• Rome Odunze is a future WR1: Odunze figures to be one of the three top wide receivers in this draft class who could be available toward the bottom of the top 10, and that presents an opportunity for teams looking to move up and get him.
• Is Drake Maye really slipping past No. 2? The North Carolina quarterback earned a 90.0-plus PFF grade in each of the last two seasons. He finished second in the draft class with 35 big-time throws and recorded just a 1.9% turnover-worthy play rate last year. He can be a franchise-defining draft pick, and that’s enough for someone to move up for.
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While we can't perfectly predict the trades that will occur on Thursday night when the 2024 NFL Draft gets underway, one thing is certain: there will be trades.
Six trades occurred during the first round of the NFL draft last year, and that doesn't even include the trades that happened before the draft began. These ranged from the Houston Texans‘ big move from No. 12 to No. 3 to land edge defender Will Anderson Jr. to the Philadelphia Eagles‘ one-spot jump for interior defender Jalen Carter.
With that in mind, here are five players worth trading up for in the 2024 NFL Draft.
WR Rome Odunze, Washington
Odunze figures to be one of the three top wide receivers in this draft class who could be available toward the bottom of the top 10, and that presents an opportunity for teams looking to move up and get him.
The Washington product earned an 89.5 receiving grade last year, fourth among wide receivers in this draft class, while his 21 contested catches paced the group. He is a true WR1 prospect, so it wouldn't be a shock to see a team get aggressive and move up to draft him.
T Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
The consensus is that Notre Dame’s Joe Alt is the top offensive tackle in this draft class, but Penn State’s Fashanu isn’t far behind him in terms of pass-blocking prowess.
Fashanu put up an 88.4 PFF pass-blocking grade last season, fourth in this draft class. He allowed just 10 total pressures from 382 pass-blocking snaps.
His over/under prop bet for the draft has been set at 14.5, which means that a team will likely need to move into the early teens to grab him, but pass-blockers as natural as him don’t come along often. It’s a move worth making.
QB Drake Maye, North Carolina
It may all be a pre-draft smokescreen, but Drake Maye appears to be in danger of slipping past No. 2. If he makes it past the New England Patriots at No. 3, all bets are off, and it absolutely would be worth mortgaging a future first-round pick to move up and select him.
The North Carolina quarterback earned a 90.0-plus PFF grade in each of the last two seasons. He finished second in the draft class with 35 big-time throws and recorded just a 1.9% turnover-worthy play rate last year. He can be a franchise-defining draft pick, and that’s enough for someone to move up for.
QB Michael Penix Jr., Washington
Penix’s draft stock is one of the biggest questions of the entire draft. His over/under prop bet is set at 32.5, which puts him right in the range of a team that might want to move back into Round 1 and select him.
The Washington signal-caller's 43 big-time throws led the nation last year, and while he will turn 24 before he steps foot on an NFL field, he is a good enough prospect to be drafted in the first round.
T Troy Fautanu, Washington
Fautantu was a first-round prospect before he tested as well as he did at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. He’s a rare athlete for someone his size and moves with incredible fluidity. He’s also a really good blocker, having earned an 88.2 PFF pass-blocking grade that ranked fifth in this tackle class last year.
The question mark with Fautanu is whether he will be a guard or tackle at the next level. However, he meets the arm-length threshold to stick on the outside, so whichever team drafts him should at least try him as a left tackle.
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