Thor Nystrom presents an updated edition of the 2025 NFL Draft wide receiver rankings after the Combine, pro days, after the release of The Thor 500, and as we approach the draft.

NFL Draft Rookie WR Rankings

This is my full list of how I am ranking the incoming rookie WR class ahead of Thursday's draft. I dive deeper into my top 16 below.

Read the FULL THOR 500 here — Thor Nystrom's full ranks of the 500 best players in the 2025 NFL Draft!

Wide Receiver Rankings Analysis For The 2025 NFL Draft: The Top 16

1. Tetairoa McMillan | Arizona | 6041/219 | | RAS: N/A | Comp: Drake London

McMillan’s ball skills are out of this world. Standing a shade over 6-foot-4, McMillan has a fisherman’s-net catch radius. His vice-grip hands ensure that no fish gets off the line.

McMillan is a problem downfield. The former basketball and volleyball standout is very comfortable in the air, and there is no defensive back getting higher than him. McMillan’s ball adjustments are a thing of beauty, using Gumby-like pliability to get the best of the positioning game.

McMillan forces defenders to go through his back to defend balls. He went 19-for-31 in contested situations last year—the second-most contested catches of any receiver in this draft class. He also finished No. 2 in the class in that category in 2023.

McMillan is dangerous in the intermediate area. It’s next-to-impossible to defend McMillan on a slant route in man coverage if you can’t impede his progress at the line. McMillan is an underrated runner after the catch, not slowing down when plucking the ball. Especially for a tall tree, McMillan is slippery.

McMillan is a long-strider with build-up speed. He isn’t sudden, but when he gets moving, his giraffe steps chew up grass very quickly. His 4.48 forty was 80th percentile.

Tet knows what he’s doing against zone coverage. Arizona QB Noah Fifita instinctively looked his way against zone, expecting McMillan to be in vacated grass with his hands up. Over the past two years, McMillan was 74th percentile overall in separation percentile, per PFF. Against zone coverage, McMillan was charted as open on a ludicrous 94.3% of his targets. 

Against man, that plummeted all the way to 53.6%. McMillan finished 39th percentile in separation rate against single-man coverage. McMillan tends to create the small amounts of space that he needs to use his ball skills as a trump card. 

But it’s nonetheless true that he does not consistently create separation in man coverage. He needs to work on his route-running—there are reps where it doesn’t appear that he’s trying to shake his man at all. McMillan could stand to vary his tempo more often.

Over his career, McMillan played roughly three-quarters of his snaps on the boundary, with one-quarter in the slot. On the outside, Arizona shifted him between the “X” and “Z” roles. A creative offensive mind could have a lot of fun exploiting mismatches with him. According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, McMillan posted the highest AIQ score—a cognitive test teams use in the pre-draft process—of any receiver in this year’s class.

McMillan doesn’t project as a superstar, but he’s either going to be a steady WR1 or an exceptional WR2 in the NFL.

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2. Matthew Golden | Texas | 5110/191 | RAS: N/A | Comp: Garrett Wilson

The 5-foot-11, 191-pound Golden stunned the NFL by blazing a 4.29 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. That was the eighth-fastest showing by a receiver since 2013. Golden proved in college that he could win at all three levels from either the slot or boundary. Over his three-year career, Golden was 85th percentile in separation rate, per PFF. 

In 2024, Golden was 89th percentile in receiving grade against single-coverage. Of the consensus top-5 receivers in this class, only Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan had a higher target share in the middle and deep sectors of the field than Golden in 2024. 

Golden shoots off the line with a dealer’s-choice cornucopia of releases, and creates indecision up the route stem with upper-body deeks and false cuts. He toggles speeds like a jet ski and disguises when breaks are coming.

Golden is better deep than you might think from his physical package. He caught 13-of-22 targets 20+ yards downfield, going 7-of-10 on contested situations en route to a 124.1 passer rating on deep targets. Golden gets off the carpet and attacks the ball in the sky, with kinetic body contortions.

