2021 Rookie Wide Receivers: Part 1
As rookie season is heating up, it’s time to dive into some of best incoming 2021 wide receivers. I can’t stress enough that these are in no particular order and are not rankings.
Related | 2021 Rookie Running Backs: Part 1
Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
Position: WR
School: LSU
Class: Junior
Date of Birth: Mar 1, 2000
Height: 6-1
Weight: 208lbs
Ja’Marr Chase was a four-star recruit coming out of Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, Louisiana where he posted a senior season of 1,011 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 61 receptions. He was the 15th-ranked wide receiver and 84th overall, per 247 Sports. Chase received offers from 28 schools including Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Michigan. He committed to LSU where he hauled in 23 receptions for 313 yards, and three scores in 10 games as a true freshman.
Chase took his game to a new level as a sophomore, posting one of the most dominant seasons in recent memory as s key part of LSU’s record-setting offense. He set the single-season SEC record for receiving yards (1,780) and touchdowns (20) (both were broken by Devonta Smith in 2020) on 84 receptions and a 21.2 yards per reception average. His incredible season included an eight-reception, 227-receiving-yard and three- touchdown game against Mississippi and 221 yards and two touchdowns in the National Championship against Clemson. It was enough to earn him the Biletnikoff Award as the best wide receiver in college football.
Given the option to opt-out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, Chase decided to take a year off and prepare for the NFL Draft process. The next time we’ll see him will likely be at the. NFL Combine where he is expected to run in the low 4.5 range in the 40-yard dash.
College Stats
Positives
+Efficient route runner
+Will be 21 years old for entire rookie season
+Strong physical presence
+Strong hands
+Body control
+Wins contested catches (50% rate)
+Ball skills
+Elite deep-ball tracking and sideline awareness
+Lined up inside and outside
+Big-play after-the-catch ability
+Good blocker
+Full Route Tree
+Advanced football IQ
+21.2 YPR
+Sophomore breakout (age 19.5)
+3.14 yards per team pass attempt
+105 slot snaps
+3.52 yards per route
+No.6 in missed tackles forced (PFF)
+No.1 in Deep Receptions & Deep Yards
+32.2% Dominator
Negatives
-One-year wonder/small Sample size
-Doesn’t have elite speed or acceleration
-Inconsistent separation
-One career rush attempt; Zero kick/punt returns
Draft Projection: Top-20
Bottom Line:
Ja’Marr Chase may have only done it for one year, but that one year was spectacular. He dominated even while playing alongside Vikings rookie sensation Justin Jefferson, even out-producing the older teammate. More importantly, he did it at a young age and in his sophomore campaign. Chase presents the age-adjusted production profile, and skill set to be a team’s WR1. He can produce at all levels of the field and is a contested catch savant. His versatility and football IQ will make him a chess piece that will succeed anywhere he lines up. Chase is a lock to not only go in the first round of the NFL Draft, but as a top-20 selection. It would be no shock, and perhaps even likely, for him to come off the board in the top-10. The year off may mean he’s a little slow to get going as a rookie, but once he hits his stride, Chase will ascend to an annual top-12 fantasy WR for a long time. He’s the top wideout in the 2021 class.
Devonta Smith, Alabama
Position: WR
School: Alabama
Class: Senior
Date of Birth: Nov 14, 1998
Height: 6-1
Weight: 175lbs
Devonta Smith was a four-star recruit coming out of Louisiana’s Amite High School in 2017. He received offers from over a dozen Power Five schools, Notre Dame, Florida, LSU, and Georgia. He ultimately chose the University of Alabama as part of a strong recruiting class that included wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs.
Smith didn’t see the field much as a freshman, catching just eight passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns. He continued to be outproduced as a sophomore, finishing behind Jeudy, Ruggs, Irv Smith, and freshman Jaylen Waddle in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Smith finished that season with 42 receptions, 693 yards, and six touchdowns. He finally broke out as a junior with 68 receptions and team highs in receiving yards (1,256) and touchdowns (14).
After the 2019 campaign, Jeudy and Ruggs departed for the NFL while Smith chose to return to Alabama for his senior season. With a clearer path to targets, Smith exploded with 117 catches for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns. He added a punt return touchdown while averaging 21.5 yards per return. The incredible season earned him the Heisman Trophy. Smith is the first wide receiver to win the award since Michigan’s Desmond Howard won it in 1991. Before that, it was NFL Hall-of-Famer Tim Brown in 1987. Smith capped off his incredible year with 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns (all in the first half) against Ohio State in the National Championship.
