Draft 2011: WR Prospects

by Jigzsaw on Dec 10, 2010 2:35 PM CST

I will be the first to say that it is ENTIRELY too early to begin draft talks. However, given the amount of debating regarding WR's in the draft, we might as well begin a Thread that addresses this topic so that it doesn't keep finding it's ways into other discussions. These are the Top 5 Draft Eligible WR's in the NCAA based on what I have seen from them:

#1: AJ Green - Georgia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTm9oFWJNg

This guys is outstanding in virtually every single category he can be. He is an athletic monster, very smart, runs great routes, blocks very well, and is a team leader at UGA. He provides both a deep threat due to his solid speed and a great underneath option as well due to his quickness and sharp routes. His on the field accomplishments are outrageous. It is also becoming more and more apparent that Matthew Stafford may have been selected #1 overall last year more because of Green's talent than his own. Every time I see Georgia play Green Impresses! NFL Comparison: Andre Johnson but Faster!

#2: Justin Blackmon - Oklahoma State

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ0HbGtNOrY

Many of you are probably wondering why Blackmon is ranked so high. This guy is having a MONSTER season in the NCAA. He runs the routes, has solid speed, and has great hands. What impresses me most about Blackmon when I see him play is his ability to consistently defeat his Cornerback by using his size, strength and quickness. HIs Performance against Prince Amukemera from Nebraska (Largely Rated the Nations top DB) was ultra impressive. OSU's offense is having a surprisingly good year on offense and it is largely due to the performance of Blackmon. NFL Comparison: Terrell Owens (In Prime)

#3: Jonathan Baldwin - Pittsburgh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbzuT2K0B68

Baldwin is definitely a player who has not seen his fair share of publicity. This guy is very good. He has remarkable size for a WR (6'5", 225lbs) but he still manages to show the athleticism and hands of a talented WR. He manhandles DB's and always seems to be open. He has great speed, great power, and great hands. His routes could be sharper but that is largely a practice issue. I have questions about his level of competition playing in the Big East, but then again a pretty talented CB named Darrell Revis came from Pittsburgh so that eases some of my concerns. NFL Comparison: Calvin Johnson (Poor Man's Version)

#4: Julio Jones - Alabama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdkKiphw4f4

Jones continues to show promise in the year after the Alabama National Championship season in which he broke out as one of the nation's Top WR's. Jones shows a great deal of athleticism and athletic ability but I have concerns that he benefits more than he probably would on another team due to the scheme in which he is featured. Jones has had numerous huge games at Alabama, largely in part to teams stacking the box to take away Ingram and Richardson. A top rated WR of his ability does, and should be able to, beat corners in single coverage more often than not. NFL Comparison: Sidney Rice but WAY Stronger!

#5: Austin Pettis - Boise State

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfqGvm5PNuY

Austin Pettis is not the most athletically gifted WR in the draft, plain and simple, but he is definitely one of the smartest. What this guy lacks in speed, he makes up for in quick, sharp, route running and impeccable communication with his QB Kellen Moore (2010 Heisman Candidate). He certainly does not have the finely tuned skills of an AJ Green but he is always getting open, which is definitely a reason to take a good hard look at him. He has also proven to be an incredible red zone target as well. With that said, he will likely be around in the 2nd round. NFL Comparison: Hines Ward

That's My Top 5. Now Rip Me Up for being a Big Dummy!

Poll

Who is the best draft eligible, NCAA Wide Receiver prospect?

AJ Green - Georgia

67 votes

Justin Blackmon - Oklahoma State

12 votes

Jonathan Baldwin - Pittsburgh

3 votes

Julio Jones - Alabama

8 votes

Austin Pettis - Boise State

2 votes

Other

1 votes

93 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

we should poll who would you most like to see drafted by the Rams

I voted Green and the best but i would really like us to draft Pettis.

by biggilybird on Dec 10, 2010 3:51 PM CST reply actions

I want Blackmon...only cause there's no way we'll get Green!

by Pekka for Predator Pontiff on Dec 10, 2010 4:28 PM CST up reply actions

Crazier things have Happened!

Wide Receivers have been plunging down the draft in recent years. Michael Crabtree – Largely rated the best player overall in the draft slipped to pick #10 two years ago. Dez Bryant – Believed to be a top 5 prospect last year slipped to pick #22.

Green is a long shot but certainly crazier things have happened!

by Jigzsaw on Dec 10, 2010 4:42 PM CST up reply actions

We're not gonna be anywhere close to #10...hopefully!