Golden gets nitpicked for a lack of size and play strength for a boundary receiver—I did not often see him hindered by either. In comparison to some of the other top receivers in this class, he’s actually not a bad run blocker.

Golden gives effort, and, if nothing else, is a gnat who will frustrate your ability to start the journey down the alley. Golden will never be elite in this area, but he’s never going to embarrass himself in it either.

Golden’s 17% career target share is on the low end for first-round receiving prospects—especially since he spent two-thirds of his career in the G5. However, there is context to consider here.

Tank Dell led the WR room during Golden’s true freshman season at Houston—Dell was justifiably pounded with targets en route to 109 receptions. Also on that team was WR Sam Brown, who joins Golden in this draft class.

Dell was gone in 2023, but that was the season when the injury bug bit Golden hard. In part because of that, Brown, who played all 12 games, established himself as Houston’s WR1 (Brown transferred to Miami the same offseason Golden defected to Texas).

In 2024, Golden started out behind fellow transfer Isaiah Bond in the pecking order. And Texas looked to leverage QB Quinn Ewers’ strength in short/intermediate concepts with RBs and TEs a major part of the game plan (TE Gunnar Helm and RBs Tre Wisner and Jaydon Blue combined for 146 receptions). Despite these factors, the cream ultimately rose to the top—Golden had 19 more receptions and 447 more yards than any other Texas receiver. 

Golden needs to clean up the concentration drops. I’m bullish in that department, because the progress he has already made—Golden’s 6.5% drop rate last year was a strong showing and easily a career-best. Still, he entered 2024 with a career drop rate north of 10%, a red-flag region.

Golden projects as a premium WR2 on a contender—somebody who will lick single-coverage, make plays for you at all three levels, and naturally shift between the boundary and slot as needed.

3. Emeka Egbuka | Ohio State | 6007/202 | RAS: 9.72 | Comp: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Over his four-year career, Egbuka played three-quarters of his snaps in the slot, with one-quarter coming on the boundary. He was deployed like former teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba was. 

Like JSN, Egbuka’s calling cards are route-running and efficiency. A well-built slot at 6-foot-1, 202 pounds, Egbuka is a smooth operator. In the past three seasons, Egbuka was 95th percentile in separation percentage. He’s equally adept against man and zone.

Egbuka has this class’ quickest zone-coverage processor—he gets one snapshot of defender movement post-snap and he’s got the whole picture. Egbuka knows where everyone is headed, which means he knows exactly where the open patch of grass is about to appear.

In man coverage, it’s all angles, spatial manipulation, and leverage. Ohio State’s elite boundary receivers afforded Egbuka the intermediate spacing that he thrives in. Space is an ocean, and, with enough of it, Egbuka will drag your nickel into depth to drown.

Egbuka is a composer out there, with the guitar riffs of unpredictable tempo changes playing over the relentless drumbeat of his quick feet. He throttles down suddenly into route breaks and is precise with his footwork through them. Inevitably, he forces more steps out of his man than he takes—and he’s got a knack for coaxing false steps.

Egbuka’s hands are strong and reliable. His 5.5% drop rate (per PFF) on 205 career receptions was stellar. Egbuka has Professor X-concentration with the ball in the air in congested quarters. This is a skill the NFL will appreciate.

When chains need to be moved, you can trust that you’ll get the best of it with Egbuka if you need to muscle a ball in against tight coverage. Over his career, Egbuka converted an excellent 25-of-46 contested situations.

And to Egbuka’s earlier point about ball tracking and over-the-shoulder catches from his center field days—over the past two seasons, Egbuka was a solid 5-for-11 in contested scenarios 20+ yards downfield. Egbuka is capable of taking advantage of one-on-one opportunities downfield situationally.

Egbuka is similar to JSN in terms of running after the catch. Egbuka doesn’t run with much power, and he doesn’t deploy many open-field pyrotechnics, but his YAC is adequate because of his acceleration and vision. The first helps him get into space, and the second improves his odds of staying there.

