The Cleveland Browns could turn to the record breaking Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy or others in the 2024 NFL draft. Who stood out from this crop of receivers at the NFL Scouting Combine this past week?
There is no point in talking about Marvin Harrison Jr., Brian Thomas, Rome Odunze, or Malik Nabers. The Browns are not going to be in range to select any of them. However, there are plenty of mid-round targets who took to the field at Lucas Oil Stadium this past Saturday night to show off their skillset in front of NFL teams at the combine.
Needing to add at least one new talent to their wide receiver room this offseason, the Browns are lucky to be blessed by a deep crop in this year’s crop.
Looking at wide receivers who will be in draftable range for the Browns, here is a stock watch on a handful of names who had notable combine performances for one reason or another.
Stock Up: Javon Baker, UCF
Evaluating wide receivers from offenses where they are predominantly asked to run verticals is extremely difficult. Cedric Tillman is the perfect example of this.
He came from Tennessee, an offense where he had to run just three routes with no choice options or hots to defer to. This made his transition to the NFL a struggle as the Browns then asked him to bend posts around Cover-4 and other much more detailed intricacies of the position.
And while Baker may still struggle with some of those elements as he transitions to the NFL, he did show one thing at the NFL Scouting Combine: he can run routes he was not asked to at UCF.
Baker displayed excellent hip sink to get in and out of his breaks on speed outs, comebacks, and digs over the middle. This was one of the bigger question marks of his game.
While he did test about as expected, a slightly above-average athlete, and will have his limitations at the next level, Baker checked a box for NFL teams that his tape did not.
Stock Down: Troy Franklin, Oregon
Troy Franklin, a player the Browns met with at the combine, is coming from an offense that asked him to predominantly run in a straight line and catch the football. That’s not a very prominent role in the NFL, especially for someone who has been talked about as a fringe top-50 pick.
Franklin ran the slowest 10-yard split of the group, and struggled mightily with the on-field drills, confirming what was feared: he does not have a throttle to tempo down, sink his hips, and get out of breaks. He lost his footing on multiple occasions, struggled to stay on the line during the gauntlet drill, and dropped multiple passes.
His body type is also less than ideal as he is rail thin at 6-foot-1 and 171 pounds.
Especially for the Browns, who need to nail down the wide receiver position this year, taking a player with numerous question marks would be less than stellar.
Stock Up: Malik Washington, Virginia
This year’s winner of the “got that dawg in him” award goes to Virginia’s Malik Washington.
With 711 yards after the catch this year, Washington is a tough, tough man to bring down with the football in his hands. I had the chance to ask him about his mindset when he gets into the open field, and he gave me perhaps the best answer of the weekend:
“I’ve tried really hard to think about one guy just tackling me and I can’t do it… I get fuzz in my head when I think about one guy tackling me.”
Built like a pitbull, Washington tested off the charts as well. He leapt to a vertical jump of 42.5 inches and a broad jump of 10-foot-6. The 4.47 40-yard dash is just the icing on top for Washington, who then took to the field and excelled at every drill as well.
Entering the offseason with Day 3 grades, Washington may find himself take in the top-100 after a strong Shrine Bowl and combine.
Stock Down: Tez Walker, North Carolina
The Kent State transfer has gone through a ton this season to get on the field for the Tar Heels. And when he did, he proved to be a solid target for Drake Maye.
However, there are elements of his game on tape that make me skeptical he is anything more than a vertical threat. Walker does not play through contact well, has iffy hands, and has a paper-thin route tree. And similar to Franklin, he did not show he has the violent, efficient hip sink to get in and out of breaks when he was asked to run an NFL route tree.
To make matters worse, I thought he struggled mightily to track the football deep down the field at the combine as well.
Sure, he tested explosively at the combine, but there are crucial elements of his game missing when the pads come on. And some showed without them on in Indianapolis as well.
Stock too far up: Ladd McConkey, Georgia
There may not be a more bust-proof player in this class than Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey. While he may not have the ceiling as the top four wide receivers in the class, McConkey is a silent killer who can win from a multitude of alignments.
The problem? He’s probably too good to fall to the 55th pick in the draft. Especially after his combine performance.
There was not a receiver who looked better during on-field drills than McConkey, then you add in his sub-4.4 40-yard dash, 36-inch vertical jump, and 10-foot-4 broad jump, and the Georgia product might not make it out of the first round.
If the Browns want the services of McConkey, a refined and ready-to-play wide receiver, the floor seems to be the top 40. So adjust those trade machines appropriately.
Neutral: Texas Xavier Worthy
Listen, I know Worthy broke the combine 40-yard dash record with a blazing 4.21-second pace. However, that did not show us something we didn’t already know just from watching his tape. Worthy is lightning fast and explosive.
What did show up that we did not know is that Worthy was 10 pounds lighter and two inches shorter than he was listed as on Texas’ roster. Weighing in at 165 pounds, Worthy becomes an extreme outlier. But again, watching his tape, it becomes immediately apparent that Worthy is a tiny dude.
What else did we already know from watching his tape? His hands are inconsistent when reeling in the football. Guess what Worthy didn’t do? He would have been asked to catch a football in any of the on-field drills.
His 40-yard dash was electric and deserves to be celebrated, but nothing Worthy showed this weekend greatly impacts his draft stock.
