2024 Draft WR Rankings: ‘There's no weakness’ | Chris Simms Unbuttoned (FULL Ep. 598) | NFL on NBC 

I've been waiting for this. Simms's hyperdetailed, articulate analysis is by far my favorite brain nourishment during Draft season.

I appreciate Chris for standing by his convictions and giving us his real opinions of the players, he’s correct more often than not.

WR evaluations are so hard when the class is so deep and talented

So glad you mentioned Xavier Legette. That dude could be the steal of this draft. He reminds me of Eric Moulds. Strong WR that can out muscle and out run you.

Love that Ahmed memorized the names of all the polygons, he's truly operating on a different level.

Thank God for Sims: I get so sick of listening to guys who think they are scouting players, but just regurgitating what someone else told them.

I really enjoy these draft breakdowns

He also said jerry jeudy was not a top 5 wr in the draft and he was right

Not mad at Malik over MHJ. Malik is special and once he gets his route running bag, he’s going to be a top 3 WR in the league.

Another great show by Simms

I knew from watching Alex Rollins he would love Nabers it’s literally Chris Simms type of receiver

Been looking forward to this one!

Brian Thomas over Marvin and Rome is insane.

Nice work once again Chris. TY. With so many great WRs in this draft, you should do the next 10 so as to have a top 20! We fans would love that!

Great analysis as always. When are you doing the RB’s?

I love this draft class so much. Honestly so excited to watch this draft and see who the titans choose. Lets go!!!

I thought i was a bit ahead of myself when watching Nabers and thinking "holy shit, this Thomas kid is just as good" His size and ability to go get it reminds me of Plaxico. Has more speed than Plax, but the insane length and silky smooth YAC and high pointing. Cant not see a faster Plax. Almost as interesting as the QBs and where they go will be these WRs. I would love Nabers or Odunze, but can absolutely see Thomas there as well. MHJ has the floor to make him a sure thing but Thomas and Nabers being better pros wouldnt surprise me at all.

Really love chris analysis

I’ve been saying Nabers is better than MHJ

You nailed it!!!

Chris Simms has the longest streak of anyone being wrong about Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa.

I wonder if BTJ would be #2 pre combine

Thx Chris, love your guys work and integrity of past evaluations, Simms never pretends he was always right, refreshing

Comparing Ricky Pearsal to every white wr is hilarious especially when he ran a 4.41 with a 40 inch vert

Everyone needs to listen to Simms man he knows what's up

Great listen, and zero dynasty reference. Much love

Odunze reminds me of Higgins a little. Maybe Hopkins. Big jump ball guy contested catch radius . Good route runner some ability with the ball in his hands.

The media starts developing consensus on players, often prematurely, and then individuals simply jump on the bandwagon with blinders on.

My most valued opinion is chris simms. Thank you for these

Completely Agree With This List

Can you review your picks from 2 years ago? Rather than just the previous year?

Most mocks I've seen Brian Thomas Jr was 4th off the board and being a Packer fan, I really thought he was underrated and if he's there at #25 I'd take him. We have a stacked WR room and he's better than all of them imo. He's just a playmaking game changer. Odunze was fun to watch last year, I saw about 5 Washington games and he was phenomenal, especially just fighting for the ball and incredible hands. You're right about Roman Wilson, electric, nobody could cover him at the Senior bowl. This draft is incredible. McConkey AD Mitchell McCaffrey Worthy Walker Lagette Bub Means Coleman Pearsall Polk Malik Washington Franklin Corley Walker Just amazing class

Good one

I will never claim to be an expert, but I must say that I have never seen what everybody else seems to see in MHJ. Is he great? I'm sure he is. I trust when people say he is. But when I watch these guys with my untrained eyes, Nabers and Odunze are every bit as impressive as Harrison. Nobody can convince me that MHJ is the "obvious" #1 in this class.

I get prospect fatigue and liking Nabers’ explosiveness but saying Marvin isn’t a freak athlete is crazy 😂

Chris I really hope you do a mock draft of what you would do no influence from others predictions. Base it off what the team needs obviously but also off who you truly believe is best for each team.

Nabors is my guy too , he got that dawg in him that put him over the edge

Not the bump and grind 😂😂😂

Best WR class I have seen in the 20 yrs I have been paying attention.