The way to defend Egbuka is by trying to take the fight to him right away to disrupt timing. That smooth element of his game starts to look more like finesse on reps his defender tangoes with him out of the chute. You must make Egbuka work for everything, or he’s going to nick you with paper cuts for four quarters.

Egbuka did not athletically test at the NFL Combine. I’m probably in the minority here, but I don’t care if Egbuka tests at all. There are multiple reports of Egbuka running in the 4.4s coming out of high school. Reel Analytics gave Egbuka an elite 96.0 In-Game Athleticism Score. Egbuka has all the athleticism he needs to excel in the role we know he’ll play in the NFL—high-volume efficiency slot.

4. Luther Burden | Missouri | 6000/206 | RAS: N/A | Comp: Percy Harvin

Missouri went to great lengths to get the ball in Burden’s hands, shifting him around the formation and generating quick-look ball shuttles. With the ball in his hands, Burden looks like a star running back—he’s extremely sudden, with a NAS acceleration button.

The issue is getting it there. The Tigers would use the boundary receiver on Burden’s side to pick/rub Burden’s man, or send him out on dummy clear-out patterns to create space for Burden.

Mizzou would also line up Burden as a single-back RB in four-WR sets (five including him) and spray the heavy-side WRs down the field to open space to dump the ball to Burden leaking out of the backfield.

These various “clear-out” concepts were designed to get Burden the ball with one tackle to break for an opportunity at an explosive play. He’s always a threat to do so because of his skill with the ball in his hands.

Just don’t draft Burden expecting that he’s going to create throwing windows for his quarterback—those need to be generated for him. Over his three-year career, Burden had 192 catches—84 of them came behind the line of scrimmage (43.7%!). By contrast, Burden had only 48 catches 10-plus air yards down the field (25%). His career aDOT was 15th percentile.

Almost all of Burden’s catches 20-plus yards downfield in college were against single-high defenses where the concept was designed to yank that safety away from Burden. Generally, Burden would run by his one-on-one coverage assignment.

Burden’s downfield ball-tracking comes and goes—I saw him make some slick adjustments on balls to secure a catch. I also saw him misjudge a couple of balls that landed just out of reach.

What I wanted to see more of was salesmanship. There was an instant of that in his tape against Boston College last season—Missouri clears out Burden’s side of the field, leaving him in one-on-one coverage on one half of the field. This was the goal of Missouri’s offense the past two years.

Burden’s defender is playing downhill on him, and he gets fooled—Burden mimes a quick-out, which BC had seen earlier. The defender bites down hard, and Burden turns on the jets upfield for a non-contested touchdown. I needed to see more of that kind of thing.

The urgency that you see in Burden’s movement with the ball isn’t there in his route-running—it’s a more straightforward affair. For this reason, Missouri didn’t stretch him, and instead tried to leverage what he was good at. When you saw defenses go into a drop zone, it was nearly automatic that Burden would run a hitch and sit five yards upfield for a free catch-and-run opportunity.

Unlike some manufactured-touch slot receivers we’ve seen come out in recent years, Burden actually has pretty solid ball skills. He has reliable hands. And when you can lead him into space, there is no transition between receiver and runner. Over the past two seasons, Burden posted stellar drop rates south of 5%.

Burden is very much like Percy Harvin in that his north/south explosion not only chews up yards quickly, but it converts into an element of power that gives him a little tackle-breaking juice. When Burden gets chugging, he’ll bounce off off-angle attempts from defensive backs.

Burden’s 4.41 40 at the NFL Combine was 95th-percentile, and his 10-yard split of 1.54 was 90th-percentile—he has house-call, angle-erasing speed with green grass in front of him.

Burden profiles as a flammable third banana for an elite passing offense. If your boundary receivers are good enough to demand double-high safety looks for four quarters, Burden is going to punish defenses for the short and intermediate spacing that is naturally going to be there.

