It’s been a few weeks since I’ve gotten the chance to dive into the NFL Draft, only a few tweets here and there. I’ll shout out a recent tweet that sparked the idea for this entire newsletter. As we approach the heart of draft season, you’re going to see other analysts try to talk you into their favorite players while simultaneously overreacting to combine and pro day numbers. This is the time of year where I begin eliminating outliers and nailing down my final board. I also had Amon-Ra St. Brown as a top 5 wide receiver in his class and he was the 16th receiver taken. There is a certain level of nerdy science to finding WRs.

Wide receivers are one of the easier positions to scout in a lot of ways - I’m not trying to say it’s easy by any means, but it’s mostly pure numbers and data, a lot of which are almost directly correlated to draft capital. This is especially true in fantasy football, but that’s a conversation for May-August.

This will be my last mock draft until draft week because you can literally drive yourself insane doing these. The month leading up to the draft is grueling for anyone who has been researching prospects since last May. I'll be focusing on diving deeper into specific team needs and finalizing my board over the next couple of weeks. More to come, for now let’s talk about this mock.

There’s only a small chance one of these receivers goes inside the top 5. I think the earliest spot is Cleveland at 6. The Giants are another option, but they might have bigger needs. This class is deeper than last year’s. A lot of people are speculating the Titans will go Jeremiyah Love at 4 but factoring in the hire of Robert Salah I’d guess they are going defense with BOTH of their first-round picks. In the 2022 NFL Draft, Salah and the New York Jets went Sauce Gardner and now Titan Jermaine Johnson II in the first round before selecting Breece Hall early in the second round.

Carnell Tate makes the most sense in Cleveland. It seems like such a no brainer. They have other needs, but they need to get playmakers in place for Shedeur Sanders and whichever QB they draft in 2027. Tate can get on top of the defense and make explosive plays. He’s a great compliment to Jerry Jeudy in a receiver room that is crying for talent. It’s their number one need in my opinion.

The Dolphins picking at 11 are in a prime spot to grab the next first round receiver. Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill are gone, and the receiver room is decimated. I think they can go defense here and still grab two receivers by the end of day 2, potentially later in the first round. They have seven total picks in the top 94. With David Bailey available, the Eagles give up a haul to go get a pure edge rusher that can get immediate pressure on pass rush downs. He has an unbelievable first step and is lanky at 6’4 with 34-inch arms. In this scenario, the Dolphins send AJ Brown to Miami, swap first rounders and I’ll let someone much smarter than me balance out the compensation. The point is, Brown wants out of Philly and he’s not unfamiliar with being traded on draft day. With the pick from the Eagles, the Dolphins take Omar Cooper Jr., a player that is closer to the top three than the next two in my opinion. He’s kind of in a tier by himself after the top three for me. He’s physical after the catch, reliable anywhere on the field and was the most productive receiver on the best team in college football. A perfect complement to Brown.

The Rams picking at 13 need a successor to Davante Adams and Puka Nacua who has hinted at an early retirement. If Jordyn Tyson is there, he has a chance to be Sean McVay’s next near-2,000-yard receiver. I love the fit because Tyson is extremely good on in-breaking routes and working over the middle. And he’s always open. The only question for Tyson is injuries and overall consistent physicality. I think he is the smoothest offensive skill position player in the class.

Makai Lemon’s combine was a non-issue for me. He did an interview with Mike Florio and Chris Simms and crushed it. He seems like a lowkey guy and a dream fit for the Ravens. They need interior offensive line help, but this is a deep class and for now they have 10 other picks they can address it. They have to get a day one impact playmaker on offense. Other than Zay Flowers, no Baltimore receiver had more than 330 yards in 2025.

The Jets need to add a receiver but if the top three receivers go before pick 16, they need to add more defense. They have four picks in the top 103 they can add receiver. Pittsburgh is another team that could address receiver and go all in for Aaron Rodgers’ last run at a Super Bowl. They’ve already added Michael Pittman this offseason.

The Chiefs have three picks in the top 40, and I think they’ll grab a receiver with one of those picks. If Tate gets to 9, it’s worth thinking about. Here they get Denzel Boston who I compared to Michael Pittman. Both 6’4 220-pound receivers with 32-inch arms. You wouldn’t think the shorter arms matters that much, but it really does. Those two inches could be the difference between Nico Collins (#89 pick, 34” arms) and Michael Floyd (#13 pick, 32” arms). No offense to Floyd who played seven seasons in the NFL, but Collins has three-straight 1,000-yard seasons. Floyd only had one his entire career. Boston is a good fit for Andy Reid and the Chiefs who get Eric Bienemy back as I’ve talked about several times. The Chiefs offense is back to being a problem for opposing defenses.

That leaves KC Concepcion out of the first round in this mock, as well as Malachi Fields and Zachariah Branch who some analysts have as top 25 players in the class. I’m lower on Branch, but I really like Fields’ movement for his size. I think Concepcion has the best chance to get into the first round out of these three. Day 2 is always the most fun for fantasy football, I can’t wait to see where these guys land.

We are finally ONE month from the 2026 NFL Draft, so subscribe to the newsletter and I’ll have content every day from here until the draft. #NoMoreMocks