Newsstand: Joel Klatt sees Roman Wilson as 'undervalued' draft prospect
The 2024 NFL Draft kicks off this week with the Michigan Wolverines looking to set a record of players selected from a program in a single draft, set by Georgia in 2022 with 15 prospects taken.
Wide receiver Roman Wilson will be one of the first ones off the board, and FOX analyst Joel Klatt thinks he is not being talked about enough.
“I think he could be a second-rounder,” said Klatt. “He might be an early third-round. I’m not totally sure but, again, it’s going to depend on how fast a lot of these wide receivers go.”
“This wide receiver is from Michigan and didn’t get a ton of opportunities, I would call it. Roman Wilson from Michigan is a guy that nobody talks about, is quietly generating I would say a significant amount of buzz in the draft process via his performance at the Senior Bowl, his testing at the combine,” Klatt said. “It’s going very well for him. Because of that, I think he may have gotten himself into a second-round pick.”
Like most Michigan prospects, the way they choose to play offensively has been cited as a reason why they are not valued as high as others.
“Now, you could say, ‘Well he only had 48 catches this season’. I would say, ‘yeah, well 12 of them were touchdowns.’ Like, the guy knows how to score,” Klatt said. “Then I would also say he was – and I struggle to use this word. He was a – I don’t want to say victim – but he was a product is the better word. I’m going to say he was a product of the Michigan system. I don’t mean that in a negative way. It’s not like they were just three yards and a cloud of dust because they did things, threw the ball to him in special ways, and designed things for him.”
The draft kicks off Thursday night in Detroit and runs through 7 p.m. Saturday.
Tweets of the day
Michigan quote of the day
“The depth is light right now. We [had a few wide receivers enter the portal]. We’re still strong though. We don’t have that many numbers, but we are still strong. We still have guys who gonna step up and do their job. But it’s tough. The legs be burning at practice. It’s only five or six of us. So we just stay strong, stay mentally healthy. [Coach Ron Bellamy] works with us. So we don’t have as many reps where we just run in a hundred yards, down, back, down, back, running routes in and out. So he helped us with that. He’s cut practice time, cut some periods some, and just really been beneficial for us.”
– Michigan WR Fredrick Moore after the spring game on depth at the position
Headlines of the day
Blue Chips: Michigan a top school for key recruiting targets
Michigan freshman Jadyn Davis discusses spring game, QB competition, what he’s learned from J.J. McCarthy
Dusty May’s first Michigan roster is coming together: Tracking the latest additions (April 21)
ITF EXTRA: Michigan football and the portal — quarterbacks, kickers, more
Auburn point guard transfer Tre Donaldson commits to Michigan basketball