5. Jayden Higgins | Iowa State | 6041/214 | RAS: 9.92 | Comp: Kenny Golladay

Higgins is a crafty boundary receiver and a fluid mover on film. A transfer from Eastern Kentucky, Higgins jumped up to the FBS level and lit it up with a 140-2166-15 aggregate receiving line the past two seasons.

Rangy and broad-shouldered with long arms, Higgins has a bloated catch radius. His 80-inch wingspan is the biggest of my top-15 ranked WRs. Amplifying the effect, Higgins regularly spears balls outside of his frame, and it’s rare to see him drop a ball placed within it.

Over 350 targets across a four-year career, Higgins had a microscopic 3.0% drop rate—and he finished his career with three consecutive seasons of a drop rate of 2.2% or less! He shows supreme concentration in congested quarters in the intermediate area. And Higgins flips 50/50 balls deep, converting a stellar 45-for-81 career contested situations.

It was no surprise that he dominated in one-on-ones at the Senior Bowl. At the NFL Combine, Higgins ran a 4.47 forty, with vertical and broad jumps that both finished 85th percentile.

One area for work is the diversification of his release package. Higgins isn’t super sudden off the line, and his releases are fairly straightforward. Physical NFL press corners are going to make him prove it before they back off.

Higgins skipped the agility tests in Indianapolis, which wasn’t a huge surprise. He’s a linear mover and doesn’t change directions suddenly. You’ll want to keep this in mind with the way you deploy him, which naturally clips a few branches from his route tree.

6. Jaylin Noel | Iowa State | 5102/194 | RAS: 9.72 | Comp: Christian Kirk

Noel was an extremely productive slot receiver in the Big 12, catching 60 or more passes each of his last three seasons, culminating in an 80-1194-8 line in 2024.

Defensive backs had all kinds of issues staying with Noel’s lightning-quick feet in space during one-on-ones at the Senior Bowl. Noel’s best traits are instant acceleration and body control. He attacks off the line with burst, and his movements are controlled-by-a-joystick precise from there. 

In this way, Noel consistently creates separation. That’s always been a staple of his game. Where Noel has improved is in his hands and his ability to finish plays in traffic. Noel slashed his drop rate from 10% in 2022 all the way to 4.8% last season. He also converted 51% of his career 39 contested opportunities, a tremendous showing for his size.

At the NFL Combine, Noel’s 40-yard dash of 4.39 was 86th percentile. He showed hyper-explosion with a 96th-percentile vertical and 97th-percentile broad. Noel profiles as a high-volume starting NFL slot.

7. Elic Ayomanor | Stanford | 6016/206 | RAS: 9.78 | Comp: Braylon Edwards

A late bloomer from Canada, Ayomanor burst onto the scene by lighting up Colorado CB Travis Hunter in 2023. Ayomanor finished the upset win with 13 receptions for 294 yards and three TDs. 

The 6-foot-2, 206-pound Ayomanor plays bigger than his size. He’s a bully of a boundary receiver, with good play strength and a feisty style. Ayomanor is a lunchpail blocker who gets after it.

But Ayomanor isn’t a physically-limited fighter—he’s a strong athlete and former track star. Ayomanor blazed a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine with a 38.5-inch vertical and a 10-foot-7 broad jump.

Ayomanor has very good ball skills and goes up and gets it downfield. He ran a limited route tree in his two active seasons and needs more polish in that area. He also isn’t much of a YAC guy.

He’s still working on his release package, which remains rudimentary. But what Ayomanor does have is lower-half suddenness, driving hard off the line and winning inside leverage on crossers and slants.

Ayomanor profiles as a quality NFL WR2 on the boundary who will provide his offense a sprinkling of possession-receiver efficiency with stretch-the-field explosive plays.

8. Tre Harris | Mississippi | 6023/205 | RAS: 9.19 | Comp: Cedric Tillman

A well-built boundary receiver, Harris could make the argument that he was college football’s best per-play receiver last season. Harris’ 5.15 YPRR was absurd. Unfortunately, Harris was limited to eight games due to a lower-body injury. He still put up a 60-1030-7 receiving line, averaging 128.8 YPG receiving.

