• The Chargers loaded up on receiver prospects for Justin Herbert: Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, USC’s Brenden Rice and Michigan’s Cornelius Johnson all have the chance to build a rapport with Herbert and become a featured part of Los Angeles' new-look offense.
• Daniel Jones finally has weapons: The oft-maligned Giants receiver room suddenly contains some potential star power, with LSU wideout Malik Nabers and Penn State tight end Theo Johnson set to bring a new identity to the team's offense.
• Check out PFF's fantasy football rankings: PFF’s fantasy football rankings include ranks from our experts, projections and our strength of schedule metric.
Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
If 2023 was any indication, bolstering one's pass-catching assets via the NFL draft is a prudent team-building strategy. Just look at the Green Bay Packers, whose 2023 rookies accounted for 53.4% of the team’s receiving yards — headlined by breakouts Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks. Puka Nacua’s record-setting first season with the Los Angeles Rams wasn't too bad, either.
During the 2024 NFL Draft, eight teams opted to double-dip at wideout, and considerably more selected a tight end. Some of those squads unquestionably benefited more from those draftees, netting immediate production instead of mere depth.
New England Patriots
The Patriots entered the weekend in Detroit in dire need of help for their presumptive highly touted quarterback. After choosing North Carolina’s Drake Maye third overall, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf worked on upgrading Maye’s surrounding cast.
New England used the No. 37 overall pick to select Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk, who excels in the middle of the field, as evidenced by his 94.0 receiving grade on intermediate passes and 97.1 grade on deep passes between the numbers. Polk should also serve as a blocking asset from day one.
But the Patriots weren’t done there. Wolf scooped up UCF’s Javon Baker at Pick No. 110, a standout in advanced metrics despite not being a household name in the pre-draft process. Baker is a tremendous deep threat, with his average target coming 17.1 yards downfield during the 2023 season — the third-highest mark among FBS receivers with 80-plus targets. The former Knight has already captured fans' attention because of some supreme self-confidence, too.
Although New England added K.J. Osborn late in the free agency cycle, both Polk and Baker should command targets in a room joined by JuJu Smith-Schuster, Demario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne. Only Douglas even reached the 75.0 receiving grade threshold as well as eclipsed 500 yards.
Although the Patriots’ tight end room was in good shape with Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, the team made a shrewd selection of Florida State’s Jaheim Bell in the seventh round. Bell proved elusive after the catch, averaging 9.2 yards after the catch per reception during his four-year career. On top of that, Bell brings positional versatility, having played 46.1% of snaps inline, 39.3% in the slot and even 8.3% out wide last season. He may start as a special teamer in Foxboro, but a good preseason could present Bell with more first-team snaps out of 12 or 13 personnel.
New York Giants
Darius Slayton‘s ongoing contract discussions combined with the Giants having the worst receiving grade in the league last year left the team in need of some juice at wideout. The team got exactly that in LSU’s Malik Nabers, who led the FBS in receiving grade in 2023 (minimum 15 targets). A staple of Nabers’ game is slipperiness after the catch, as reflected by his 30 missed tackles forced last year.
If Slayton does remain in blue and red, he’ll form a potent one-two punch with the 20-year-old Nabers. Regardless, Nabers provides real insurance, given the inconsistent production of Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt, who each tallied less than 530 yards in 2023.
Beyond Nabers, general manager Joe Schoen was proactive in finding a new tight end. Veteran Darren Waller continues to seriously mull retirement, so the Giants snatched Penn State’s Theo Johnson at 107th overall. Not only did Johnson test incredibly well — with a 9.93 Relative Athletic Score — but he was also a red-zone weapon for the Nittany Lions. His seven touchdowns in 2023 tied for a team high.
Daniel Bellinger projects as TE1 for New York, but Johnson should feature in 12 personnel, which offensive coordinator Mike Kafka ran on 23% of plays in 2023 — the 12th-highest rate in the NFL.
Assuming quarterback Daniel Jones remains under center, both the explosive Nabers and Johnson should augment a poor group from the year before. Both could go a long way in returning the Giants’ offense to its efficient 2022 form.
Los Angeles Chargers
With their dearth of receivers heading into late April, the Chargers faced a fork in the road: Only run the ball, or load up in the draft. As compelling as Option 1 was for head coach Jim Harbaugh, the organization made the right choice and stockpiled.
