This is the last of my positional rookie rankings before I drop the overall top 50 on Tuesday May 5. If you want to see deeper dives on most of the wide receivers, check out my pre-draft rankings.
| Tennessee Titans |
| New Orleans Saints |
| Philadelphia Eagles |
| Cleveland Browns |
| Cleveland Browns |
| San Francisco 49ers |
| Washington Commanders |
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Carolina Panthers |
| New York Giants |
| Baltimore Ravens |
| Baltimore Ravens |
| New Orleans Saints |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Los Angeles Chargers |
| Las Vegas Raiders |
First-round rookie wide receivers
My pre-draft rankings mirrored draft capital through the first four picks exactly and had Omar Cooper Jr. just a spot lower than where he went among all wideouts. The Browns taking KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston have made both players less appealing for 2026, but Cleveland should add a top quarterback in 2027, so things will get better soon. I’m willing to wait that out, given the talent profiles of both players.
49ers shock everyone at pick No. 33
Ty Simpson aside, the 49ers made what may have been the most shocking pick of draft weekend with De’Zhaun Stribling at the top of the second round. Stribling is a five-year college player who peaked at a solid 29 percent yardage share with Oklahoma State in 2024. He then transferred to Ole Miss. Despite the Rebels ranking 10th in the country in scoring, Stribling averaged a pedestrian 2.15 yards per route run, bringing his career average to 1.68. His yards per team pass attempt is similarly lacking at just 1.47. Stribling joins an ugly list of Day 2 players with a career YPTPA under 1.5 (since 2015):
- Cedric Tillman
- Ardarius Stewart
- Keon Coleman
- Curtis Samuel
- Miles Boykin
- Adonai Mitchell
Stribling is a dynamic boundary receiver who averaged six YAC per catch throughout his career with an 11.5 aDOT. He moves the chains and is maybe the best run-blocker in the class. That’s a Jauan Jennings replacement by any other name. I struggle to see Stribling carving out a WR1 role at any point in his career, but I understand why Kyle Shanahan wanted him despite his lackluster production.
Steelers land Bama WR Germie Bernard on Day 2
Bernard played at Michigan State and Washington as an underclassman. He was purely a backup then, sitting behind Jayden Reed, Keon Coleman, Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillan at those schools. He then transferred to Bama for a starting role. Even as a starter, Bernard peaked at a 26 percent yardage share in 2024. That fell three points last year. His 1.7 YPRR in 2025 brought his career average down to 1.9. He’s a solid YAC producer with nearly 1,000 yards after the catch for his career in total, coming at a clip of 6.4 per catch. He doesn’t have dreadful spreadsheet numbers. It’s more so that nothing stands out. He will mix in behind Michael Pittman and DK Metcalf as a rookie in Pittsburgh.
Dolphin adds three receivers
Miami drafted three wideouts this year in an effort to replace Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. I talked about Chris Bell in my pre-draft rankings. Bell is a physical X receiver with a strong final year, but he will likely miss much of the 2026 season with a torn ACL. Caleb Douglas was a backup at Florida before transferring to Texas Tech to start for the Red Raiders. He hit 800 yards in back-to-back seasons but accounted for just 23 percent of the team’s receiving yards. Douglas is a boundary wideout, but he doesn’t win at the catch point. He brought in just 37.5 percent of his career contested targets and dropped six passes in his final season. With 4.39 wheels, Douglas is likely a field-stretching Z receiver in the pros.
Kevin Coleman Jr. bounced around three different colleges before landing at Mizzou in 2025. He broke out at Mississippi State in 2024 with 844 yards and five scores, both of which accounted for over 30 percent of his team’s total output. His 732 yards in 2025 were good for another 30 percent yardage share, but Coleman scored just one touchdown as a senior. Still, he managed 2.2 YPRR on a dreadful passing attack. Over 90 percent of his career routes came from the slot. At 5-foot-10, 179 pounds, that’s where he will be stuck in the NFL. On a Miami team in dire need of a true target-earner, Coleman could be surprisingly productive right away.
Giants and Ravens find their WR2
Malachi Fields spent four years at Virginia, two as a starter and two as a backup. He had strong market share metrics, albeit with a sub-2 YPRR. Fields then transferred to Notre Dame, where he set a career-high in YPRR at 2.2, which is not an awfully impressive high-water mark. His yardage share plummeted to 21 percent. That’s a considerable red flag for a player in their fifth year. At 6-4, 218 pounds with a lumbering 4.61 40-yard dash, Fields is an old school X receiver in an era when that player has largely gone extinct. He makes sense as a complement to Malik Nabers’ skill set, but I doubt he ever becomes more than a fantasy WR3.
The Ravens took multiple shots to find their foil to Zay Flowers. Ja’Kobie Lane was their first bet. Lane hit a measly 22 percent yardage share in his final season at USC. Makai Lemon’s presence is a reasonable alibi there, but Lane still failed to create much separation despite defenses keying in on Lemon. Over 30 percent of Lane’s targets were contested last year and he brought down just 43.5 percent of them. Lane looks like a sacrificial X receiver for the Ravens. I wrote up Elijah Sarratt in my pre-draft rankings, so this will be quick. Sarratt also struggled to separate in college, though he was more productive and efficient than Lane. Despite playing a boundary role at Indiana, he could serve as a power slot receiver for Baltimore.
Dynasty rookie sleepers
This is the catch-all section for remaining players I didn’t rank or write up in my pre-draft rankings.
Brenen Thompson, Mississippi State
Thompson started one season at Mississippi State after a few years of backup duties at Texas and Oklahoma. His final season was admittedly impressive. He topped 1,000 yards and averaged 2.68 yards per route run. The bad news is that he’s 164 pounds. With 4.26 40 speed, Thompson should carve out a role in LA, but I don’t expect him to be a full-time player at any point in his career. On the plus side, he’s Mike McDaniel guy.
"if you're not fired up, you're dead" - mike mcdaniel pic.twitter.com/8oUsYZlJ5a
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) April 25, 2026
Zavion Thomas, LSU
Thomas never earned all that much of a role at Mississippi State or LSU over four years. His 28 percent yardage share in 2023 is actually a fairly strong number, but he did so while averaging 1.8 yards per route run, and his final season featured a measly 16 percent yardage share. Ben Johnson called out his ability to play from the backfield and his special teams prowess after the draft.
Ben Johnson on WR Zavion Thomas:
— BearsMuse (@ChiBearsMuse) April 26, 2026
“He’s got a unique skill set, he ran a 4.22, guys like that don’t grow on trees. The versatility he showed from the backfield whether it’s running routes or handoffs is something we think can really help us and he can be a key component in what… pic.twitter.com/QOKvEfTsyR
Thomas scored three return touchdowns in college and ran the ball 40 times. DJ Moore logged 15 carries last year and is now in Buffalo. On top of that, Devin Duvernay was the Bears’ top returner, and he’s gone as well. Thomas will fill those roles as a rookie, but maybe Johnson can develop him into something more over time.
Malik Benson, Oregon
Benson was the No. 1 JUCO transfer in 2022 after two seasons at Hutchinson Community College. He then spent two seasons as a backup split between Alabama and Florida State. Benson played his last season at Oregon, amassing a 43-719-6 receiving line. At 2.6 yards per route run, he looks like a relatively efficient producer. That is largely because he ran just 277 routes on a team that dropped back nearly 500 times. In that regard, he’s like a lesser version of Dont’e Thornton from last year’s class. The Raiders have next to nothing at wide receiver right now, so there’s room for anyone to break out. It wouldn’t stun me if Benson is that guy, though that largely speaks to the state of the Raiders’ receiver room.
