Welcome back to the 2025 Dynasty Rookie Rankings Battle. While last week we focused on some receivers who are hoping to hear their name called in the first round, this week we’re going to stack up the Day Two receivers. Today, we’ll talk about Jaylin Noel, Kyle Williams, Jack Bech, Xavier Restrepo, Jalen Royals, and Elic Ayomanor.
This article will rate each player using the categories in the Get Better at Dynasty Series, copied here for your convenience. Recall that the highlighting in the template reflects the relative importance of each trait, whereas in the actual prospect report it represents how strong they are in that skill.
Jaylin Noel, Iowa State
5’10” 194 lbs
Jaylin Noel’s hype train has been steadily building ever since the Senior Bowl, as more and more analysts have gotten around to his film. While he deserves to hear his name called on Day Two of the NFL Draft, there are a couple reasons to believe he might not be destined for a starring role.
Let’s start with the reasons to like Noel. First off is his tremendous play speed. Noel plays the game with his hair on fire, and his 4.39 40-yard dash absolutely shows on a football field. Noel was a homerun hitter for Iowa State, frequently catching bombs deep down the field. Albeit mostly on the same route, a post when aligned in the slot.
Down the field, Noel is solid at the catch point. He tracks the ball well and stays focused against late arriving defenders. Unfortunately his catch radius is tiny, so sometimes even when he has a step of separation, his quarterback doesn’t have a favorable throwing window.
Most importantly, Noel is capable of cutting at extremely high speed. While many faster receivers lose speed in and out of their breaks, Noel can cut sharply at a full sprint. This alone will help him get open at the NFL level, and it offers some hope he can play the Z despite having the build of a slot guy.
However, Noel leaves a little bit to be desired from a technical standpoint on his breaks. For this reason, he is most effective on routes that don’t require him to break down with crisp footwork. To illustrate this point, he runs a great post route, but tends to round out-breaking routes and take false steps working back to the ball on comeback routes.
Overall though, even if Noel is not refined at the more technical aspects of route running, his agility at top speed is an elite trait and should help him get open even against NFL corners.
Let’s talk about why Noel may not be destined for stardom though. First off, Noel is extremely unreliable over the middle of the field. He has short arms and small hands, and it really shows when he’s trying to reel in a ball that’s coming in hot, particularly when he's facing the quarterback with his back to the defense.
Noel’s tape is littered with drops and reps that, while technically not drops, are failures to bring the ball in through traffic. Because of his size and hands, his leverage is extremely unreliable to throw into, and he fails to reward his quarterback for peppering him with targets over the middle of the field.
Compounding this issue is that Noel has a couple major weaknesses when runnning routes in the middle of the field. Against zone, he lacks an awareness of how to stay away from the underneath defender he just cleared, often shifting back into him when trying to sit in the hole.
Against man, Noel has a bad habit of taking his in-breakers and out-breakers too deep, which not only gives the defender a better angle to get back into phase, but also gives the defender a chance to undercut the throw.
Taken together, Noel does not look like one of the next premier slot targets at the NFL level, which leaves him in dangerous tweener territory. How much can you do with a smaller player who profiles best as a slot, but who can’t be trusted over the middle?
Another reason I consider his path to fantasy stardom to be murky is that he contributes very little after the catch. While his footspeed is great, he just doesn’t have wherewithal or vision as a ball carrier.
One positive though is that Noel is a willing blocker, who stays engaged throughout the rep and actually brings some strength to that phase of the game.
Profile
Jaylin Noel hopefully profiles as a slot receiver who plays the Z in two receiver sets, but will need to improve a lot over the middle of the field to return higher-end value for dynasty.
Best Case
Noel’s play speed overwhelms NFL cornerbacks and gets him to a solid target floor in the intermediate part of the field. His tendency to take his in-breakers too deep is an easy fix with coaching, and while he remains unreliable over the middle of the field, he’s good enough everywhere else that we live with it.
Worst Case
Noel becomes a classic tweener between his lack of length and weaknesses in the middle of the field, and struggles to catch on despite flashing when the big plays connect.
Even if he hits, the drops and lack of yards after catch keep his upside low.
Kyle Williams, Washington State
5’11” 190 lbs
Kyle Williams projects cleanly as a Z receiver at the NFL level, and he brings some added juice after the catch in addition to his ability to win deep down the field. However, as a fifth-year senior who needed until his final season to post 1000 yards, and even then at a smaller program, we have to wonder if his solid showing is more the result of being a man amongst boys, and less because of NFL-caliber ability.