Smith exits the college ranks as the SEC’s all-time leader in career receiving touchdowns with 43. He did so on 235 catches, for 3,965 yards.
College Stats
Positives
+Runs with quickness and agility in his routes
+Has a high football IQ
+Plays above his size
+A polished route-runner
+Dangerous punt returner
+Run after catch
+A go-to target
+Expected to test well at the Combine
+9 receptions per game
+4.38 Yards Per Team Pass Attempt
+54.8-percent of team receiving TDs
+2019: 21.2-percent Target Share despite competing with Jeudy, Ruggs, and Waddle
+No.3 in Yards After Catch per reception
+3.52 Yards Per Route
+2.7% Drop Rate;
+58.2% contested catch rate
Negatives
-Size; thinly built
-Senior
-20.8, Junior Season breakout
-Struggles to fight through contact at times
Draft Projection: Top-15 Pick
Bottom Line:
Devonta Smith was incredibly productive over his final two seasons at Alabama. He is extremely talented as a route runner and dynamic with the ball in his hands. Smith will be a top-15 pick in the NFL Draft and is an ideal fit as a Z-receiver with the versatility to play anywhere on the field. His technical skills, athleticism, versatility, and high football IQ will allow him to have an immediate impact in any NFL offense. The concerns lie in his thinly built frame and lack of breakout prior to his junior season. These are two big boxes he fails to check and cost him the title of WR1 in the class. Why was he out-produced by his fellow sophomores (Jeudy and Ruggs) and a freshman (Waddle) in 2018? It’s a fair question to ask. However, he made up for it thanks to his massive breakout over his final two seasons, so it won’t be enough to keep him out of the first round of both the NFL Draft and dynasty rookie drafts.
Rashod Bateman, Minnesota
Position: WR
School: Minnesota
Class: Junior
Date of Birth: November 29, 1999
Height: 6-1
Weight: 210lbs
Rashod Bateman was a four-star recruit coming out of high school in Trinity, Georgia where he starred both on the gridiron and basketball court. On the football field, Bateman received first-team all-state honors and broke school records by catching 83 balls for 1,539 yards and 21 touchdowns during his 2017 senior season. 247 Sports ranked him as the 31st receiver in his recruiting class. He received offers from Florida Atlantic, Appalachian State, Chattanooga, and Coastal Carolina, prior to committing to Minnesota. As a freshman, he caught 51 passes for 704 yards (13.8 YPR) and six touchdowns which included a 175-yard, two-touchdown performance against Illinois. Impressively, at just 18 years old, it was considered his breakout campaign with a 29.2-percent share of the team’s passing production. He did that even in the presence of the ultra-productive Tyler Johnson.
Bateman’s career took off in 2019 with 1,219 yards on 60 receptions (20.3 YPR) and 11 touchdowns. That included a 203-yard day against Penn State and four other outings of over 100 yards. His 12.4 yards per target ranked fifth among all wide receivers in college football, per PFF. While still competing for targets with the upperclassman Johnson, Bateman still managed 28.3-percent of the receptions, 37-percent of the receiving yards, and 35.5-percent of the receiving touchdowns all while averaging an impressive 3.77 yards per team pass attempt. He led the nation in yards per route run (3.6) when lined up out wide, per PFF.
The 2020 season brought a lot of diversity due to COVID-19. Bateman originally opted out of the season to prepare for the NFL draft process but then decided to opt back in. After playing five games, Bateman chose to opt out again—this time for good. In those five games, he topped 100 yards three times to finish with 472 yards and two scores on 36 receptions (13.1 YPR). He accounted for 47.4-percent of the team receptions, 45.7-percent of the receiving yards, and 50-percent of the touchdown receptions over that span. His 3.69 yards per team pass attempt was third behind D’Wayne Eskridge and Devonta Smith.