The problematic aspect of his evaluation returns to the murky area of QB Jaxson Dart’s profile—Ole Miss’ offense was heavy on first-read concepts, and Harris, when healthy, was very clearly that for the Rebels.

Harris also derived a chunk of his production from empty-calorie concepts. Of Harris’ 79 targets, 40 (50.6%) came on either hitches or screens. A hitch route is a tiny hook—you turn around five yards upfield and park against off-coverage for uncontested freebies.

You play off Harris because he’s very good downtown, and Ole Miss regularly sent him deep—21 of his targets last year came on either posts or go routes (26.6%). As with Higgins above, Harris is a linear-moving boundary receiver. Harris’ routes at Ole Miss were radically skewed to keep him moving north/south, whether he had the ball or not.

Opposing defenses threw a ton of press coverage at Harris, knowing how often he was the primary read and attempting to throw a wrench into timing. The work Harris has put into his release package to ensure he wouldn’t get snared off the line is clear—he has a deep bag of tricks.

Harris isn’t going to beat you at route breaks with agility, but he has other tricks to gain separation. His favorite is confusing defenders with speed changes along his path. Ala Higgins, Harris’ NFL route tree needs to be parred down a bit to leverage what he’s best at.

9. Jalen Royals | Utah State | 6000/205 | RAS: 9.23 | Comp: Chris Chambers

A dual-sport athlete who played basketball in high school, Royals fell through the recruiting cracks. But he’s always been a great athlete. He proved that at the NFL Combine with a 4.42 forty at 205 pounds.

The late-bloomer burst onto the scene in 2023 with 71 catches for 1,080 yards and 15 TDs. Royals piled up a 55-834-6 receiving line in seven games in 2024 before a foot injury ended his season early. 

Royals is sleek, with easy acceleration and speed. He’s a strong route-runner with good feet—he slams on the breaks, cuts clean angles, and accelerates back to top speed in a few steps.

Royals’ ability to win separation in the intermediate area and run after the catch forces defenders to play up on him. But he’s also good deep, with wheels and a feel for racking-and-stacking.

Royals could continue working on his release package. Because of his suddenness and strength, Royals didn’t face much resistance in the Mountain West. He’ll want to add more variety for the next level.

10. Jack Bech | TCU | 6012/214 | RAS: 9.46 | Comp: Eric Decker

Jack Bech flashed as a freshman at LSU in 2021. But injuries and a deep receiver room conspired against him the next two years, leading to a transfer to TCU. He broke out his final season with a 62-1034-9 receiving line. 

He has really good ball skills, extending to the ball and greeting it with soft hands. Bech is exceedingly comfortable with company at the catch point, creating space with the ball on its way with his hands and contorting to give himself the best of it. He’s always been strong in contested situations.

Bech played three-quarters of his snaps on the boundary last season. He was a big slot earlier in his career, and that may ultimately end up being his destiny in the NFL.

11. Tory Horton | Colorado State | 6024/196 | RAS: 9.79 | Comp: Rashod Bateman

Horton is a wiry, quick-footed boundary receiver. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons at CSU in 2022-2023. A season-ending knee injury in October 2024 snapped that streak. He returned to run a 4.41 forty at the NFL Combine.

Horton is a slick route-runner with a diverse release package. He sells a bill of goods to the defender along his route path. The past two seasons, Horton was 91st percentile in separation rate, per PFF.

Horton has very strong hands, and he trusts them implicitly. Over his five-year career, he logged a strong 5.6% drop rate. Precious little of his production came from manufactured touches. Over the past three seasons, Horton had more targets 30+ yards downfield (43) than screen targets (41).

Horton has the goods to win deep. He is a long-strider with build-up speed. Horton is on the thinner side and is given the most problems by physical corners, who can jar him along the route path.

Horton brings inside/outside versatility to the NFL, a primary boundary who took plenty of snaps in the slot in college. He profiles as a starting complementary receiver.