Let’s start with the positives to Kyle Williams’ game. First and foremost, he’s skilled at winning deep down the field. Besides just being a fast runner, Williams throttles his deep routes well. He hides his intentions until he’s even with the defender, before accelerating and getting a few steps of separation. From that point, he tracks and reels in the ball well.
If Williams were only a deep threat, I wouldn’t go near him for fantasy. However, he provides two other skills that contribute to an NFL floor. First, he is solid against zone coverage, showing a solid awareness of where to sit. He also is decent at catching balls away from his frame and holding on to them through contact.
Secondly, Williams is actually really good after the catch. The instant he catches the ball with his back to the defense, he turns and burns extremely quickly. It’s truly impressive how smoothly he can go from securing a ball to finding a crease.
However, Williams is a much less effective ball carrier when he gets screens or other designed usage in the backfield. He needs to start in the second level and not have too much traffic in front of him.
While Williams shows some understanding of how to use a release package, it often comes with a lot of false steps. This is a clear area of improvement for him, but he at least seems to know how to get to the correct leverage. Speaking of leverage, he doesn’t box out very well and it’s too easy to play the ball through his back.
Furthermore, Williams is just ok at the catch point and his route-running likewise was just ok. It’s sometimes crisp, sometimes monotone and not deceptive. He will need to show good fundamentals more consistently to get open in the intermediate area at the NFL level.
Finally, Williams gives very little effort in the scramble drill and is a poor blocker with a bare minimum of effort. Taken together, I wouldn’t exactly project him to stardom considering his inconsistency doing the little things.
Profile
A classic Z receiver and deep threat whose value for fantasy will depend on earning trust in the day-to-day parts of being a wide receiver, namely beating zone coverage and being fundamentally sound running in-breaking and out-breaking routes. He'll need to catch short and intermediate targets to unlock his run-after-catch ability.
Best Case
Williams becomes a quality WR2 on his team, and is always startable. While he gives you some duds, there is just enough of a floor in his short game for you to stick around hoping for a deep shot to connect.
Worst Case
Williams turns out to be a product of getting to play a fifth season against younger players, and his good-not-great skills turn out to only have flashed against weaker competition.
If these indicators turn out to be true negatives, he could flame out very quickly.
Jalen Royals, Utah State
6’0” 205 lbs
I think I’m going to end up much lower on Jalen Royals than the consensus. He does move quite dynamically with the ball in his hands, with good vision as a ball carrier and solid physicality and ability to make the first man miss.
Down the field however, I saw an extremely concerning awareness of spacing and mediocre dynamism during routes. Against zone coverage, Royals has an excruciatingly poor sense of when to sit and when to hustle to his spot, and last season it messed with Utah State’s quarterback frequently.
One time, Royals broke open nicely on a slant and just needed to clear an underneath defender. Utah State’s quarterback threw the ball into the space that Royals was about to run into, but then Royals inexplicably gave up on the route and the ball sailed away for an incompletion. Other times, he’ll run right through soft spots when he should be sitting.
Against man coverage, Royals loses speed in and out of his breaks and needs too many steps to build it back up. While he put up great combine numbers, the buildup required after his cuts lets defensive backs get back into phase.
Every now and then, I’ll see Royals execute a nice cut with explosion off his plant leg and even some deception at the top of his stem, but the defender is quickly able to get back into phase because Royals needs to build up his speed all over again after his cut.
One major positive however is that Royals has a very good release package, which could help him get early playing time and earn him a role right out of camp.
Profile
Royals profiles as a versatile receiver who earns designed touches and, ideally, beats man coverage at the intermediate and deep levels of the field.
Best Case
Royals gets more efficient out of his breaks and makes good on his impressive combine testing. This would see him turn into a good player against man coverage with run-after-catch juice. Ideally he’d be a good WR2.
Worst Case
Royals can’t do enough of the day-to-day parts of being a downfield receiver to get designed touches.
Jack Bech, TCU
6’1” 214 lbs
Jack Bech is an excellent football player but with limited athletic ability. He moves efficiently on a football field, with tight turning ability and efficient footwork that makes good horizontal progress out of his breaks. However, he doesn’t have much juice to win deep down the field.
