2020 NFL Draft: Upcoming wide receiver class shows a ton of promise

Tee Higgins, Clemson, 6-foot-4, 210 pounds

Talk about college lineage, Tee Higgins is another player in a long line of first-round wide receivers from Clemson. In 2018, he caught 59 passes for 936 yards and 12 touchdowns. Higgins is a big framed receiver who can also win with speed at times, but primarily serves as Trevor Lawrence‘s possession target. Like Jeudy, Higgins is a pretty good route runner who has great run after catch ability.

However, I have noticed that Higgins can get shut down with press at times (see Pittsburgh game 2018) and has struggled with drops as well. Even with that in mind, I firmly believe that given the caliber of talent Clemson produces on an annual basis, Higgins can work to rectify these hiccups and improve as a player. He is undoubtedly one fo the most exciting prospects in the 2020 NFL draft class.

Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State, 6-foot-0, 185 pounds

If you haven’t noticed by now, there is a bit of an underlying theme to this article of Power 5 schools who have produced NFL receivers. And Tylan Wallace, like the others on this list, is just another part of that lineage.

Wallace, like those before him at Oklahoma State, has thrived in the pass-heavy scheme, catching 86 balls for 1491 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018. But don’t let the Oklahoma State scheme diminish what Wallace brings to the table as a receiver.

While he does not possess game-breaking speed (but just fast enough), Wallace finds ways to get open and often times makes beautiful catches in traffic. His route running is not quite as refined as I would like to see at the moment, but he should improve in that area as he matures.

Collin Johnson, Texas, 6-foot-6, 220 pounds

After almost declaring for the 2019 draft, Collin Johnson decided to come back for his senior season and will be among the best wide receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft. Personally, I think his decision to stay at Texas for another year was for the best. Given how many talented players either fell or went undrafted after this latest draft, I think returning will do him some good.

Now to be clear, Johnson is not a speed guy by any stretch of the imagination. He’s a big, strong possession receiver with a massive catch radius. If you throw it to him, he will catch it, it is as simple as that. He’s similar to new Arizona Cardinals receiver Hakeem Butler.

Like Wallace and many Big 12 receivers, scheme and a simplistic route tree do aid his game.  I also mentioned that he’s not necessarily a burner, which can scare some teams. But I think with another year under his belt and some offseason speed training will help improve those concerns.

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