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Hey all, I'm back with part three (WR17-21) of my 2024 receiver evaluations and rankings on our way to my top 50 receivers. If you want to check out my previous rankings, you can find them with the links below:
Xavier Legette, South Carolina (WR17)
Height: 6’1”; Weight: 221 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 23 years and 3 months
Class: Fifth-Year Senior
Overall Grade: 2.92/4 (Good Role Player)
Comp: Chase Claypool
- Hands: B+
- Route Running: D+
- Release: C
- Yards After Catch Potential: B
- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: A-
- Body Control/Ball Tracking: A-
- Future role: C+
- RAS: A
Strengths
My grades aren’t the highest in a lot of areas for Xavier Legette, but I have to admit I had fun watching him. If a ball is in Legette’s direction, he has a serious shot at it regardless of the ball placement. Legette has great body control and can contort himself to make some really impressive catches away from his frame. Legette can make some late adjustments and also come back to the ball to make an early attack and limit how much of a play the defender can make.
Xavier Legette can also rise up to the high point of the ball and has great timing for his attack. Legette can jump up through defenders’ arms and does a good job boxing the defender out to maximize his opportunity. Legette has some extremely strong, tough hands to finish catches through contact and consistently catches the ball away from his frame in non-contested situations.
When Xavier Legette has time to pick up speed, he can become a freight train, and it can be difficult for a single corner or safety to bring down. Also, though Legette may fit best on the outside, he played a third of his snaps from the slot, adding some versatility. Finally, Legette is a willing and strong blocker.
Areas of Improvement
So, like I said, I had a lot of fun watching Legette, and he has some fun tools, but he needs a lot of refinement. Legette’s route running is messy right now, and I’d be interested in seeing a breakdown of his route tree, as it felt like he ran a limited number of routes. For the routes Legette did run, his cuts were very rounded, and he often needed a lot of extra steps to make his finer cuts. Legette really needs to get more knee bend to help break down more and make sharper, more explosive cuts.
Legette also seems to know where he is supposed to go and just heads straight there with little nuance or plan to get there while making himself open. Legette needs to use more head fakes and jab steps to help have some deception in his routes. Also, Legette seems to have trouble processing zone coverage and almost seems to slow down at times as he tries to find openings. Legette does a good job using his arms to create leverage and maintain his balance through contact, but it can, at times, be too detrimental as he has trouble disengaging from the defender.
Also, Legette’s release needs work, as it seems pretty uncreative, and he will need to find more counters to win consistently. I still gave Legette a good hands grade since he didn’t have issues with drops this year, but he did have issues the past few years due to inconsistent hand technique with clapping that still appeared in some games this year. Also, Legette seemed to struggle to finish catches when going to the ground.
As I mentioned above, when Xavier Legette gets moving, he can be hard to stop, but it can take him a fair amount of time to get to full speed. Also, Legette’s foot speed is average, limiting his ability to make guys miss in space, and he will likely need his blocking on screen plays to be well set up to ensure he gets good gains in YAC situations in the NFL. Finally, Legette was a one-year wonder so that might make some teams nervous to trust him.
Conclusion
Legette is a big project right now with a lot of work needed in his release. I think if a team is willing to be patient with Legette and knows to mostly use him in jump balls, screen situations, and vertical routes, you’ll have a contributor. I know the size isn’t perfect, but Legette reminds me so much of Chase Claypool.
Both Legette and Claypool had great athleticism but lacked great acceleration and polish in their game. Also, both Legette and Claypool could make some sensational catches but also struggle with inconsistent hand technique. Both Legette and Claypool were also slower accelerators but could really pick up speed once they got going. I think Claypool bought into his hype and couldn’t make the needed developments to sustain his success, but hopefully, Legette could grow to be a more complete player than Claypool.
