To make my Top 10 Wide Receivers in 2015 NFL Draft I took into consideration their height, weight, and speed. Then I looked at their performances at the NFL Combine and/or their pro day workout. Then I looked at their production from last season.
Check out my other articles on the 2015 NFL Draft:
To make this list I evaluated 62 wide receivers and watched many of them with my own eyes.
1. Jaelen Strong, 6.2, 217, 4.41, Arizona State
- the big news on Strong this week is that he has sustained a wrist injury, but he has been cleared by the Pittsburgh Steelers team doctors and they say he will not require surgery
- he has the prototype size and speed for an NFL wide receiver
- he has very good jumping ability with a 42 inch vertical jump, which ranks him 2nd
- he is the #1 wide receiver in this year's draft class when you look at his athletic ability and his performance on the field
- he is a very hard worker and was Arizona State's go to receiver
- he has great hands
- he is also very good after the catch: he gets upfield fast with his quickness and he can drag defenders for extra yards as well
- adjusts to the ball very well and makes unbelievable one handed catches
- he is very fluid and has very good body control
- he will also go across the middle and catch slants and posts
https://youtu.be/bhfKo5N7V1g
2. Amari Cooper, 6.1, 211, 4.31, Alabama
- he has prototype size and speed for an NFL wide receiver
- he has very good quickness as shown by his 20 yard shuttle time at the NFL combine in which he ranked 2nd among the wide receivers
- his production in college was the best by any wide receiver
- he ranked 1st in catches and receiving yards and 2nd in receiving touchdowns in the ultra competitive SEC
- great runner after the catch, he can out quick defenders or drag them for extra yards
- will run the inside routes such as slants and posts
- he does drop some passes he should catch by running before he has made the catch
https://youtu.be/gjHOM1TW1xA
3. Breshad Perriman, 6.2, 212, 4.26, University of Central Florida
- he has prototype size and speed to be an NFL wide receiver
- has the 2nd fastest 40 time of the wide receivers I studied
- he ranked as the best athlete of the wide receiver group, but he did not run any of the shuttles
- he is a very explosive wide receiver as he averages 20.9 yards per catch (12.0 yards per catch is considered good or acceptable) which ranks him 5th
- his production last season ranked him at 14th
- he should have gotten the ball more; he only had 50 catches last season, which is not enough for a player with his athletic ability
https://youtu.be/a_OhPwh6dUg
4. DeVante Parker, 6.3, 209, 4.4, Louisville
- prototype size and speed for an NFL wide receiver
- he only played in 6 games because of an August foot injury
- he ranks as the 4th best athlete, but he did not run the shuttles
- he averaged 19.9 yards per catch, which ranks him at 7th
- he did score 5 touchdowns in only 6 games
- he is elusive, makes tacklers miss
- he has very good concentration on the ball
- he makes big plays
https://youtu.be/zLa4Rip6Vrg
5. Kevin White, 6.3, 215, 4.27, West Virginia
- he has prototype size and speed for an NFL wide receiver
- is the 6th best athlete of the wide receivers
- ranked 1st in bench press reps, which shows he can fight off NFL corner backs when they come up to bump and run
- ranked 3rd in catches with 109, even though he faced many double coverages
- ranked 5th in receiving yards with 1,447 yards
- his production last season ranked him 4th
- he has a great catch radius and makes some tough catches
- he was West Virginia's go to receiver
6. DeAndre Carter, 5.8, 185, 4.44, Sacramento State
- has the prototype speed for an NFL wide receiver
- he will need to be a slot receiver
- ranked as the 6th most athletic receiver in the draft that I studied
- he ranked 2nd in the 3 cone drill, which shows that he has great quickness and burst
- he ranked 1st in the 20 yard shuttle run
- he ranks 7th in catches and receiving yards
- he only averaged 13.3 yards per catch; he needs to work on getting stronger so he can break some tackles so the first guy will not bring him down so easily
- the best news for fantasy owners is that his 17 touchdowns ranked 1st among the draftable wide receivers
7. Tyler Lockett, 5.10, 182, 4.31, Kansas State
- has the prototype speed for an NFL wide receiver, but not the size
- ranks 19th in athletic ability among the wide receivers
- has very good quickness, change of direction, and burst shown by his 4th best 20 yard shuttle time
- his production last season at Kansas State ranked him 2nd behind Amari Cooper; very productive
- he ranked 4th in catches
- 2nd in receiving yards
- will be able to get fantasy owners points with his return yards; he is a very good punt and kick returner
- he returned 2 punts for touchdowns last season
- very elusive as a kick returner and running after the catch
- he was their #1 go to receiver, will probably be a 3rd receiver and return man in the NFL
- all time leader in receiving yards at Kansas State
- he makes hard catches, will go and get the ball
https://youtu.be/GZY-VH55p6c
8. Cameron Meredith, 6.3, 207, 4.49, Illinois State
- has prototype size and speed for an NFL wide receiver
- ranks as the 10th best athlete of the wide receivers
- very explosive as shown by his 7th ranked vertical jump and 8th ranked broad jump
- he also ranked 7th in the 3 cone drill
- his production ranks at 11th among the wide receivers
- he also averaged 13 yards per punt return last season
https://youtu.be/4UpzKNrSSXI
9. Nelson Agholor, 6.0, 198, 4.42, University of Southern California
- he has prototype size and speed for an NFL wide receiver
- his production last season at USC ranked him at 8th best
- he ranked 6th in catches
- he ranked 8th in receiving yards
- he ranked 6th in touchdowns
- he will also get fantasy points in the return game with kick returns and punt returns
- he returned 2 punts for touchdowns last season
- lined up all over the field for USC
- will go across the middle
- good run after the catch, very hard to bring down
- catches the ball with his hands, which makes for a good catch radius
- he was their go to receiver
10. Da'Ron Brown, 6.0, 205, 4.5, Northern Illinois
- he has the size and speed for a prototype NFL wide receiver
- ranked as the 14th best athlete of the wide receivers
- posted the 8th best time in the 20 yard shuttle, showing his quickness, change of direction, and burst
- very good hands and catches the ball away from his body
- makes a lot of big plays
- in the game I saw him he had 3 touchdowns of 50+ yards with 2 pass receptions and 1 speed sweep
- he is also a good punt returner
https://youtu.be/d4xgDRmF79c
What do you think??