the first round. While these WRs are even older than that, Nick Nash and Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. have a chance to go on Day 2 of the NFL Draft. I highly doubt they go on Day 1, but to be completely fair, I said that about Ricky Pearsall in particular at one point earlier in the process. Nash is either 24 Years, 2 Months or 25 Years, 2 Months Old, which means he’s either a couple months older than Pearsall or going to join Velus Jones Jr. in the over 25 category. Nash does have a fairly legitimate excuse though: he was a QB for SJSU his first four years. Though he is 6’ 3”, Nash is playing almost exclusively in the slot, and I do question outside of size if that aligns with his athletic ability, which would likely make him a 3rd Round Pick at best. Antwane “Juice” Wells has higher upside given his open field explosive ability. Wells will be 24 Years, 5 Months Old as of Sept. 1, which if selected in the top two days of the NFL Draft would currently place him as the 2nd Oldest WR in the last few years to go on the first two days. As a catch & run threat, Wells has as much upside as anyone in this class, and unlike a few players who profile similarly, Wells has very good size that he carries well with his explosive burst. Wells was promising in 2022 before a very disappointing 2023 which saw Wells suffer a foot injury and make a move towards transferring to Ole Miss. Wells has had a long journey to this point (Fork Union Military Academy (1 Year), James Madison (2 Years), South Carolina (2 Years), and Ole Miss), but possessing more explosiveness than Nick Nash, he may be the more likely of the two to translate to at least “a” role.
For my rankings, the WR Class feels pretty good up-top regardless of if Travis Hunter decides to be a WR. However, particularly 2b is a tier where I would like to have more players confidently ranked. Maybe some of the Super Seniors I am hesitating to rise on like Tre Harris and Xavier Restrepo are the cure for the lull in this WR Draft Class, but I have not seen enough from them quite yet to dispel the general issues that come alongside being Super Senior WRs. Perhaps this is focusing too specifically, but the depth of profiles in this class may come down to players like Antonio Williams, Isaiah Bond, or Evan Stewart either proving they can be fringe-1st Round players, or potentially even returning to College to build their stock for one more season.
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That’s all I have for this labor of love. If you are unfamiliar with my process, after this experience I am planning on making my next ranking– my Deep Dives much later in the season– a 2 or 3 Week piece of 4 or 6 parts. I didn’t have too much trouble getting this out as I stayed ahead and had a good amount done before Saturday, even if I had to rework parts, but I definitely have decided after this ranking that I am going to split apart future rankings pieces.
Once more, WR Audio should be available with the Thursday Show which will still cover the NFL and CFB week ahead. There will still be a Thursday post this week with the CFB schedule, and we should be back to CFB Risers by next week.
Thanks all,
C.J.
(#51) VERY BIG RANKING and Review Show #4: 2025 QB, TE, and RB Rankings + The Rise of Reed and Rashid Shaheed