12. Kyle Williams | Washington State | 5105/190 | RAS: 6.24 | Comp: Marvin Mims

Williams converted to WR as a high school senior and one year later was named a Freshman All-American for his work at UNLV at that position during the pandemic-shortened season in 2020. Williams went on to have 248 career receptions in 50 games over five seasons, three of them at UNLV, two at Wazzu (the first with Cam Ward).

Williams rose throughout the process thanks to a strong pre-draft process, beginning with an outstanding Senior Bowl. In Mobile, Williams showed the best release package of any WR at the event. He is extremely sudden of the line, with blur-fast feet working towards a purpose.

Williams has mediocre measurables. But he manages to create opportunities for his quarterback thanks to the reliability with which he gets off the line and into his route, and the separation he tends to gain through the route-break phase.

Williams’ sublime 4.39 YPRR against man-coverage and 88th-percentile PFF separation percentile against single-coverage tell the tale of how down-in, down-out reliable he has become.

The lack of physical trump cards lowers Williams’ ceiling. But this is a high-floor prospect capable of playing either on the boundary or in the slot. He’s an efficiency player who can free himself quickly for move-the-chain completions underneath who has also shown the ability to win downfield when isolated one-on-one.

13. Dont'e Thornton | Tennessee | 6045/205 | RAS: 9.84 | Comp: Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Thornton made a statement at the NFL Combine, becoming the first receiver taller than 6-foot-4 since 2023 to run a 4.35 or faster. He’s a one-trick-pony deep-ball guy, posting a hilarious 26-661-6 receiving line (25.4 YPC) in 2024.

Fortunately for Thornton, the NFL values his trick. Defenders must respect his speed, and the over-the-top help he commands opens up space for his teammates.

14. Isaac TeSlaa | Arkansas | 6035/214 | RAS: 9.92 | Comp: Devaughn Vele

One of the best size/athleticism combinations in this class, TeSlaa is a big-slot sleeper to keep an eye on in this down WR class. Caught in a bad situation at Arkansas, TeSlaa made the most of his opportunities, finishing 99th percentile in PFF receiving grade last season and 85th percentile in separation rate against single-coverage.

One of the few receivers in this class with 10-inch hands, TeSlaa additionally did not drop a ball last season. He opened my eyes at the Senior Bowl with his ability to make plays downtown – TeSlaa gets off the carpet and extends to the ball at its highest point.

TeSlaa seems destined to return better-than-draft-slot-value by becoming a reliable big-slot target for an 11-personnel base offense. Think Devaughn Vele or Quincy Enunwa. 

15. Tez Johnson | Oregon | 5097/154 | RAS: 7.18 | Comp: Paul Richardson

Johnson is a twitchy and explosive slot receiver. He’s stick-thin at 154 pounds, but boy is he hard to stay with in space. At the NFL Combine, Johnson disappointed with a 4.51 (51st percentile) forty. But his 93rd-percentile three-cone and 92nd-percentile broad jump salvaged things. 

Not surprisingly, he doesn’t excel in contested situations. But Johnson, like Tank Dell at Houston, is a strong downfield receiver despite his frame. Johnson’s athleticism makes him an extremely tricky matchup for most nickel defenders. When that nickel doesn’t have over-the-top help, Johnson can get open deep in a blink.

Johnson can be bullied by press coverage. Fortunately, he didn’t see a high preponderance of that in the slot. And while Johnson had a strong 6.7% drop rate in college, he has a concerning habit of not always extending for the ball, sometimes reverting to trapping.

16. Savion Williams | TCU | 6037/222 | RAS: N/A | Comp: Cordarrelle Patterson

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Williams is a two-time member of Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List.” Over the summer, Feldman reported that Williams had a 10-6 broad jump and 40-inch vertical while squatting 600 pounds and clocking 22.5 mph on the GPS.

