2024 Wide Receiver Class

[real bucs fan]

Some are calling this an all time WR class and very well could break the record for most WRs selected in the first round with 10 guys currently getting 1st round buzz. Bucs could very well be looking at WRs so think it’s worth a thread. How you guys grading this class at the moment? Right now my top 5 looking like

1. Marvin Harrison Jr- one of the great WR prospects ever, Marvin Seniors son looks like he was built in a lab and has been trained since he could walk- few 6’3” can run routes like him and he hit some record speeds this season as well.
2. Malik Nabers- LSU product reminds of Jamar Chase or prime OBJ.
3. Rome Odunze- big, physical, great hands and ball skills, great athlete, good route runner… physically and production wise not far off MHJ. Gives Mike Evans vibes.
4. Troy Franklin- I’m a fan, he’s skinny, but otherwise he does it all. Reminds of Devonta Smith or Jordan Addison.
5. Brian Thomas- over shadowed by Nabers at LSU, Thomas has rare length and speed. He’ll be challenged by Keon Coleman and Xavier Leggette for the class’s biggest freak title.

Other possible 1st round receivers include Emeka Egbuka, Keon Coleman, Xavier Leggette, Adonai Mitchell, and Xavier Worthy.

I’ve always been a fan of taking advantage of drafts depth, and this year the elite depth is at WR.

[Terry Tate]

I was just watching film of the Packers game and thinking how nice it would be to have a true burner to line up with Evans and Godwin. If we took a WR high, that player would be in a prime position to take over when his rookie contract is up, by then one of Evans or Godwin should be just about done.

We really need an edge but I don't favor reaching for a need. If the draft hands us an elite WR, run to the podium

[Grahamburn]

Xavier Legette.

[SaggyBallZ]

Wayne Ruby Jr

#inbeforemdb

[Doctor]

So stacked. I'd love to grab WR. Extend Evans, trade Godwin at the deadline.

[real bucs fan]

So stacked. I'd love to grab WR. Extend Evans, trade Godwin at the deadline.

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

[Terry Tate]

So stacked. I'd love to grab WR. Extend Evans, trade Godwin at the deadline.

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

It all depends on how much he wants. He's still a very valuable player and is likely to age better than most WR's since he doesn't rely on being super twitchy.

I believe we will drop 80 million in dead money off the books next year. That alone would cover the retention of Baker, Wirfs and Winfield with plenty left over. Not to mention the money we probably won't be giving to Devin White or Ryan Jenson.

Like I said before, I really want a twitchy edge rusher but I am not sure that guy is there to be drafted when he pick. We have a lot of needs and I really want a burner at WR, if we could trade back and get a guy like Xavier Worthy to be the Z guy, I could live with it.

[Doctor]

I think we can afford to keep one $20M WR and it should be Evans. Load up behind him. Palmer is still developing. I'll take that 3 year Baker window and we reassess.

[TonyLip]

FSU just flooded the market with
Offensive playmakers….
Sheeesh….

Georgia gonna curb stomp the Noles…maybe.

[Cheb]

At this stage I don't know what position I'd want the Bucs to target in the first round. Wide receiver could be definitely on the list given the strength of the class, though I would argue that the play of our #3 wideout is not the thing holding this team back from dominance.

That would obviously change if we don't resign Evans, which would make me upset because the dude has more than a third of our offensive TDs this year and is the best offensive player in team history, but if we let him walk we could definitely add a young first rounder.

The consensus guys like pretty good. I'll have to scout the position more in depth this year than in years prior.

[Doctor]

You use the draft to grab stars. I don't care if the kid is 4th behind a tagged Evans, Godwin, and Palmer and barely contributing. The very next year could be him and Palmer outside. And the next 3 years.

[Terry Tate]

You use the draft to grab stars. I don't care if the kid is 4th behind a tagged Evans, Godwin, and Palmer and barely contributing. The very next year could be him and Palmer outside. And the next 3 years.

This. You draft for the next 5 years. You don't draft for the next year.

Do that and choose well and you will contend for a long time

[mdb1958]

Any stars for us on defense?

[Kress]

In the 2024 Wide Receiver Class? No, I don't see any.

[Snake]

Watching Bowling Green vs Minnesota.

BG WR Hilaire seems like a legit player. Only 5’10 but nasty routes.

Never heard of him until now.

[Backside]

So stacked. I'd love to grab WR. Extend Evans, trade Godwin at the deadline.

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

You don’t just draft a Mike Evans replacement, the guy will be top 10 in receiving touchdowns all time. He’s among the greatest Bucs of all time. And should be near the top of that list of players to retain.

Bunch of dead money being freed up. Teams always find a way to keep the players they want. If Wirfs Winfield and Evans aren’t all brought back it would be a massive disappointment.

[Backside]

So stacked. I'd love to grab WR. Extend Evans, trade Godwin at the deadline.

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

You don’t just draft a Mike Evans replacement, the guy will be top 10 in receiving touchdowns all time. He’s among the greatest Bucs of all time. And should be near the top of that list of players to retain.

Bunch of dead money being freed up. Teams always find a way to keep the players they want. If Wirfs Winfield and Evans aren’t all brought back and locked down it would be a massive disappointment.

[Snake]

Evans makes Mayfield look a lot better than he is.