Chris really misread that Decagon for Thomas Jr.’s bench press. He did 11 reps not 19 😂

Chris the goat

Malik Nabers already has the mindset and abilities that resemble a 5 yr veteran in the pros. He's very confident in himself and outworks whomever they line up over him by a DC scheming to keep Nabers contained. That's been very very hard to do in every video I've studied on Nabers especially vs SEC competition. He is numero uno IMO

i knew chris wont go MHjr at 1. he wants freakish explosive YAC wide outs. my only 2 surprises are roman wilson at 5 and xavier worthy not even an honorable mention. ... shut out to ahmed's picks, corley and washington. welcome to the YAC fans.

Daaaaaaammmmmnnnnn! Keep doing your thing, you have such positive vibes. For all of us, don't allow negativity into our lives, Jen is a great example.

Simms description of MH just makes me think of Adam Thielen as a comp.

Would this not drop the ranking of the qb throwing to the top 2 wrs in draft?

I love Brian Thomas his speed and fluidity are elite

ROFL, people are going to go nuts that Simms has Harrison as number 3.

Odunze has the demeanor and competitive fire to make teams fall in love. Sticking around when everyone else had left to beat his 3 cone time might have looked like a PR stunt, but still leaves an impression.

I had to pause this episode and go watch an Interview with Legette. WOW! Simms wasn't kidding. I want him on my team now just to hear him more

My Patriots missed out on a WR1 with the 3rd pick and watered down every subsequent pick as a result. By the look of his tape, Drake Maye actually being serviceable starting QB will be a damn miracle… 🤦🏿‍♂️

LSU is WR U. Wilson, Olave, Smith-Njigba, Harrison Jr. are all nice and fine but let’s get real ok. Would you Ragnar have those 4 guys OR Jamar Chase, J Jefferson, Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr? I’m pretty sure that ANY fuckimg GM and head coach in the NFL is going with the boys from Baton Rouge

“I’m not trying to be clickbaity” also Sims “Brian Thomas is over Marvin Harrison, Junior he’s the next AJ Brown”

Does anyone know how Chris and Ahmed scouted Jayden Reed last year? He sure looked good in his rookie season and was drafted at 50. I wonder where Reed would go in this draft? It seems like maybe 3rd round as stacked as it is this year

I need that same energy for Jaxson smith that your giving to tank dell. Situations matter

Situation is everything with these guys. Last year I loved Tank Dell, Flowers, Dontavion Wicks and Njigba. Tank's numbers were hard to dismiss and he was impossible to cover. I had no idea Jayden Reed was such a dog and was happy the Packers got Wicks late. Thought Reed was a reach, I was wrong, he's amazing. Wicks I think is the next D. Adams, his route running is elite imo. Too soon to judge on just one season but it was a good class, this year seems to be even better at the top end. Last year was deep as is this year.

As a buckeye fan i gotta say Marvin Harrison Jr had a huge step back in qb play last season. You're right tho his separation is a step behind naybors.

MHJ at 3 is wild man, Chris is just so inconsistent. Did the same thing with Garrett, Addison, & now MHJ

Revisiting this after my Jags took Brian Thomas Jr. didn’t realise he doesn’t turn 22 till October!

I totally agree with the top 3. I thought i was the only one.

I would really like to see how Chris Simms can do ask a Offensive Coordinator

Over/under on number of times Simms says "Right": 1,225

This is a crazy stacked WR class 7 should be 1st rounders AD and Roman Ladd are the sleepers

I couldn't agree more with Chris Simms. I had Nabers 1, BTJ 2 and MHJ, and Rome Odunze a close 3 and 4 a month ago.

