• An elite 2021 season boosts Ohio State’s star to the top: Jaxon Smith-Njigba puts up dominant numbers across the board despite missing most of 2022 with injuries.
• Former Biletnikoff winner shows well: Jordan Addison played in two different systems and at two different positions and consistently posted top marks in key metrics.
• Oklahoma’s big-play sleeper: Marvin Mims posted strong metrics all around but none better than as a big-play threat, making him a potential deep fantasy option.
Estimated Reading Time: 13 mins
NFL draft season is well underway, and there are plenty of fantasy football general managers who are building their rookie draft boards for dynasty purposes. Utilizing all information available is going to be key in building those draft boards, and looking at how each position stacks up against one another from an analytics standpoint is just one of the many tools to consider during the evaluation process. This series focuses purely on the key stable metrics that translate more often than not from college to the NFL.
A few notes about how this series will work:
- Rankings are based entirely on how these players performed in PFF’s stable metrics over the past two seasons.
- Athletic ability and size are not taken into account for this process. Again, this is just one of many evaluation tools to consider.
- This list includes the top 25 players at their respective position based on Mike Renner’s PFF big board but does not give any weight to projected draft capital or the ranking in order to stack the class up in a nonpartisan manner.
Top 10 2023 WR prospects in PFF receiving grade since 2021
| Player | Receiving Grade | Receiving Snaps |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State | 91.0 | 454 |
| Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State | 90.7 | 861 |
| Nathaniel Dell, Houston | 90.5 | 1,063 |
| Jordan Addison, USC | 90.3 | 901 |
| Josh Downs, North Carolina | 90.0 | 994 |
| A.T. Perry, Wake Forest | 89.0 | 967 |
| Rashee Rice, SMU | 88.8 | 809 |
| Andrei Iosivas, Princeton | 87.2 | 658 |
| Parker Washington, Penn State | 84.5 | 727 |
| Charlie Jones, Purdue | 81.5 | 816 |
Jaxon Smith-Njigba played just three games in 2022 due to injuries, which makes his huge 2021 season the greatest contributing factor to his rankings in these stable metrics. Fortunately for him, that 2021 season was so dominant that he still figures to be one of the top receiving options off the board come April’s draft. He posted nearly 1,600 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while earning a 91.9 receiving grade on 112 targets in 2021
Xavier Hutchinson doesn’t have the best measurables or testing results among this year’s wide receiver class but was among the most productive players at his position over the past two seasons, which helps land him a top receiving grade. He consistently improved his receiving grade and production over three years at Iowa State, culminating in a 1,171-receiving-yard season, which ranked inside the top 10 in the country in 2022.
Houston’s Nathaniel Dell led the FBS in receiving yards (1,399) and receiving touchdowns (17) in 2022, making him one of the most productive receivers in this class. His 1,328 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021 help reassure potential fantasy managers that his production is no fluke, as he consistently dominated the Group of Five, despite his small size.
Top 10 2023 WR prospects in PFF receiving grade vs. single coverage since 2021
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