Part 1, WR: Who's the next star wideout?
Bob McGinn's 42nd draft series begins. One scout doesn't give a damn what Carnell Tate ran. One scout sees JSN in Makai Lemon. But in 2026? Mining for A-level talent is complicated.
This is the 42nd year, and the fifth year at Go Long, that Bob McGinn has written a position-by-position series previewing the NFL draft. Previously, it appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1985-’91), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1992-2017), BobMcGinnFootball.com (2018-’19) and The Athletic (2020-’21). Until 2014, many personnel people were quoted by name. The series reluctantly adopted an all-anonymous format in 2015 at the request of many scouts. Times in the 40-yard dash reflect the average of hand-held clockings from the combine and pro days. The electronic times from the combine aren’t compatible with most pro days and thus weren’t utilized.
First of 12 parts: wide receivers.
By Bob McGinn
Maybe someone in this year’s class of wide receivers will emerge from mid-round anonymity to become stars a la the Rams’ Puka Nacua and the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown. That seems as possible as having one of the group’s nominal leading prospects achieve greatness.
Like most positions in a draft lacking star power, the wide receivers will challenge scouting departments to make keen evaluations and unearth players in the third-to-sixth rounds that might well turn out to be better pros than those selected in the top 100.
“There’s a decent amount of depth but there’s no real stud,” an executive in personnel for an AFC team said. “Carnell Tate might be the first receiver taken but he wasn’t even the best receiver on his team in college.”
Tate played three seasons at Ohio State, the last two in a secondary role to the estimable Jeremiah Smith. He’ll probably become the Buckeyes’ sixth first-round wide receiver in five drafts, all with Brian Hartline coaching the position.
Over the years, Penn State was known for producing linebackers, Miami for running backs, Iowa for tight ends and Wisconsin for offensive linemen. Under Hartline, a crafty wide receiver himself in Columbus who caught 344 passes from 2009-’14 for the Dolphins and Browns, Ohio State became a wideout factory.
Hartline’s first-round pupils include Garrett Wilson (5-11 ½, 184, 4.40) and Chris Olave (6-0 ½, 185, 4.45) in 2022, Jaxon Smith-Njigba (6-0 ½, 197, 4.52) in 2023, Marvin Harrison (6-3, 209, no 40) in 2024 and Emeka Egbuka (6-1, 202, 4.48) in 2025. Their draft slot, in order, was 10th, 11th, 20th, fourth and 19th.
Jameson Williams (6-1 ½, 180, no 40) played his first two years at Ohio State before transferring and playing one season at Alabama. He was the 12th choice in 2022.
Terry McLaurin (6-0, 207, 4.30), a third-round choice in 2019 with two Pro Bowls, also benefited from Hartline, who in December was hired to coach South Florida. All except Harrison have forged excellent starts to their pro careers.
“I could see why he could recruit and why they could relate to him coaching them,” an executive said. “He’s just a cool guy to talk to. Step 1, though, they got top-3, top-5 receivers every year. It’s not like he had the 300th-rated receiver and made him into a first-rounder. With the guys they had it’s not that hard to coach them.”
Nobody in the scouting fraternity is saying this is 1990 or 2008, when not one wideout graced the first round. But no one foresees a first round approaching the last six drafts when an average of 5.3 were selected.
“You just don’t see first-rounders,” said another scout. “They just don’t jump out. Mike Evans is a blue player. None of these guys are really blue.
“You’ve been able to get running backs and receivers down the line for years because it’s not a hard position to play. The hard positions are corner, pass rush, offensive tackle, quarterback. Wide receivers and backs, my God, there’s production all over the place.
“A lot of guys don’t have the stats. But you watch all their targets and plays and you go, ‘Gee, this guy just needs to get the ball more.’ There’s a lot of good receivers in this draft.”
Another long-time evaluator labeled Tate the lone legitimate first-round player at the position.
“These Denzel Boston’s and KC Concepcion’s and Antonio Williams’s of the world, they’re just guys,” he said. “Even Makai Lemon, he’s a little guy, a tough guy, but he’s not a No. 1 (receiver). I like Tate the best of all of them but he’s good, he’s not great. After Tate, in other years they would be second-, third- and fourth-rounders. There’s nothing out there.”
Go Long paid subscribers can see what scouts have to say about all of the top receivers in this year’s draft below. The good. The bad. The ugly. They never hold back.
Rankings are below with full analysis.
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WIDE RECEIVERS
1. CARNELL TATE, Ohio State (6-2, 192, 4.44, 1): Third-year junior. “He’s really, really good,” one scout said. “It’s just unbelievable how these (Ohio State) guys come out. If you watch the way he runs routes then you know that he’s ready. You can tell, with (Brian) Hartline working with them, they’re getting quality work. I saw him run by this guy, I saw him run by that guy. He runs by whoever he needs to get past.”