Like Cordarrelle Patterson and Laviska Shenault, Savion Williams is an athlete for whom you manufacture touches close to the line of scrimmage. Then watch him run. NFL teams will want to take notes on how TCU changed Williams’ usage patterns this past season.

In 2023, TCU miscast Williams as a stretch-the-field (12.2 aDOT) boundary receiver (86.7% of snaps). In 2024, Williams had a 6.7 aDOT as his boundary snaps were slashed to 70.9%. On nearly one-third of his snaps, TCU either lined Williams up in the slot or in the backfield.

TCU peppered Williams with screens, touch passes, and drags/slants in 2024. The Horned Frogs also brought Williams into the backfield for handoffs and direct snaps. Williams has great burst and speed, and he runs with power.

Where Would Travis Hunter Rank As A Wide Receiver?

Travis Hunter | Colorado | 6038/188 | Comp: Shohei Ohtani

If Travis Hunter were only a wide receiver, he’d be WR1 in this class. If he were only a cornerback, he’d be CB1. Hunter is a legitimate game-changer on both sides of the ball. Last season, he led the nation with 1,360 snaps—688 on defense, 672 on offense.

This guy is a touched-by-God athlete. He’s got it all. The speed. The explosive acceleration. The agility. The fluidity. We’ve seen superhero athletes before. What makes Travis Hunter different is the instincts and skills he augments that athleticism with.

Hunter’s ludicrous ball skills are all over his tape—on both sides of the ball. In 2024, he got his hands on nearly half as many balls (11) as were completed against him (23). Hunter tied for No. 10 in the FBS with 1.2 passes defensed per game in 2024. He added four interceptions. 

In 2023, Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor posted an absurd 13-294-3 receiving line in a wild 2-OT upset win over Colorado. PFF charted Hunter as responsible for 11 of the catches for 158 yards and 2 TDs. Hunter allowed 32.0 YPG receiving in the other games that year.

Hunter’s time with Deion Sanders started to show real dividends in 2024, as he leveled up as a corner. Hunter’s PFF coverage grade spiked from 74.7 to 90.3. His QB rating against was a microscopic 39.9, and he allowed a minuscule 17.1 YPG receiving in coverage.

Hunter has all the athleticism he needs to stay with the feet, propulsion, and route-running of any receiver. He has a knack for triggering at the opportune time to get involved at the catch point—the ball rarely beats him to the spot. Hunter erases the efficiency of the receiver across from him. Beating him short or intermediate is exceedingly difficult.

The area where we saw Hunter get selectively beaten—Ayomanor being the famous example—was down the field in one-on-one coverage. Coaches trust Hunter on an island, as they should. But his quick-trigger aggression can be exploited, and his upright, prowler style is not as advantageous for quick hip-flipping.

Hunter is not a finesse player—he’s actually a pretty good tackler, and his work in run defense has improved year by year. Hunter won the Baylor game on a tackle attempt, forcing a fumble at the goal line in overtime.

Hunter has dizzying speed in and out of cuts. It tricks your eyes. He plays bigger than his 6-foot, 188-pound bill as a receiver. His wingspan is solidly above-average for NFL cornerbacks, and is only one inch south of pterodactyl Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan. Hunter is an acrobatic contortionist at the moment of truth, turning poorly thrown balls into completions.

These traits, of course, make Hunter a contested-catch virtuoso and a downfield assassin. Last season, he went 11-for-18 in contested situations.  On balls thrown 20+ yards downfield, Hunter posted a perfect 99.9 PFF grade with 15.44 YPRR.

Hunter will be a two-way player in the NFL. He intends to become the Shohei Ohtani of football, and your offense cannot afford to keep him off the field. He’ll be a full-time CB, and I ballpark that he’ll additionally play around 40% of his team’s offensive snaps.

We haven’t seen anything quite like Travis Hunter enter the NFL over the past decade. He is the best prospect in this class.

More NFL Draft Wide Receiver Scouting Reports

• Tet McMillan
• Matthew Golden
• Emeka Egbuka
• Luther Burden
• Travis Hunter

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