I hope you’re right brother, trust me, I hope you’re right!

by Pekka for Predator Pontiff on Dec 10, 2010 6:50 PM CST up reply actions

I don't see WR b4 rd 4

With Avery & Clayton back next year I don’t Rams will take WR until later in the draft.

by rlf707 on Dec 10, 2010 4:56 PM CST reply actions

I want Blackmon

"Why not just throw an empty glove down at the shortstop position, it would be cheaper and have better range." - justin007000

by OGC Reds on Dec 10, 2010 5:55 PM CST reply actions

I can appreciate what Austin Pettis brings but frankly

he’s not even the best WR on his team. Throw out his height and are we talking about him at all? I like Jones mostly for us. He qualifies as far as pillars and may fall to the 21st or further. I tend to think we don’t go for WR until the 3rd or 4th, like rlf says though.

by dbcouver on Dec 10, 2010 5:59 PM CST reply actions

Unless we do something in free agency...

…we CAN’T go below the 2nd for a WR…can we?

by Pekka for Predator Pontiff on Dec 10, 2010 6:51 PM CST up reply actions

we have other, more dire, needs than WR. With clayton, alexander, amendola, gibson, gilyard, and avery, adding another WR seems to make less sense than adding an OLB in a weak group or a guard in an even weaker group. Especially if a player like Akeem Ayers is available to us, I hope we take him. I really like Greg Jones also but I feel he will fall further. I’m not too familiar with cfb guards but I can say that we could use help at that position.

by NCRam55 on Dec 10, 2010 10:37 PM CST up reply actions

So I changed my mind...I think we could get away with not drafting a WR. We need a #1 still, but if we can get that guy this year or next in FA, then no need to waste a draft pick when we have other needs!

by Pekka for Predator Pontiff on Dec 11, 2010 3:16 PM CST up reply actions

I want to see

a list of free agents so we can discuss that. I’d much rather get a wide receiver through free agency because of our defensive holes.

"I kind of stepped my swagger up. You look at the Madden game and the swagger's so low, maybe they'll bump me up. Before it was a meatball flex, so you've got to liven it up a little bit." - Animal Jr.

by douchiedude on Dec 10, 2010 8:27 PM CST reply actions

I know he isnt a reciever

but vernon gholston could be a free agent and I would love to take a chance on him

by Josh Wehrle on Dec 10, 2010 9:17 PM CST up reply actions

I know you're a Buckeye fan and all,

but I can’t stand seeing football players with no passion and a poor work ethic on the Rams. He’s physically gifted but one of the bigger busts of the decade for a reason.

by douchiedude on Dec 10, 2010 10:12 PM CST up reply actions

agreed

i just want to see what spags can do with him

by Josh Wehrle on Dec 10, 2010 10:22 PM CST up reply actions

I want Kiwanuka. The giants have umenyiora tuck and pierre-paul and we need another dominant DE to work with Long. Those two could dominate opposing OLs for years. Also if Ryans not getting anything out of Gholston in a 3-4, I cant see how he could contribute much in a 4-3.

by NCRam55 on Dec 10, 2010 10:35 PM CST up reply actions

He wouldn’t play a LB position in a 4-3 he would be moved to a DE position would be my guess but I wouldn’t want him because of all the things people have said about his work ethic.

by bobhugehands on Dec 11, 2010 8:58 AM CST up reply actions

Aj Green is amazing

but we won’t get him, Blackmon is perfect. He is like Danario except he has two knees.

"Why not just throw an empty glove down at the shortstop position, it would be cheaper and have better range." - justin007000

by OGC Reds on Dec 10, 2010 9:28 PM CST reply actions

I really feel like we should go olb and og in the first two rounds and then look for bpa later. I also would love to wind up with another og from free agency as well as kiwanuka to compliment long. If we could get a WR in free agency or one that would slip then I would certainly be more than happy with that but as it is there are plenty of solid WR on our team with upside and I cants say that at guard and OLB right now.

by NCRam55 on Dec 10, 2010 10:31 PM CST reply actions

G would be nice

I could see G Rodney Hudson falling to the second when we pick, and grabbing him to all the other teams surprise. I can’t see us passing on one of the greatest WR classes in recent history, conveniently correlating with one of our biggest positions of need, to grab a low value position like LB.

