Greg Cosell on the top WRs of the 2020 Draft class

[stitches]

I posted his take on some of the QBs last week so here we go with this week's Greg Cosell appearance on Tennessee radio. This time he talks about the WRs(last 10 minutes or so of the podcast):

https://post.futurimedia.com/wgfx/playlist/listen-7780.html

Quote

 

-Jerry Jeudy - best WR in the draft, has an advanced and refined feel for route running and you don't see this very often from college receivers. Subtle understanding of how to set up corners with his footwork and body lean. Has great short area quickness, he's explosive. Talked to him at the SB and he said he studies the great receivers. He has a complete skill set. Reminds me of Odell Beckham coming out of LSU, there are similarities to an Antonio Brown in his prime. He can play outside, he can play in the slot - 70% of his receptions came in the slot this year, but he can play outside as well. CLEARLY the best WR prospect in this draft and there is not a close second. Did he drop too many passes? No, not to me, didn't see that as a problem. 

-CeeDee Lamb - not close to Jeudy, I don't see Lamb at that level. He's tall, he's lanky, I don't think he plays to that size as consistently as he should. Smooth and fluid, but I don't think he's sudden or explosive. He's a good prospect, but not at the level of Jeudy. 

-Henry Ruggs - I actually like him more than Lamb as well. Ruggs fits the modern NFL well - you can use him on jet sweeps, reverses, the screen game. He's as explosive a WR as I've seen on tape in recent years. He's got short area burst, he's got INSTANT effortless acceleration. I mean this guy, from what people are saying in the league, will run in the 4.25 range 40. He's one of those guys. He can line up in multiple positions, he can work all 3 levels of the defense. He's not as advanced as Jeudy as a route runner but he's got some subtleties to him as well. The way he moves, he kind of reminded me of Isaac Bruce type player, because he's got that speed-cut ability. 

-Tee Higgins - I watched Higgins last summer and didn't love him. Watched him again in the last 10 days and I really liked his new tape from 2019. I think he's got really good playspeed, has excellent hands. He's got size, length, movement, hands. He can make contested catches, natural hands catcher. And I think those guys transition well. I think you can line him up as an X receiver, he can be a big slot. In some ways, and people are going to say "you are crazy" because of what this guy has done in the league, but he kind of reminded me a bit of Michael Thomas coming out of Ohio State. And keep in mind that Michael Thomas was a second round pick. Higgins... the more I watched him, the more I liked him. 

-Justin Jefferson - he will be seen as a slot.. 100 out of his 111 catches came from the slot ,that's 90%. To me he profiles as a smooth, polished slot receiver, he's got good size, good length. I think  he can work effectively between the numbers at the short-to-intermediate level. He's not sudden or explosive but I thought he has good feel for working inside, good feel of pace and tempo as a route runner. Good hands, tough, competitive... good slot prospect. The question is where do those get drafted? It's not for me to decide. Can he play outside or is he purely a slot? And in order to play outside you will need to win one-on-one with isolation individual routes and that would be a question. 

-Jalen Reagor - he was interesting to me because when I started to watch him I thought he was more quick than sudden, but the more I watched him I thought he really had some twitch and some speed to him. He's a smaller guy so the question is where does he play? I think he can play both inside and outside. Some teams might see him as a quick slot, others might think he can line up outside. I thought he was pretty nuanced as a route runner. I thought he had a plan, I thought he had nuanced understanding of how to win both off the ball and through his route. There was a defining sense of polish and refinement to his game. Another guy the more I watched, the more I really liked. I think he can line up all over the formation and and be a matchup beast and there is certain explosiveness to his game. Really intriguing prospect. 

-Jauan Jennings - He's not a quick twitch athlete, but boy ... he's a good football player. I really loved his tape. He's 6'3" 206 and that matters, he's a big man. I think he's a big slot. I think he's physical, he's competitive both as a route runner and after the catch. I think his body type and his physical and mental toughness and attitude fits the NFL game as a slot receiver. He won't have vertical dimension, but he plays with competitive mindset, toughness, physicality. Some people think he's not good enough athlete, but I think he can play and be a good player. Really, really liked his tape. 

 

 

So, Cosell has Ruggs and Jeudy over Lamb... and if I had to guess he might have some others over Lamb too... interesting.

 

BTW, Cosell will be on Ross Tucker's podcast talking QBs either today or tomorrow. I will post that one whenever it appears in my feed in the other thread. 

[chad72]

Lamb didn't have to play top corners in the Big 12, and that is one reason I am not sold on him as much. The corners in the NFL are good, for the most part. I think Lamb will go late first round like a Calvin Ridley.