Bech shows good technique when trying to win in the intermediate areas of the field, but the athleticism holds him back. He’s physical at the top of his stem and has crisp footwork in and out of his breaks. Unfortunately, the first steps out of his break are not explosive, and defensive backs can stay in phase.
Bech is excellent at the catch point, with strong box out ability on throws into his leverage and good ability to hand-catch away from his frame. He’s extremely tough holding on through contact, with good zone instincts as well.
With great hands, solid route running technique, and good blocking ability, Bech is likely to stick in the NFL. However, he’ll need to fall into a pretty ideal situation to be more than a slot-only third receiver.
Profile
Bech profiles as a slot-only player. Whether he can be a PPR asset will depend a lot on his target competition and the nature of the offense he's in. I do think he's a trustworthy target in the middle of the field, with some potential to win outside thanks to his route running technique.
Best Case
Bech is peppered with targets over the middle of the field and even gets to stay on the field in two-receiver sets thanks to his blocking ability. We're left with a usable fantasy asset, albeit more of a WR3 type.
Worst Case
Even playing well at the NFL level, Bech is never a fantasy asset. He'd likely be very dependent on racking up PPR receptions, and very few players can do that consistently enough on low-value targets to be dynasty assets.
Xavier Restrepo, Miami
5’10” 209 lbs
Much like Bech, Xavier Restrepo catches absolutely everything but might be mediocre for fantasy football as a slot-only player. Either one of these guys would have dominated as Tom Brady’s “be in the right spot and catch everything” receiver, but in the current NFL we’ll need to hope Restrepo can unlock a Jarvis Landry type of ceiling.
First off, Restrepo definitely moves better on a football field than the 4.8 40-yard dash he ran at his pro day, but pure speed will never be his calling card.
More importantly, Restrepo plays with his hair on fire, blocking with high effort and working his ass off in the scramble drill. Unfortunately, Restrepo’s blocking technique is sometimes bad, as he’ll lead with his shoulder and deliver a glancing blow. When he gets hands on, the result is commendable.
Finally, Restrepo catches everything and gets the absolute most out of his limited catch radius. Even back when I was scouting Cam Ward, I was left with an appreciation for how much Restrepo rewarded his trust, constantly making tough catches on the run and in traffic. He is truly a quarterback’s best friend, and will earn a role on an NFL roster if he gains the trust of his quarterback during training camp.
As far as his route running goes, Restrepo isn’t fast or explosive enough to win deep, but he is just fast enough to maintain a one or two step cushion, which he often gains with crisp footwork and deception at the top of his stem. He also is very efficient and direct in his release, effectively getting into the middle of the field cleanly.
Profile
Despite being excellent at what he does, Restrepo will face an uphill battle to be relevant for fantasy. He’ll be a slot-only player at the NFL level, and will struggle to be a priority in his offense against stiff target competition. However, he should be reliable underneath for an NFL offense, and thanks to his blocking and hands should stick in the league.
Best Case
Restrepo steps into a wide receiver room lacking in options and earns the trust of his quarterback. While his team will still look to bring in a WR1, Restrepo can at least maintain a target floor underneath.
Worst Case
Restrepo becomes a clogger, good enough and high enough on the depth chart to roster, but never delivering high end fantasy outcomes and not being startable.
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
6’2” 206 lbs
I won’t be prioritizing Ayomanor for fantasy football. I think he’ll stick in the NFL for a long time because he blocks his ass off and will probably be asked to play special teams, but I don’t see him being an average or better starter as an outside wide receiver.
Ayomanor’s movements are not very dynamic. While he tested great, on a football field he struggled to uncover. Defensive backs usually stay in phase with him, and he tends to play without a second gear.
Athletically, Ayomanor reminds me a lot of Donovan Peoples-Jones, a receiver who tested great but who does not move dynamically in his routes. With Ayomanor, it takes him an extra beat to get off the line of scrimmage, and he does not have good acceleration out of his breaks. It also takes him too many steps to change direction during his routes.
The final straw for me is that he has unreliable hands. He’s a body catcher with many drops on tape and too many near-highlights that didn’t survive the ground.
Overall
Adding in this week’s crop, here is our wide receiver tier list to date. You’ll notice a very deep middle tier of potential Day Two picks, and we’ll need draft night to separate out those guys. Stay tuned next week as we sort out the rest of the wide receiver class and develop final tiers for the 2025 dynasty rookie rankings.