2010 Wide Receivers

When most are discussing this years Wide Reveiver group they usually begin the discussion with Dez Bryant who is the consensus #1 wide out in the draft. However I want to discuss Damian Williams. He is one of the most underrated guys in the entire draft regardless of position. A big, productive, and quick guy coming out of a pro style offense in USC, Williams is also probably the drafts best route-runner. Being a Trojan, we saw Williams' run all sorts of routes throughout his career. He ran slants, come-backs, curls, go's... pretty much the whole route tree. And he ran these routes to perfection. He is also a very elusive player in space. This can be seen be checking him out on special teams where he pitched in as a return man. Though he may never be the deep weapon that a player like Randy Moss is, Williams has #1 receiver potential. He runs every route extremely well, he's fantastic with the ball in his hands, and he has the Height/Weight/Speed to be an NFL starter. He'll likely be taken in round 2 but I think he's a steal at that spot.

I'm going to shift my attention from the most underrated WR in this draft class to the most overrated: Demaryius Thomas. I've never seen someone's stock shoot up in the pre draft process as much as Thomas' has without doing a thing. Thomas broke his foot so he was unable to work out. He also wasn't able to showcase his NFL potential at Georgia Tech since they run such an unorthodox offense that doesn't showcase an NFL route tree. Now, Thomas is a good prospect. He has excellent size at 6'3 and 225. On film he appears fast enough. He shows great leaping ability on film, great athleticism and the ability to locate deep balls in the air. In other words, this guy has big time potential but he's also a big time risk. I wouldn't entertain taking him until round 2 but some people are pegging him as as the #2 receiver in the draft. I'm not sure if I'd rank him higher then the #5 guy. He's very risky.

Another interesting guy in this years draft is Arrelious "Rejus" Benn from Illinois. Before the season started he was ranked just as highly as Dez Bryant but a disastrous 2009 season killed his stock. He only racked up 38 receptions, 480 yards, and 2 TD's last year... those numbers are alarming...and I'm not even a stat guy!
Benn wasn't given a very good QB to play with last season, as the Illinois QB situation was disastrous. That may be a big time reason for his decline in production so I'd be willing to give him a shot in round 2. He has a big body, he is very physical, and he has deceptive speed and burst. Like Thomas this guy has big time potential but is also a risk. Unlike Thomas we at least got to see him work out impress us with his athleticism.
This years group of receivers is fairly deep but lacks a lot of first round stars. If I was a team picking in round 2 or 3 looking for a wide out I'd be very excited because this group has a lot to offer.
Here are my rankings with projections in brackets. Next up will be Tight Ends.

1) Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State (1st Round)
2) Golden Tate, Notre Dame (1st-2nd)
3) Damian Williams, USC (2nd-3rd)
4) Arrelious Benn, Illinois (2nd)
5) Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech (1st-2nd)
6) Eric Decker, Minnesota (3rd-4th)
7) Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati (2nd-3rd)
8) Brandon LaFell, LSU (2nd-3rd)
9) Andre Roberts, Citadel (3rd-4th)
10) Carlton Mitchell, USF (3rd-4th)