You’re making a huge mistake if you let Evans walk and expect Mayfield to perform the same.

[Jonny]

If Evans were to be injured, this offense would be screwed, because Godwin isn't a mismatch 1v1 the way Evans is. While an upgrade at #3 WR might benefit the offense, the more important thing imo is having a resilient offense with multiple players with legit WR#1 ability.

That brings me to prospects more realistic to where we may draft:
Devontez Walker (clear "take the top off a defense" ability, while possessing impressive size). For some reason he doesn't seemed to be liked as much, probably could be had around mid-late second.

Xavier Worthy
Xavier Legette

[Doctor]

They both have the X factor

[Grahamburn]

Evans makes Mayfield look a lot better than he is.

You’re making a huge mistake if you let Evans walk and expect Mayfield to perform the same.

Package deal, please. Mike’s final years will also be wasted without solid QB play.

[real bucs fan]

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

You don’t just draft a Mike Evans replacement, the guy will be top 10 in receiving touchdowns all time. He’s among the greatest Bucs of all time. And should be near the top of that list of players to retain.

Bunch of dead money being freed up. Teams always find a way to keep the players they want. If Wirfs Winfield and Evans aren’t all brought back and locked down it would be a massive disappointment.

Definitely would prefer to keep Evans, all comes down to money. But if we were to move on, this is a great draft to try and find a replacement.

[kaimaru]

So stacked. I'd love to grab WR. Extend Evans, trade Godwin at the deadline.

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

Why do people keep mentioning Wirfs? He plays on his 5th year option next year. While Licht did that with Vea, he did it for cap relief and will probably the last time he ever does again unless we are in a Super Bowl window again

[real bucs fan]

Evans has been my guy since before we drafted him. But think the wise move would be to focus our money on retaining Baker, Wirfs and Winfield. If we can keep Evans, great, but if he’s offered big money elsewhere, finding his replacement in this draft would be the way to go. I’d take Odunze with our 1st easily and he could step into that role though not sure he makes it to our pick.

Why do people keep mentioning Wirfs? He plays on his 5th year option next year. While Licht did that with Vea, he did it for cap relief and will probably the last time he ever does again unless we are in a Super Bowl window again

My observation has always been that the super elite guys tend to get resigned to big deals before that 5th year, and Wirfs to me qualifies for that. But you are correct, we don’t have to sign him yet.

[Doctor]

I don't think it's a rule or anything. It depends on circumstances. Licht did some incredible maneuvering to bring back the whole SB team, something that was previously impossible. We're now untangling that knot and dudes know that. I think Wirfs even redid some of his deal when he didn't need to do save us some cap.

[real bucs fan]

If we were to lose Evans, Keon Coleman would be an intriguing replacement option

[Grahamburn]

Why do people keep mentioning Wirfs? He plays on his 5th year option next year. While Licht did that with Vea, he did it for cap relief and will probably the last time he ever does again unless we are in a Super Bowl window again

My observation has always been that the super elite guys tend to get resigned to big deals before that 5th year, and Wirfs to me qualifies for that. But you are correct, we don’t have to sign him yet.

Exactly. Because there’s no reason to wait. We know he’s elite. An extension opens up short term options.

[real bucs fan]

I’d be thrilled with either Thomas or Mitchell with our first if we lose Evans.

My one concern with Mitchell was his speed and he answered that.

[real bucs fan]

I’d be thrilled with either Thomas or Mitchell with our first if we lose Evans.

My one concern with Mitchell was his speed and he answered that.

[mdb1958]

I’d be thrilled with either Thomas or Mitchell with our first if we lose Evans.

My one concern with Mitchell was his speed and he answered that.

If available?

[kaimaru]

Why do people keep mentioning Wirfs? He plays on his 5th year option next year. While Licht did that with Vea, he did it for cap relief and will probably the last time he ever does again unless we are in a Super Bowl window again

My observation has always been that the super elite guys tend to get resigned to big deals before that 5th year, and Wirfs to me qualifies for that. But you are correct, we don’t have to sign him yet.

Licht confirmed he is working on extending Wirfs

[Doctor]

Still want a WR. Good chance one is BPA at 26.

[Grahamburn]

Still want a WR. Good chance one is BPA at 26.

The class is so deep. I trust Licht to get one late.

I’m thinking guys like Thomas, Mitchell, Worthy may have worked themselves out into 1st round picks.

Want one of those EDGE rushers to get to 26.

[mdb1958]

Still want a WR. Good chance one is BPA at 26.

The class is so deep. I trust Licht to get one late.

I’m thinking guys like Thomas, Mitchell, Worthy may have worked themselves out into 1st round picks.

Want one of those EDGE rushers to get to 26.

Not sold on so many position choices which won't matter because they will never reach us. Brian Thomas Jr was one that had me really thinking because he had the highest catch rate out of all of them. As always when watching prospect after prospect getting nabbed you should really take a hard look at who it would be that falls into that category in the 2nd round.

Frustrating to lose every darn pick you would want in an entire draft.

[real bucs fan]

My post combine WR ranking looking something like (gaps between tier breaks)

1. MHJ
2. Odunze
3. Nabers

4. BTJ

5. Mitchell
6. Worthy

7. Franklin
8. McConkey
9. Coleman

10. Leggette
11. Corley
12. Wilson
13. Pearsall
14. Walker
15. Polk