I listened to this same WR Rankings pod last year and really enjoyed it. The biggest difference in our Top 5s from last year was the exclusion of Tank Dell and the inclusion of Quinton Johnson. QJ's issues were deeper than just not being able to run a route. He didn't really do any WR things well. Not great going up for the football, not great at tracking the ball, and not much a release. I just don't want to bet on someone who basically has to learn everything about the position once they get to the NFL. That's such a long term project. In today's NFL, I'm just not sure that being that small really matter if you have threshold athleticism and elite route running. With switch releases, stacks, trips, etc, the dude's going to be open. I'd like to push back on your route running comments as well. 3 of the best WRs of the last decade were all primarily route runners first: Cooper Kupp, Devonte Adams, and Justin Jefferson. I'm not saying Justin Jefferson and Devonte Adams aren't athletic, they are, but they're not the description of overwhelming size and athleticism described. Justin Jefferson especially hit the ground running in the NFL in large part because of his nuance as a route runner. It's not the only factor, but it's way more important than portrayed in this video, imo. They primarily win with their route running and second their athleticism, imo. WRs like Calvin Johnson, Tyreek Hill, and Julio Jones were/are the other way around, conceded. Also, Antonio Brown was mentioned in the athlete camp and I believe that to be a mistake as well. His numbers were poor coming up to the draft and I think he primarily wins as a route runner, varying speeds, and his release package. The second part of that argument was throwing Jerry Jeudy under the bus as a "great route runner" who has failed? Great route runner is one of the most consistent factors in a WRs success, in my mind. Job #1 of a WR is to get open and job #2 is to catch the ball. Anything and everything, including your preferred athleticism, that helps a receiver to get open is what I primarily look for. It's just that in the NFL everyone is a great athlete. You need more than that, imo. I also have Malik Nabors #1 but disagree he's the best route runner or even in the top 3 in this draft. He's a combo between Jamarr Chase and Debo Samuel in my head, but with better route running than either coming out. The natural receiving ability and explosiveness of Chase with more of the body type of Samuel. I really like Thomas Jr but I'm pretty worried he can't turn a corner. That's what I personally saw on tape. He looks like an incredibly linear athlete. Any route he was asked to make that wasn't in more or less of a straight line, lacked suddenness. Lacked authority. I was super curious to see his shuttle and 3 cone at the draft, and he opted out of both. Not bad necessarily, but just means he's more limited to routes that use that linear explosiveness. #2 is too high for me. My thoughts on MHjr mirror yours exactly. Lower on Rome Odunze. I don't agree he's in the conversation for best route runner in the draft or even top 5. He's not a great separator at all. Both the advanced analytics and the eye test show that. A large part of his game right now is timing routes, which puts more pressure on the QB to make those throws on time and accurately. The game breaks down too often for that to be your main thing. Or at least, I'm less willing to bet on it. Very good once the ball is in the air but I'm not sold on players who aren't great separators and I'd put him below MHjr in that category, the route running category, the athleticism category, and the size of course. In order for him to become Keenan Allen, he's got to dramatically improve his release package and top of the stem abilities. So confused by the comments about Roman Wilson that I had to go back and re-watch him to see if I was missing something. I'm completely baffled. This is the one I'd point to as being the crazy overrate in the list. I didn't see anything that's being talked about in this video other than high end long speed. I see a small receiver with short arms, kind of a long strider who struggles with any route that's not banana shaped. Didn't see great route running. Didn't see a great release package. I'm not sure he can be a star in the slot, either. I'm not sold he has option route suddenness. He's really stiff at times through some of his routes. Just for the sake of putting my own chips on the table: #1 Malik Nabors, #2 MHjr, #3 AD Mitchell, #4 Ladd McConkey, #5 Rome Odunze, #6 Thomas Jr, #7 Troy Franklin. I think AD Mitchell is the best route runner in this draft. Crazy fluid and silky route runner. Constantly playing with the CBs blind spot. Throws head fakes, varies speed. Everything. Consistently wins at every level and the advanced analytics back me up, as he's one of the best separators in this draft. Huge fan of Ladd as well. He's quick, fast, and has an argument as the best route runner as well for me. Advanced analytics also back up that he's an elite separator. Finally, the only other player I haven't put some thoughts to is Troy Franklin. I think he has wiggle, as Chris Simms mentioned, but I think his long speed is incredible. He can run these sail concepts, post, and corner post concepts without breaking stride or losing any speed and that's pretty special. Reminded me almost of a Devin Hester type, where he seemed to get faster when he made small adjustments while already going full speed. I wouldn't touch Lagette. Would just let someone else draft him. He's playing highschool ball still. I'd prefer Maliciah Corley at RB. He's played some there, it suits his abilities, and it would be awesome to flex him out and catch defenses off guard.

this is such a deep WR class I don't even see the need in drafting one in the first 20 picks

I do think Nabers and MHJ are close. And its just the flavor you may lean or team need. Both top 5 talents IMO

I was blown away by Nabers tape. This wr class is the best I've seen. I hope Washington gets Jayden Daniels and trades both 2nds and gets Brian Thomas in the middle of the first. Lets go!

