Teams didn’t waste time selecting the top wide receivers in this year’s NFL Draft.
Seven wideouts were selected in the opening 32 picks, which tied the 2004 draft for the most players ever taken at that position in the first round.
It also marked the seventh time since 1967 that three wide receivers—Marvin Harrison Jr. (No. 4, Arizona Cardinals), Malik Nabers (No. 6, New York Giants), and Rome Odunze (No. 9, Chicago Bears)—were chosen among the top-10 selections in the draft.
Eric DeCosta, general manager for the Baltimore Ravens, was not surprised by the number of wide receivers taken early in this year’s draft because it is such a deep class. DeCosta is confident that teams will also be able to find value in the later rounds on Day 2 and 3.
“That’s a critical position; the data supports that,” DeCosta said at a press conference Thursday night. “And that’s a position, too, where some of these guys are like race cars; they break down at times. And so, having depth at that position is critical, [and] we saw that this year. We think we built the room out pretty well this year and were able to sustain some injuries along the way. So, we will look at that. I think it’s a very, very deep year in the draft.
“This draft class is pretty impressive from a receiver standpoint. We’ll assess that talent and see what kind of falls our way and then look at the free agency crop, as well.”
In addition to Harrison, Nabers, and Odunze, the other wide receivers taken in the first round were Brian Thomas Sr. (No. 23, Jacksonville), Xavier Worthy (No. 28, Kansas City), Ricky Pearsall (No. 31, San Francisco), and Xavier Legette (No. 32, Carolina).
Nabers and Thomas Jr., both from LSU, marked the eighth pair of wide receiver college teammates to be selected in the first round in the same NFL Draft.
On the final two days of the draft, several more wide receivers could also be targeted by several NFL teams, including Adonai Mitchell (Texas), Troy Franklin (Oregon), Ladd McConkey (Georgia), Keon Coleman (Florida State), and Roman Wilson (Michigan).
The Ravens will be one of those teams looking to add a wide receiver in the second or third rounds. Baltimore selected cornerback Nate Wiggins with the 30th overall pick because it was going to be more difficult to find a plug-and-play defensive back later in the draft, according to DeCosta.
This year’s draft class is mostly deep with wideouts and offensive linemen.
“There are a lot of offensive linemen in this draft, [and] there is a pretty good pool of receivers,” DeCosta said. “But as I would go through and work on all these different simulations, it became apparent that if we didn’t get a corner in the first round, it was going to be challenging to get a really good corner in the second round, third round [or] fourth round who could help us right away.
“So, not to say [that] we wouldn’t have taken a receiver—we would have, [and] we would have taken an offensive lineman—but for us, if you’re talking about all the different combinations [of] how we can be the best team we can be, I think just getting a corner, at this point, like Nate [Wiggins], is probably the best way we could have started this weekend.”
In addition to a run on wide receivers, six quarterbacks were also selected with the first 12 picks, which tied the 1983 draft for the most quarterbacks chosen in the opening round. The 2024 draft is the first-ever with five quarterbacks selected in the top 10.
Since 1967, a quarterback has been selected first overall on 28 occasions—the most among all positions.
Quarterback Caleb Williams from USC was the first overall pick by the Bears. The Trojans have produced six No. 1 overall selections, breaking a tie with Auburn (five), Notre Dame (five) and Oklahoma (five).
Williams is the 11th quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy and be chosen No. 1 overall since 1967.
This year’s draft was also the fourth time since 1967 that at least nine offensive linemen were chosen in the first round, joining 1968 (10 offensive linemen), 2022 (9), and 2013 (9).
