The NFL Scouting Combine is over, which means the 2024 NFL Draft is on the horizon. There were several NFL combine winners and losers coming out of the annual event in Indianapolis, but the biggest winner was any team that needs a wide receiver in the draft. The pass-catchers balled out across the board in Indy, but these five WRs stood out, including the highest-rated prospect to fully participate in the testing, Washington wideout Rome Odunze, and potential first-round pick, Texas' Adonai Mitchell.
Washington WR Rome Odunze
The NFL combine seems to be losing some of its luster in the NIL era of college football as many of the top prospects refused to participate in the workouts. Some even turned down the measurements, medical evaluations, and media availability.
However, Washington Huskies pass-catcher Rome Odunze wasn’t scared. He ran and jumped and slid his way into a seemingly guaranteed top-10 NFL draft slot.
Odunze is 6-foot-3, 212 pounds and he put up a 39-inch vertical leap. 4.03-second and 20-yard shuttle, and a 4.45-second 40-yard dash. He also stayed on the field long after everyone else had left to try to hit his goal of a 6.6-second 3-cone drill.
#Washington wideout Rome Odunze lingered on the Lucas Oil Field late Friday, long after the stadium had emptied out, trying to break 6.6 seconds in the three cone drill. This dude. pic.twitter.com/K6F1ZqN9Jn
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 3, 2024
The Huskies wideout ended with a 6.88-second score in that drill, but his commitment to improvement was impressive.
Ultimately, Odunze may still be WR3 off the board, but this performance could vault him into the second spot in his position after LSU’s Malik Nabers refused to even submit to measurements at the NFL combine.
Texas WRs Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell
The Longhorns had some speed on the outside in 2023. Xavier Worthy broke the NFL combine record, running a 4.21-second 40-yard dash, and his teammate, Adonai Mitchell, who at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds is three inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than Worthy, ran a blazing 4.34-second 40.
Teams had — and still likely do have — concerns about his thin frame, but that historic 40 time should cement him as a second-round selection. As for Mitchell, showing off that kind of speed with a proven NFL-sized frame could bump him up to Round 1 on draft day.
These two Texas speedsters not only helped themselves in the NFL Draft, but they also showed why the Longhorns made the College Football Playoffs this season.
Georgia WR Ladd McConkey
At 6 feet even and 186 pounds, everyone knew that Ladd McConkey was the best route runner in the 2024 NFL Draft class. However, showing off sub-4.4 speed with a 4.39-second 40 suggests that the Georgia WR may be more than just a solid slot receiver at the next level.
Coming into the NFL combine, expectations were that McConkey would look good in drills, which he absolutely did. But proving that he has elite speed as well is what really helped his draft stock.
His explosion scores in the broad jump (10-feet-4-inches) and vertical (36 inches) were both toward the bottom of the pack, which likely means he won’t be a legit No. 1 at the next level, but for a team looking for a quality No. 2 or 3 with upside on Day 2, McConkey could be a great fit.
South Carolina WR Xavier Legette
Smaller receivers with speed got a lot of the headlines at the NFL combine, but there were a few big guys who ran fast as well, in addition to Adonai Mitchell. One of those players was South Carolina WR Xavier Legette.
The former Gamecocks wideout is 6-foot-1, 221 pounds, and added a 40-inch vertical to his 4.39-second 40 time. Those numbers show that he has both the size and athleticism to possibly become an elite NFL receiver.
That speed shows that he can take the top off a defense, and if the right coaches can make him a better route-runner, he has the potential to shine.
There are still too many deficiencies for Legette to go in Round 1, but his combine showing likely bumped him up from a Round 3 pick to a Round 2 selection on Day 2 of the NFL draft.
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