Ja’Lynn Polk, Washington (WR18)
Height: 6’1”; Weight: 203 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 21 years and 0 months
Class: RS Junior
Overall Grade: 2.87/4 (Good Role Player)
Comp: Donovan Peoples-Jones
- Hands: A-
- Route Running: D+
- Release: C+
- Yards After Catch Potential: B-
- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: A-
- Body Control/Ball Tracking: A-
- Future role: C+
- RAS: B+
Strengths
Ja’Lynn Polk is such a strange player where he is great at the things he does well, but pretty rough at everything else. Starting with what Polk excels at, he has fantastic hands that are reliable and tough. Polk doesn’t fit the stereotype of a receiver who is afraid to get hit since he will at times throw his body into highly congested areas and take some pretty big hits.
Polk has great hand technique and almost always high points and rises to the ball if possible. Polk also does a great job extending his arms towards the ball and has great timing on his jumps to get to it at its highest point. All of this, combined with Polk’s late hands and ability to extend and contort to misplaced balls even if they are in the path of defenders, leaves the defender little opportunity to make a play on the ball.
Polk has a great eye for lob balls, and his catch radius is ridiculous at times, especially with his long arms and body movement. Honestly, it sometimes felt that Polk could have a chance to come down with anything in his vicinity, making him one of the best 50/50 receivers in this draft class. Also, not only can Polk rise up for balls, but he can also go down to the ground and finish low catches. Polk also showed the ability to finish catches over his shoulder and consistently worked back toward the QB to make it an easier throw for him.
Polk’s not a game-changer with the ball in his hands and won’t excite a team in this area. However, Polk runs with a good center of gravity and toughness to stay up against arm tackles and runs with good vision. Polk also had a near 50/50 split between the slot and outside giving him some versatility.
Areas of Improvement
But like I said, those are the things Ja’Lynn Polk does well, so now we need to get to the things that need major work. Starting with Polk’s route running, it’s rough. Polk’s cuts are very rounded, and his cuts lack the explosiveness to create easier separation. Polk’s quick routes are often slow developing, and he doesn’t use head fakes or jab steps to effectively create some deception.
At times, Polk will try to use tempo in his routes but doesn’t use it effectively and seems more hesitant than anything. In most cases, though, Polk usually runs his routes at one speed. Overall, Polk’s lack of nuance in his route running contributes to his lack of separation.
Polk does a good job maintaining his balance and path through contact, but he has trouble disengaging from defenders and can struggle to get leverage at times. When Polk does get off defenders, he can stack them well. However, this is too inconsistent for Polk right now.
Polk also needs to improve his ability to read zone coverage and limit the number of times he goes straight into a defender in these situations. Right now, it will be hard for Polk to contribute outside of jump balls situations on day 1 with his limited effective route tree. Polk’s lack of separation starts at his release, and he has difficulty getting the defender off of him and out of his hip.
Polk can stay on his path from his release, but defenders can really disrupt his timing. Polk needs to work on better use of his hands and hand counters as he allows easy access to his pads, but his hands usually aren’t ready to ward off press. Polk doesn’t have quick enough feet or enough creativity to make guys miss with his lower body, and his lack of lateral movement shows in the open field; at times, he needs to rely on running around guys instead of cutting past them in YAC situations. Finally, while Polk is a willing blocker, he is a relatively ineffective one.
Conclusion
If a team goes for Ja’Lynn Polk with the intent to use him exclusively as a jump ball receiver in his first year, they won’t be disappointed. Everything outside of that makes me nervous. Polk’s inconsistent success against press is also troubling, as half of his use could be very timing-dependent, and he’ll have a lot of barriers to success if defenders can consistently slow him down. It’s too early for me to compare Polk to him, but he is very similar to Cedric Tillman, who has had some trouble being that effective on the field so far. To give a comp that has had more years in the league, I have Donovan Peoples-Jones as Polk’s comp.
Both Polk and Donovan Peoples-Jones have tough hands and can elevate and make catches at their highest point. They are physical receivers that can thrive with limited separation. Also, both Polk and Peoples-Jones lacked nuance in their route running and release, requiring some patience from their team. Peoples-Jones stacked defenders a bit more consistently, but Polk could fit a similar role as Peoples-Jones has. If Polk either improves his release or cleans up his route running, I think he could easily exceed this projection/ranking.
