Is the best wide receiver prospect from the Big 12? NFL Draft expert offers his take
The Big 12 boasted plenty of highlight-reel wide receivers last season.
TCU’s Jalen Reagor didn’t need much of an opening to dazzle. Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb was tough to bring down. Baylor’s Denzel Mims made circus catches on a seemingly weekly basis.
And let’s not forget about Texas’ Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay.
But is the Big 12 home to the best NFL prospect at wide receiver? After all, the 2020 wide receiver class is considered one of the most loaded in recent memory.
Well, as far as NFL Network’s draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah is concerned, the answer is “yes.” His top receiver in the class is Lamb.
“He’s outstanding,” Jeremiah said on a conference call Friday. “He’s just so tough. You can play him inside/outside. He wins 50/50 balls. He breaks a zillion tackles ... What he gives you after the catch is just outstanding. He’s a really good football player.”
As far as the other WRs from the Big 12, here’s what Jeremiah had to say:
▪ On Reagor: “One of the things people are trying to find in this draft is your version of Tyreek Hill. He’s not as fast as Tyreek Hill, but he’s going to run in the 4.3s. He can take the top off coverage. You can use him on the jet sweeps, get the ball to him in the flat and just let him go. He can play over the top.
“The knock on him, he’s got a good number of drops. So he’s got to clean that up.”
▪ On Mims, who he projected as a second-rounder: “He’s got a chance to really end up being one of the best receivers in the draft. We’ll see where he ends up, but he’s almost 6-foot-3, 206 pounds. He wins at the line of scrimmage. He is just so smooth and athletic. He’s got some acrobatic catches, a lot of contested catches.
“After the catch, he’s just kind of a slippery, smooth, make-you-miss player.”
▪ On Duvernay: “One of the most productive slot receivers in the draft. That was a great move for him. I love the story when you do your homework on him and find out that the players went to the coaching staff and thought he should have been a captain in the middle of the season, so they ended up making him a captain. That says a lot about him and his work ethic and character.”
▪ On Johnson: “He’s like Goliath out there, almost 6-foot-6, 221 pounds. He’s a strider. He’s real fluid, but he’s going to have a little bit of a tough time just getting off press consistently. I think when you watch the TCU game and see Gladney, who is a really good corner, he got into him a little bit there. [Johnson] just has so much surface area that he gives up to DBs. He’s going to have to continue to work on that.”
Outside of the receivers, Jeremiah had notable takes on a couple other Big 12 standouts.
He is a fan of TCU cornerback Jeff Gladney, pegging him as a Day 2 prospect.
“He’s got some similarities to a Denzel Ward,” Jeremiah said. “Just undersized, real feisty. He’s real fluid, very aware.”
Jeremiah also likes Oklahoma defensive tackle Neville Gallimore. He believes Gallimore has a chance to impress at next week’s combine and get into the first-round conversation.
“He’s going to test incredibly well and that will generate some buzz and potentially get him in that discussion,” Jeremiah said. “I did not think he played to the consistency of a first round pick. But the upside and athleticism? It’s off the charts. It’s all there.”