[twfish]

As I watch more and more of these guys I am kind of starting to believe this class is as strong as it was last year. I really think after the first 4-5 guys there is a big drop off. I haven't watched everyone but its kinda what it's feeling to me so far.

[pacolts56]

If Cosell’s WR assessments are accurate.... it cements my belief that with the exception of Jeudy, and the very remote possibility that he drops to us..... we should hold off on a WR selection at #13.

[stitches]

3 minutes ago, pacolts56 said:

If Cosell’s WR assessments are accurate.... it cements my belief that with the exception of Jeudy, and the very remote possibility that he drops to us..... we should hold off on a WR selection at #13.

I agree if the top WR(s) are gone... but what if Jeudy falls to 13? 

[EastStreet]

Happy to bet anyone a hundy or whatever friendly bet that we don't take a WR at 13.

[indykmj]

  My question about Jeudy would be this:

 

   Will he be as effective when the opposing D can scheme to deal with him

   as  (depending on where he goes) WR-1 or at least WR-1A ?

 

   Playing at Bama in 3 or 4 WR sets with Ruggs, Smith and Waddle, he got 

   a ton of single coverage. He'll likely have a S shaded his way too pretty

   consistently at the next level.

 

   As for Lamb, unless he runs sub-4.5 later this month, he's probably 

   not going top-15 (as I recall, Hopkins, whom he gets comped too, went

   at #27). 

[pacolts56]

4 hours ago, stitches said:

I agree if the top WR(s) are gone... but what if Jeudy falls to 13? 

Under that hypothetical... it's reasonable to assume that QBs Burrow, Herbert, Tua and Love are gone.... DLs Young, Brown and Kinlaw are gone.... and Simmons and Okudah are gone.... and that's only 9 selections so we'd have to throw in a couple or three OTs as well.

 

I honestly can't envision a scenario where Jeudy escapes the Top 10, let alone reach us..... and alot of this hinges on whether AC re-signs and what we do in free agency.

 

But since you asked, if Anthony stays on and "all of the above" are off the board, and we can't pull off a deal to trade down.... then we'd be stupid not to take Jeudy.

[Defjamz26]

Yeah the receiver class is deep. That’s why I’m not worried about possibly having to pass on Jeudy. You can get starters from rounds 1-4 this year. Also Jeudy deserves better than Jacoby Brissett.

[Moosejawcolt]

6 hours ago, stitches said:

I agree if the top WR(s) are gone... but what if Jeudy falls to 13? 

When is the last time the best wr in a draft fell out of the top 10? Plus, Jeudy is not just top 10, he is legit top 5

[shasta519]

10 hours ago, chad72 said:

Lamb didn't have to play top corners in the Big 12, and that is one reason I am not sold on him as much. The corners in the NFL are good, for the most part. I think Lamb will go late first round like a Calvin Ridley.

 

He did put up 100+ against both Bama and LSU. 

[shasta519]

No mention of Tyler Johnson? I hope teams are sleeping on him as well.

[indykmj]

6 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

When is the last time the best wr in a draft fell out of the top 10? Plus, Jeudy is not just top 10, he is legit top 5

 

Not at his size, he's not a top-5 caliber WR. 

[OhioColt]

13 hours ago, EastStreet said:

Happy to bet anyone a hundy or whatever friendly bet that we don't take a WR at 13.

Too deep of a WR class to go after in Round 1.  Best receiver to me is Van Jefferson (Florida).  Dude can flat out shake and bake create space and get open.  Put Van on my 2nd Round wish list.

[OhioColt]

8 hours ago, pacolts56 said:

Under that hypothetical... it's reasonable to assume that QBs Burrow, Herbert, Tua and Love are gone.... DLs Young, Brown and Kinlaw are gone.... and Simmons and Okudah are gone.... and that's only 9 selections so we'd have to throw in a couple or three OTs as well.

 

I honestly can't envision a scenario where Jeudy escapes the Top 10, let alone reach us..... and alot of this hinges on whether AC re-signs and what we do in free agency.

 

But since you asked, if Anthony stays on and "all of the above" are off the board, and we can't pull off a deal to trade down.... then we'd be stupid not to take Jeudy.

Outside of Burrow the only other QB worth selecting in Round 1 is Love and he should be gone to either the Dolphins or Raiders before we pick.  Do see a run on top DL just like last year.  Again see no reason to select a WR in Round 1 but do see WR Van Jefferson as the real deal.

 

Autry is our weakest DL and the best replacement is Gallimore in Round 1.