Jalen Coker, Holy Cross (WR19)
Height: 6’1”; Weight: 208 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 22 years and ? months
Class: Senior
Overall Grade: 2.87/4 (Good Role Player)
Comp: Zach Pascal
- Hands: B+
- Route Running: B
- Release: C+
- Yards After Catch Potential: C
- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: B+
- Body Control/Ball Tracking: B+
- Future role: C+
- RAS: B+
Strengths
You know, we’re really getting into the weeds if we take a look at players from Holy Cross. That being said, Jalen Coker needs to be talked about. Coker has great, late hands that are reliable with just a 3.3% drop rate this past year per PFF. Coker is great at securing the ball against his body before defenders can hit him.
Jalen Coker’s tough hands are on display when he is absorbing hits, and he does a good job catching the ball away from his body with defenders around him. Coker can also high-point the ball in front of defenders. To make Coker even more appealing in these situations, he boasts a 42.5” vertical to go up and grab the ball with his tall frame.
While Coker can fly up for balls, he can also make some really tough adjustments, even stopping on a dime for some ridiculous catches. Coker shows great focus in getting his hands on the ball while maintaining concentration on his feet to keep them in bounds around the sidelines. Coker also uses good body positioning on fade routes and can finish catches over his shoulder.
Coker also brings some solid route running with effective uses of head fakes combined with good timing to trick the defenders. Coker uses really good tempo to his routes and typically looks in control against corners. Coker can also stack corners to win downfield and consistently gets leverage.
Coker might have some of the sharpest cuts in his routes of any of the receivers in this class. Coker does a great job breaking down in his cuts and making really tight cuts. Coker also showed that he can read a defense and find holes to settle in.
Areas of Improvement
Now, part of the reason Coker can make as tight of cuts as he does is that he doesn’t have great drive going into his break, which does allow the defenders a chance to prepare for the cut. Coker also has good initial bursts to his routes, but his route speed seems pedestrian, and defenders can often close the gap quickly. If any NBA fans are reading this, watching him feels a lot like watching Kyle Anderson. If you know, you know.
While Coker has good head fakes, he could do a better job selling the rest of his routes. Also, Coker’s ability to separate is questionable. Coker’s lack of route speed plays a role, but his trouble against press can also be part of this. Coker has quick feet but doesn't use his arm to get past the corner cleanly.
Though Coker has a good athleticism score, he is pretty unexciting after the catch. Coker has a good transition from receiver to runner but looks stiff and likely won’t be able to make defenders miss in the NFL. On that note, I’m not sure Coker will be able to win up high as often against better competition, either.
Coker also had some trouble finishing tough catches away from his frame at times. Also, there were a number of instances where the ball almost seemed to sneak up on him, leading to body catches, which he was a bit too reliant on sometimes. Finally, there were a number of times when he used the wrong hand technique and attacked the ball with suboptimal hand use.
Conclusion
It’s too early to compare Jalen Coker to him, but there is a lot of Dontayvion Wicks to his route running style. I could even see a comp to Jakobi Meyers, but I’m not ready to give Coker that high of a projection right now. So, I’ll instead go with Zach Pascal for Coker’s comp.
Both Pascal and Jalen Coker have great body control and awareness around the sidelines while being able to high-point and snatch the ball. Pascal and Coker were effective route runners with sharp cuts but were a bit slow with their breaks, which helped the defense. Pascal also came from a small school and had to earn his way to playing time like Coker will need to. Like Pascal, I think Coker could have some effective years and exceed what Pascal did in his career if he can speed up his route-running process and show he can win against press.
Malik Washington, Virginia (WR20)
Height: 5’8”; Weight: 191 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 23 years and 3 months
Class: Fifth-Year Senior
Overall Grade: 2.83/4 (Good Role Player)
Comp: Rondale Moore
- Hands: A-
- Route Running: C+
- Release: D+
- Yards After Catch Potential: B+
Jump Ball/Contested Catch: B
- Body Control/Ball Tracking: A-
- Future role: C+
- RAS: B
Strengths
Malik Washington is another guy who had some fun moments when I watched him. For someone who is a small guy, Washington has some impressive acrobatic skills to track misplaced balls and contort his body to make catches far away from his frame. Washington also isn’t afraid to lay his body out for a tough catch.
