Daniel Jeremiah believes 2024 NFL Draft receivers are better than QBs

Count on April’s NFL Draft being all about quarterbacks, with as many a record six being selected in the opening round. But Daniel Jeremiah believes that a trio of wideouts are better than any QB.

Jeremiah is the chief draft analyst for NFL Network. Earlier this week, he pronounced that Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze and Malik Nabers could be better prospects than Caleb Williams and the host of other quarterbacks expected to go in the top 10.

Now Williams, the former USC star and 2022 Heisman winner, is the odds-on favorite to be the top pick of the NFL Draft. It’s still early in the scouting process, but no one is seeing a scenario in which Williams isn’t the top selection.

But maybe it should be Harrison, the Ohio State standout. Or Odunze from Washingon. Nabers, who caught everything thrown his way by Jayden Williams at LSU, also could be one of the most elite NFL Draft prospects. Coincidentally, all three receivers were the finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the college football’s best receiver. Harrison won the trophy.

“You have different flavors,” Jeremiah said in a conference call this week with the media. “With Marvin, you kind of get the big power forward who has some really good quickness for a big guy and tracks the ball extremely well. Odunze is going to be close to 220 pounds. I think you’re going to see him run in the low 4.4s (at the NFL combine). And he’s got unbelievable tracking skills to go up and get it.

“Nabers is just like a stick of dynamite,” Jeremiah said. “He’s super, super explosive. Just get the ball in his hands and let him go. I think there’s more to him in terms of a route runner. I think he’ll get more opportunities to show that at the next level. He is ultra explosive.”

Scouting combine should bring some early order to NFL Draft

We’ll know more at the end of after the scouting combine. The receivers work out on March 2 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Chances are, scouts will fall more in love with their speed and size and ability to catch a football.

But quarterbacks always are the dominant position at the top of the NFL Draft. Teams need them. They spend money on them. And at times, teams will take them far earlier than they should. Chances are, the Cardinals, at pick No. 4, will be the first team to think about drafting a wideout. However, In Jeremiah’s mock draft released earlier this week, he predicts the Patriots will select Harrison and scour the free agent market for a quarterback.

We do know that this will be an offensive first round of the NFL Draft. The first defensive player may not go until pick No. 11. That’s when a run on edge rushers starts. Current mocks project as many as four quarterbacks, three offensive linemen and three receivers hogging the top 10.