I really wish there was a website that compiled the best at each position and broke down where they were grabbed. I’ve been working on a WR article, but I’m waiting for the end of the season, and it has shown that good WR’s go in the 1st and 2nd rounds. The only WR’s who are any good outside of the top rounds, are just huge. Just from a gut response, without much research to back it, I’m pretty sure great RB’s, LB’s, DL, and OL are all over the place, while great WR, QB (obviously), CB, TE, and S are exclusively at the top rounds.

Julio Jones for Rams 2011

by kinzav29 on Dec 10, 2010 11:17 PM CST up reply actions

I can somewhat see that, but WR seems to have a pretty even talent dispersion. However I think that it is probably easier to find an effective OLB in a 3-4 than a 4-3 earlier on. I can see, however, that we are entering into one of the stronger WR classes in recent history and that our class is ordinary at best, but I think that we have glaring needs at other positions where when I watch Gibson and Alexander, specifically, I see a lot of upside. Avery could also provide substantial upside while Clayton has showed that he can be effective in our offense. Thats excluding what Amendola provides and what Gilyard will hopefully provide next year.

by NCRam55 on Dec 10, 2010 11:27 PM CST up reply actions

But when three of the six are sitting on the bench with injuries,

they don’t get much done for us. Avery has been hurt just about every year, and Alexander could end his career stepping off a curb. We have to have an outstanding talent at WR who can stay healthy.

by andyhawk on Dec 10, 2010 11:31 PM CST up reply actions

Avery has only been in the NFL for three years and Alexander could very well stay healthy for the rest of his career. Any injury talk is speculative. No one could have predicted what has happened with Avery when he came here and what if we were to draft another WR that all of a sudden becomes injured every year. There is no way to guarantee that and I think that the prospects that we have in our group of receivers is much more capable of holding its own in the near and distant future than our guards or outside linebackers.

by NCRam55 on Dec 10, 2010 11:50 PM CST up reply actions

I agree our guards and OLBs leave a lot to be desired.

I just don’t agree that we can count on our current batch of WRs to accomplish much. Why continue to allow the other teams to play 8 in the box all the time because they aren’t worried about our WRs? We need to have a big, fast threat who makes the defenses adjust to him. What I’m hoping is that we can take care of one or two of our needs through free agency, allowing us to use our high draft picks to fill the others. We still have too many weak spots to expect this year’s draft to fill them all.

by andyhawk on Dec 11, 2010 3:38 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah

I think we’re 2 years out from being Super Bowl contenders but we need to be aggressive during free agency period this year.

by douchiedude on Dec 11, 2010 11:49 PM CST up reply actions

Im hoping we can adress DE and G in the FA and then draft for OLB, G, and, if the opportunity presents itself, WR. I just really don’t see it as the dire need that everyone else does. I truly believe that our lack of success running comes down to the guards and if the WRs are to blame, they are still developing and we have yet to see what this corps, when healthy, can do. I truly think that Clayton, Avery, Alexander, Gibson, Amendola, and Gilyard or more than capable of holding their own especially if the young guys can continue to develop and maybe Avery begins to play like a second rounder. Alexander is “a big, fast threat who makes the defenses adjust to him,” not to mention Clayton and Sam are in sync, Avery and Bradford looked to be connecting right before he was injured. I mean next year when these guys come back it will be like we drafted 2 new WRs already. Not to mention if Gilyard and Gibson develop as I still have confidence that they can, we will be fine there, at least for another year. I think everyone is overlooking the youth and inexperience of that group right now.

by NCRam55 on Dec 12, 2010 11:26 AM CST up reply actions

Can't guarantee that a rookie WR

can stay healthy in the NFL either. I think Green, Floyd and Jones have all been nagged by injuries throughout college as well.

by douchiedude on Dec 11, 2010 11:47 PM CST up reply actions

Good wide reciever options have been falling into the second and third rounds in recent drafts.

I would prefer to draft the BPA to fill outside linebacker, offensive guard or defensive line in round one and then see how the run on receivers are going in the second round to see if there is another BPA we can take in the second. At the latest, take the receiver in the third round. I would love to see Jonathon Baldwin drop to us with the 53rd pick. I can’t see him dropping that far, but stranger things have happened.

I'm suffering from an extreme case of laurinaitis!

by NachoD on Dec 12, 2010 11:24 AM CST reply actions

I think the obvious answer to this poll is A.J. Green.

I of course voted for him but I think the poll would have been better if the question asked was “After AJ Green, who is the best receiver coming out that would fill the Rams need for a No. 1 wideout?”

I'm suffering from an extreme case of laurinaitis!

by NachoD on Dec 12, 2010 2:46 PM CST reply actions