Speaking of tough, Washington is also surprisingly tough to bring down, with a total of 35 missed tackles this past season. Washington runs with a good center of gravity, shifty feet, and a good ability to change direction to make guys miss. Washington runs with really good vision and takes really great angles while adjusting his tempo as a runner to break pursuit angles by defenders. Washington also has very fast acceleration and transition from receiver to runner and can use his size to quickly squeeze through small creases between defenders.
Washington’s hands are also great with only 3 drops on 138 targets catching the ball with reliable hands and consistent hand technique. Washington showed good focus, finishing catches going up and to the ground. For someone as small as Washington, he plays bigger than some of the taller receivers with his vertical and ability to rise high for balls. Washington consistently high-pointed balls and played with late hands to increase his ability to come down with the ball.
Also, despite being a YAC guy, Washington showed some really tough hands at times to survive contact. As a route runner, Washington did a good job using positioning and leverage to create separation against tight coverage and when defenders sniffed out the path of the route. Washington didn’t run a lot of routes, but the routes he did run he ran them well with quick feet to make pretty quick, explosive cuts.
Areas of Improvement
As I foreshadowed, Washington ran a very limited route tree that seemed to primarily consist of bubbles, slants, outs, verticals and hitches from what I watched. When Washington did run more complex routes, he lacked the nuance with tempo, head fakes, and jabs to really sell the route. For example, with Washington’s wheel routes, he would go to run the out, which should work nearly every time with the number of out routes he ran, but he lacked conviction a lot of times, and the defenders wouldn’t consistently bite.
Washington can also be manhandled at times by physical coverage and can get his path blocked off and have trouble redirecting his course. Also, Washington seemed to need some improvement in his ability to read zone coverage and know when to slow down rather than continue toward coverage. Washington also will need to be a slot-only guy in the NFL since press really holds him up. Virginia usually designed routes and plays to keep him away from press, but in the rare instances where he did face it, he didn’t have much of an answer and likely won’t in the NFL with his frame.
Speaking of the NFL, Washington likely won’t be able to make catches over guys as consistently in the NFL despite his vertical once he faces guys with better timing and ability to get their heads turned around. I also don’t see Washington repeating his production in the NFL. Washington’s reception numbers were skewed with a high number of screen and quick shovel plays, designed quick outs against off-coverage or zone, and quick patterns against linebackers. This was also shown with Washington’s ADOT being one of the lowest in this class.
Washington’s YAC numbers were also inflated due to the high number of short patterns where he was designed open. Maybe a team takes Washington later in the draft with this in mind and plans to hide him from coverage and motion him all over the field (maybe a potential Skyy Moore/Kadarius Toney replacement for the Chiefs). However, if they don’t, Washington will have some trouble in the NFL. Finally, it likely doesn’t come as a surprise with his size, but Washington was a really ineffective blocker.
Conclusion
I don’t want to scare anyone, and I think Washington is a better player than him, but there is a lot to his game that reminds me of Jalen Raegor. I think Washington has better hands and is a better route runner for the routes he did run than Raegor. So, I don’t think Raegor would be a fitting comp, but it was hard to shake that image out of my head. For a comp that may also not be as exciting but more accurate, I have Rondale Moore.
Both Rondale Moore and Malik Washington are gadgety players who have great vision and contact balance with the ball in their hands. Neither Moore nor Washington had an expansive route tree, but they were solid at the routes they ran. Moore wasn’t utilized to his best ability in Arizona but a team with more of a clear vision could really get some good returns with Washington.