Even after eschewing Nabers with the fifth pick, general manager Joe Hortiz made a home-run selection in Georgia’s Ladd McConkey at 34th overall. McConkey carved up zone coverage with the Bulldogs, ranking 12th among FBS receivers last year in receiving grade against zone (87.7). With his polish as a route runner, skill at all three levels and inside-outside versatility, McConkey is the perfect complement to speed threat Quentin Johnston.
Los Angeles waited five rounds before going back to the receiver well, but the team did so twice in the seventh with USC’s Brenden Rice and Michigan’s Cornelius Johnson. Rice enjoyed his best season with the Trojans as a senior, posting a career-best 2.75 yards per route run — which ranked 23rd among receivers with 70-plus targets — and also scored 12 times. Meanwhile, Johnson proved crucial on 50-50 balls, hauling in a whopping 81.8% of contested catches for the national champions.
With Johnston and Josh Palmer the only real returners in the Chargers’ receiver room, anticipate McConkey, Rice and Johnson to all make the Week 1 roster. The signing of D.J. Chark does provide some foundation, but the former second-round pick hasn’t exceeded 530 yards since 2020, namely because of drops. It feels as if Harbaugh will offer opportunities to the receivers who build the strongest connections with quarterback Justin Herbert, and all three newcomers will have the chance to do so.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers made one of the more unheralded moves of the offseason in trading for former Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson, who slots in as the team's WR1. But further work was needed at the position with Adam Thielen entering his age-34 season.
That’s where South Carolina’s Xavier Legette comes into play. Carolina selected the thickly built local product with the final pick in Round 1 after being connected to Legette for much of the buildup to the draft. Legette offers good high-point ability, with his strong body positioning equating to a 98.4 deep receiving grade in 2023. He dropped just two of his 97 targets in 2023, yielding a 2.7% drop rate — good for the seventh-lowest mark among receivers with 90-plus targets.
Legette feels like a tailor-made pick for new head coach Dave Canales, who could leverage the rookie's skills out wide, in the slot or even in the backfield. Overall, he rounds out Carolina’s receiving corps, which ranked a dismal 29th in quarterback Bryce Young’s first year.
Carolina also upgraded at tight end by adding Texas’ Ja'Tavion Sanders in the fourth round. Sanders excelled at not being brought down on first contact, averaging 7.7 yards after catch per reception in 2023. Tommy Tremble (548 total yards in three seasons) has yet to emerge as a dynamic tight end for the Panthers, but Sanders should stretch the seam and be swiftly utilized in year one.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals opted not to re-sign wide receiver Marquise Brown in free agency and thus needed some playmaking ability, especially after fielding a receiver room that graded as the NFL's sixth-worst last season. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. fits that to a tee.
General manager Monti Ossenfort made the right call, sticking and picking at No. 4 and adding the best receiver prospect in possibly five years. Harrison posted an 89.9-plus receiving grade in both 2022 and 2023 while also producing at least 3.18 yards per route run and a 129.3 career passer rating when targeted. There is no shortage of Scarlet and Gray star receivers in the NFL, yet Harrison has a real case to be the best of the bunch.
Harrison should build rapport with Kyler Murray almost instantaneously, where the two can pair their strengths on deep vertical routes and capitalize on Harrison’s alien-like body control. The rookie will be tasked with stressing defenses even in Week 1, largely because of the few proven threats beside him. In his debut season, second-year Michael Wilson missed four games with injury and posted just a 68.3 overall grade, though Arizona remains optimistic about him. Greg Dortch, Zach Pascal and Chris Moore don’t exactly induce fear in defenses.
Although Harrison was the main attraction of Arizona's draft class, Ossenfort reinforced the Cardinals’ up-and-coming tight end room with Illinois’ Tip Reiman. Trey McBride turned into an unquestioned star in his second season, earning an 80.5 receiving grade, but there was almost nothing at the position alongside him. Reiman didn’t produce at a high clip in college — amassing 41 catches for 420 yards and five touchdowns — but was efficient against zone coverage with an 86th-percentile grade.
In an offense starving for mouths to feed, the Cardinals very easily may have landed the best pass catcher in the entire draft, not to mention a solid second tight end to pair with a stellar talent in McBride.
Honorable Mentions: Washington Commanders, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears
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