College Stats
Positives
+43.7% dominator
+30.4% 2020 target share (87th-percentile)
+18.8 Breakout Age (94th-percentile); Freshman season
+1,219 yards in sophomore season
+Body Positioning
+Ball tracking
+Top-10 in Deep targets and deep catches in 2019 (PFF)
+3.48 yards per route
+63.2% contested catch rate in 2019
+Elite release
+3.69 yards per team pass attempt (in the five games he played)
+7.2 receptions per game in 2020
Negatives
-Doesn’t possess elite speed
-Some drops
-0 career rush attempts
-0 career kick/punt returns
Draft Projection: First Round
Bottom Line:
Rashod Bateman isn’t a burner—but that’s okay. Instead, he excels on short and intermediate routes, using his elite release tactics to separate from his opponents. He’s great at tracking the football and knowing exactly how to position himself to win in contested situations. Of course we know he was top-10 in deep targets and deep receptions in 2019 so he’s no slouch downfield either. Bateman’s age-adjusted production and market share numbers pop off the sheet. Even in a COVID-shortened season, he maintained high target share and reception share numbers while dominating at a nearly 45-percent rate. Bateman is absolutely in the conversation as one of the top wideouts in the class after Ja’Marr Chase. He has everything to be an alpha at the next level and will be a first round pick in both the NFL Draft and dynasty rookie drafts.
Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
Position: WR
School: Alabama
Class: Junior
Date of Birth: Nov 25, 1998
Height: 5-10
Weight: 182lbs
Jaylen Waddle was a three-sport athlete, playing basketball, football, and track at Houston Episcopal High School in Texas. He received a ton of scholarship offers as a four-star recruit and fifth-ranked wide receiver in the nation. he ultimately committed to Alabama where he was second on the team in receiving yards as a true freshman in 2018. Despite the presence of Devonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, and Irv Smith Jr, Waddle managed to catch 45 balls for 848 yards (18.8 YPR) and seven touchdowns.
He wasn’t quite as productive in his sophomore season—still competing for targets with Smith, Jeudy, and Ruggs. Waddle caught 33 passes for 560 yards, and six touchdowns in 13 games. With Jeudy and Ruggs off to the NFL, Waddle was in line for a huge 2020 campaign. He started hot with 25 receptions for 558 yards (22.3 YPR) and four touchdowns in the first four games, but suffered a bad ankle break in the fifth. Waddle was thought to be finished for the season but he made a return in the National Title game. He was clearly still hampered from the injury and made little impact in the team’s win over Ohio State.
Waddle finished his Alabama career with 106 receptions for 1,999 yards, and 17 touchdowns in three seasons. He added four rushes for 17 yards. Waddle was a dynamic return man, with a 19.3 punt return average and three kick/punt return touchdowns.
College Stats
Positives
+Elite Speed
+Explosive playmaker
+18.9 yards per reception in his career
+Dynamic threat as a returner; 47 career kick/punt returns (3 TDs)
+Elite lateral agility
+YAC; 10.1 YAC per reception
+Wide catch radius for his size
+Lines up all over the field
+A threat on all three levels
+Good hands
+Over 2019-2020, 60.7% of his receiving yards have come after the catch ( via Sports Info Solutions)
+Six-of-eight on contested opportunities over last two seasons (PFF)
+Out-produced Devonta Smith and Henry Ruggs as a true freshman
Negatives
-Size; 5-10, 182lbs
-Coming off serious ankle injury
-21.8 (20th-percentile) Breakout Age
-24.1% Dominator (32nd-percentile)
-Only 971 career snaps.
-Took a step back in production in sophomore season
Draft Projection: First Round
Bottom Line:
Jaylen Waddle is one of the most exciting prospects in the 2021 draft class despite his limited production over three seasons. He showed early in his career he can command targets even in the presence of older future first-round teammates around him. Waddle was on pace for a massively productive junior season before the devastating ankle injury. He showed his toughness by gutting it out in the National Championship game, though he was clearly hampered. Waddle possesses elite speed which translates at every level on the offense as well as in the return game. While still undersized, he is bigger and a better prospect than his former Alabama teammate Henry Ruggs. His versatility and explosiveness will help him get on the field and make an impact as a rookie, even if it’s inconsistent and unreliable for traditional fantasy leagues. He will draw first round NFL Draft capital and will make for a quality late-first or early second round selection in dynasty rookie drafts.
Resources: DLF, PlayerProfiler, TDN, PFF