[EastStreet]

1 hour ago, OhioColt said:

Too deep of a WR class to go after in Round 1.  Best receiver to me is Van Jefferson (Florida).  Dude can flat out shake and bake create space and get open.  Put Van on my 2nd Round wish list.

Yup, I'm not going WR before the 3rd.

 

I like Jefferson but would never take him in the 2nd. Great route runner. Quicker than fast. A little concerned that he might not translate well to the NFL against faster and more physical DBs. He's not going to be a deep option, but should be fine short to intermediate. I do remember he played very well in the bowl game. I watched him vs UGA and TEN and wasn't impressed though. He's going to have to improve his 40 if he wants to go before mid rounds IMO.

[chad72]

4 hours ago, OhioColt said:

Too deep of a WR class to go after in Round 1.  Best receiver to me is Van Jefferson (Florida).  Dude can flat out shake and bake create space and get open.  Put Van on my 2nd Round wish list.

 

Yes, but the problem is he is ideal for the slot, he is not physical enough to play against outside CBs in the NFL, IMO. He could be pretty much unguardable underneath with his short area quickness, however that is what we got Parris Campbell for. Van Jefferson does not project outside as well as he does inside, just like Justin Jefferson of LSU. So, we have to make a decision what kind of WR we are going to invest in. Are we going to make Parris an outside guy? I think the goal was to get Funchess for the outside. If we do not bring Funchess back, I think we go after guys like Tyler Johnson, Collin Johnson, Antonio Gandy Golden etc. for playing outside than going after a slot. If we draft 2 WRs and 1 TE, I expect both slot and outside guys drafted. If we draft 1 WR and 1 TE, it will be mainly an outside guy. Just my two cents.

[EastStreet]

7 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Yes, but the problem is he is ideal for the slot. He could be pretty much unguardable underneath with his short area quickness, however that is what we got Parris Campbell for. Van Jefferson does not project outside as well as he does inside, just like Justin Jefferson of LSU. So, we have to make a decision what kind of WR we are going to invest in. Are we going to make Parris an outside guy? I think the goal was to get Funchess for the outside. If we do not bring Funchess back, I think we go after guys like Tyler Johnson, Collin Johnson, Antonio Gandy Golden etc. for playing outside than going after a slot. If we draft 2 WRs and 1 TE, I expect both slot and outside guys drafted. If we draft 1 WR and 1 TE, it will be mainly an outside guy. Just my two cents.

 

IMO, we have two needs (kinda). 

 

X - Even if we re-sign Funch, he's limited to possession type routes. We need someone well rounded that can also stretch the field (size and speed). This is the biggest need IMO. If we don't resign Funch, we may need another big possession guy, especially if we don't bring in another TE.

 

Z/traditional slot - PC is slot now, but Ballard and Reich have already commented a few times they want to work him on the outside. IMO, they drafted him with the idea of starting him at slot, and easing him over to Z as TY slowed. In short, how they view this is likely tied to how they envision TY's health and speed. We could see PC moved to Z sooner than later, and TY moved in to slot. Either way, we need a 3rd option in the rotation at Z/slot.

 

Wild Card - Fountain could project as a slot, Z, or deep X... which could impact either of the two groups. Dulin could project the same (anywhere), but probably needs another year on the PS.

 

Personally I'm fine going into the year with TY/Campbell/Fountain in the Z/slot bucket. I'm not fine with just Pascal at X. Even if Funch re-signs, neither him or Pascal are threats to really stretch the field. Give me someone 6-2 or more with speed.

 

[TheBlueAndWhite]

Any list of the top receivers in this draft that doesn't mention Brian Edwards from SC is a joke. 

[Moosejawcolt]

13 hours ago, indykmj said:

 

Not at his size, he's not a top-5 caliber WR. 

Would Marvin Harrison b worthy of a top 5 pick?

[chad72]

20 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Would Marvin Harrison b worthy of a top 5 pick?

Do we have a Peyton Manning to go with it? Marvin Harrison was picked No.19, btw. I’d venture to say Reggie Wayne showed up for more playoff games than Marvin. So, no, Marvin Harrison would not be worthy of a top 5 pick, IMO. If it is Julio Jones like that cannot be jammed by physical CBs, and has the huge catch radius like a Megatron plus body control, all of the above, they’re worthy of a top 5 pick, IMO.

 

Marvin without Peyton, Fitzgerald without Kurt Warner, they can only do so much. They’ll still be productive but won’t be the same game breakers with just a good QB, need the elite QBs to get elite production out of them, IMO. Jerry Rice, if he didn’t have Montana and Young, might have had the same fate as Larry Fitzgerald, IMO.