Jamari Thrash, Louisville (WR21)
Height: 6’0”; Weight: 188 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 23 years and 4 months
Class: RS Senior
Overall Grade: 2.79/4 (Future Role Player)
Comp: Marqise Lee
- Hands: C+
- Route Running: B+
- Release: B+
- Yards After Catch Potential: A-
- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: C
- Body Control/Ball Tracking: B
- Future role: B-
- RAS: C
Strengths
Jamari Thrash is someone I heard good things about, and I instantly could see why. Contrary to Thrash’s combine numbers, he can be electric with the ball in his hands. Thrash has an extremely fast transition from receiver to runner and quick feet to keep defenders cautious so they do not get juked out.
Thrash also has great acceleration to instantly get to full speed. Thrash runs with a good center of gravity despite his smaller frame, allowing him to break tackles that a receiver his size shouldn’t. Also, Thrash does a good job following blocks on screen plays and has a good understanding of pursuit angles to make the most out of every opportunity.
Thrash’s route running can be really exciting as well. For reference, I did my eval of Thrash’s games while I was half asleep, and some of the cuts he made woke me up. Thrash is capable of making some cuts with absolutely no wasted movement and good quickness to create separation. Thrash’s best route is his hitch route, where he does a fantastic job selling the vertical route and then cutting back on his hitch that wins even against the tight press, which is just absolutely bananas and looks like a top receiver type of route.
Thrash uses good head fakes in his route and uses nice tempo in his routes to give defenders trouble getting a gauge of him. Thrash also has nice subtle movements to finish his routes cleanly and has smooth change of direction skills that are especially effective in helping a scrambling QB. Thrash’s effortless ability to move in his routes and his space gives him a lot of hope for great potential to continue to grow as a route runner and playmaker. Thrash also seems to have a good eye for holes in zone coverage and does a good job establishing leverage against his defender.
Thrash also has a better release than you’d expect for someone with his frame. Thrash has really nice foot quickness to get defenders off balance. Thrash also does a good job adjusting his speed and using jab steps to help keep defenders away from his frame. Thrash also has an expansive variety of releases to help him win against physical corners that would normally bully similar-sized players.
Thrash also showed really nice ball tracking skills to follow deep balls. Thrash also showed the ability to track balls over his shoulder and follow balls to the ground. Thrash even showed good foot awareness as well to stay inbounds and tight catches.
Areas of Improvement
Now, what holds Thrash back from being much higher in my rankings is his hands. Thrash had an 11.4% drop rate this year which is pretty consistent with the rest of his career. Thrash can catch the ball with good hand technique but at times will be too willing to settle for body catches. Thrash also can make the mistake of taking his eyes downfield before finishing catches leading to drops at times.
Thrash also struggles in contested catch situations, with only a 15.8% conversion rate this year and a low 32.6% for his career. Part of the issue for Thrash is his limited hand strength and his small frame. However, Thrash will also let defenders too often dictate the battle and seems at a loss when needing to play through contact. In those situations, Thrash struggles to establish good body positioning and isn’t able to rise or break through contact to make catch attempts.
Also, Thrash’s catch radius seems lacking at times, and he doesn’t show great ability to adjust to misplaced balls. Though Thrash’s route running is great, he can still be moved off his route too easily with contact. Also, I’d like to see a route tree breakdown for him, as it felt like the number of routes he ran was relatively limited. Finally, Thrash wasn’t an overly willing or effective blocker.
Conclusion
I don’t think Thrash will be as great of a player as he was, but there is a lot to his game that reminds me of Tank Dell. Again, I don’t expect Thrash to get to Dell’s level, but if he massively exceeds his draft spot like Dell, I wouldn’t be shocked. If Thash can improve his catch radius, improve his catch radius, and just play with overall more consistent hands, I think he could be a really exciting player.
Due to both having small frames and some really sudden start/stop ability, I have Marqise Lee as Jamari Thrash’s comp. Like Thrash, Lee struggled to finish catches through contact and had difficulties with some of the physicality side of the game. Lee also struggled with drops throughout his career both in contested and uncontested situations.
However, both Thrash and Lee have really good route running and could create quick separation with their cuts. Thrash and Lee were also great with the ball in their hands and had solid release skills despite their smaller frame. Lee had his career derailed due to knee injuries, but if Thrash stays healthy and gets more consistent hands, he will easily exceed this grade and ranking.
