In the 2024 NFL draft, the consensus is that three receivers will likely go off the board in the first 10 picks. The question for Thursday night when the first round of the draft begins, is the order in which it happens.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein believes there’s not much difference between the universally accepted top three of Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State, Malik Nabers from LSU and Rome Odunze from Washington.
Zierlein, appearing on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM recently, said, “Marvin is the most polished, the most explosive is Malik Nabers and then the best ball-winner is Rome Odunze. All of them have good size. Depending on what you covet, what you prioritize as a team as an organizational philosophy, you may have different feelings. There’s plenty of teams that have Malik Nabers ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. I think everyone will tell you it’s pretty close, that those three are clearly at a different level.
“With Malik Nabers, you have somebody who’s more explosive, who’s faster, who has the ability I think to be a bigger deep-ball threat. Marvin Harrison Jr. is more polished. The guy with a little higher ceiling for me is Nabers. But typically, when you talk about higher ceiling, you also have to mention a little lower floor than Marvin Harrison Jr.”
As it pertains to the Cardinals, “I’m interested to see who they feel like fits Kyler Murray the best.”
That, of course, presumes the Cardinals will have their choice of all three.
Zierlein also noted that Brian Thomas Jr., a teammate of Nabers at LSU, isn’t far behind that talented trio.
“The production, the athleticism, the size, everything checks out,” Zierlein noted. “Talking to people behind the scenes, they’ll tell you he doesn’t quite have the same competitive nature that Malik Nabers has. Not to say he’s not a competitive player. I know his wide receiver coach at LSU told some different scouts that this a guy who has another level of football still in him.
“I think Brian Thomas could be a WR1.”
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