I wonder if his MHJ rank will end up similar to the way he ranked Will Anderson vs where he got drafted/how he performed.

Simms needs to fire his barber 💈 that fade 😂

Xavier Worthy 5’11” 175 is a fine playing wieght, like Marvin Harrison Sr

Even after Bears got Allen I still hope if Rome Odunze is there at #9 they take him. 3 headed monster DJ-Allen-Odunze, with Kmet and Everett too. Or by some miracle Alt falls to them there take him and have an elite o-line, I can't imagine him falling that far. He is an absolute beast.

Huge huge Xavier Leggette fan here. Hope my Bucs draft him

Ladd McConkey not even being talked about is criminal

It all depends on what system and how deeep the receiver room is

I’m fairness to JSN, Flowers was Lamar’s go to guy as the Ravens WR room had nobody on Metcalf or Lockett’s level. Hopefully, especially coming from a Seahawks fan, JSN will come along even more this upcoming season coming season

Yeah, I love the people who’ve been telling me MHJ is the best. Guaranteed to be picked by the Cards if he’s there. Chris is not alone. There are plenty of others with these WRs in different orders.

Mathew Stafford is NEVER GIVEN PROPER CREDIT for handing over 2K yards to MEGATRON 2K yards to COOPER KUP 1486 yards to the RC PUKA NACUA…… All 3 were great wide receivers BUT THE COMMON DENOMINATOR is MATHEW STAFFORD. He’s the one that will make sure that Puka has a 2000 yard season. IMAGINE Puca Nacua on different teams. Zach Wilson is his quarterback…

I know Chris about to spazz on this one.

I agree with Chris on 1 through 4 but I gotta take Adonais Mitchell #5 based on athleticism, size, speed, catch radius, and physicality~

Brian Thomas will be a #1 receiver, I completely agree!! Brian to the Bills is a dream 😮‍💨

I trust Steve Smith Sr. and the original Marvin Harrison when they say MHJ is better than HOFer Marvin Harrison.

I find it so weird that Odunze’s background features state champion sprinter, and yet he’s not fast enough to burn people. I guess maybe he’s gotten bigger since then and slowed down a touch, but that’s not the case with people like DK Metcalf

I love the Roman Wilson at 5

I don’t know what film this guy watched of Brian Thomas but he literally only showed the ability to run a go route. I’m still looking for film of him running any other route good to great consistently. And his release package is super limited and not transferable against elite corners in the NFL

I think you failed to name one thing that gives Harrison the edge is having a hall of fame dad who played the same position so his mind is probably 10 years ahead of a regular guy coming out of college

Anybody else saw that Whiteboy receiver from Georgia Ladd McConkey ,he might be this year’s sleeper pick.

Jamar Chase on the bears and DJ Moore on the Bengals, what a world we live in !

Malik is very aware. From what i can see, he's not as physical while running routes, as Chase. Chase used his hands a lot and bullied DBs to create seperation while also having top end speed. This is why i say chase is a tier higher

Johnny Wilson and Jha'Quan Jackson are the guys for me.

Best at what he does. Been saying this for years now.

53:41 marvin harrison jr does remind of larry fitzgerald. Imo he is a move the chains z at the nfl.

I'd take Legette in a heartbeat. It's like someone put Earl Campbell in a wide receiver's body. Defenders strewn everywhere.

My Seahawks need trench players. I would love Odunze to match with our OC Grubb, his college OC

Say what you want about his rankings. But he puts the work in and watches the tape. Plus he gives us a detailed reasoning.

Quinton Johnston had Brandon Staley as his Head Coach, who got fired. Maybe that more has to do with his lack of production at the NFL level. They also didn't use their runningback Spiller at all until Staley was taken out of the equation.

Lsu wr talent n coach must be awesome cause they always have the best wrs

I wonder if Chris look at MHJ tape with Stroud at QB

48:24 nfl corners? I'll take my chances with MHJ winning jump balls over Nabers and Thomas beating them with speed.

The question i would ask is, did Nabers ability make Jayden Daniels stand out?