DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk NFL Draft 2026 WR Prospects

I am in no way a talent evaluator. I tend to read draft profiles, mocks and as much other info I can find.

I read an interesting list of WRs draft profiles put out by CBS sports. It lists Tate as it's #4 WR prospect. I think even more surprising to me was Concepcion listed as #1.

I am not trying to be funny here, but wouldn't the most important trait of a WR be hands, even more so than speed? Because listed among Concepcion's weaknesses is drop rate, which is not good at all.

Nothing drives me more nuts than WRs with all the measurables in the world, but his hands are questionable, yet they get drafted high. If the point is to catch the ball, how can "bad hands" keep you at the top of the list?

You gotta look the ball into your hands.

Your own hands.

Me too. Plus we already have Jerry Jeudy.

I don’t want anything to do with a WR who has drop issues.

I agree with all of you. Concepcion has a CAREER drop rate just over 10%, 100 balls... at least 10 drops. Let's not go down this rabbit hole. "He COULD work his way out of this issue".. Let someone else help him work out of that issue.

Drops aren't just 10 balls not caught. In many cases it leads to INTs. Tip drill was one of my favorites in high school.

I agree. If your job description is catching the football and you've played the game for several years and still can't catch the football, you're a project and not a WR.

Possibly AI? Like over-weighing Combine speed, route running, or other lesser skills. Really not curious about if we can develop "promise."
Catch the ball & score the ball. "Simplify, simplify." We have played to our weakness by relying on the passing game way too much way too often. Some Buckeyes might help us. But if you don't catch, then you shouldn't play.

That's all I needed to hear.

I'm sold.

Agreed. We've made that mistake before with a few WR's we drafted. Please FO don't draft another one that has drop issues. There are too many good ones in this draft that can catch.

Great post! I want the man here.

I am fully ready to risk catching the ball for a change. Tate, please.

"You have to trust me on this one".

Was that Hue, or Botch?

That was Hue when he found our next, next, next great QB.

"The guy has had a tremendous career,'' said Jackson, defending what seemed like a questionable pick. "I understand where everyone's coming from. But Cody Kessler is the guy for us.''

Did you hear if he ran a 40? The places I listened to said he wasn't going to.

Bad Medical History I wouldn't take him, we have enough problems, we need a healthy WR!

I hope your right if we take him ...

The term "injury prone" exists for a reason. Much like a Yield sign at an intersection it's an indicator to proceed with caution.

I agree. Remember Montario Hardesty? Lee Suggs? Courtney Brown? Our medical staff at that time cleared those players too and I'm sure there were a couple more. Stay away from injury prone players. WE have to make our picks count. JMO

Pepperidge Farm Remembers.....

How many more examples from just the Browns alone would it take for you to see the pattern here?

That's fine. That's what our medical staffs said at the time about Montario Hardesty, Lee Suggs and Courtney Brown too. They usually always get well before they go out on the field and get injured again.

The dolphins signed dante culpepper instead of drew brees because of injury
The saints end up with a HOFer

Always a balance of risk vs reward
And always needs evaluated by individual merits as compared to the historical precedents

There are always exceptions to the rule which enables people to determine they should ignore the rule. Odds should give people a clue what the rule really is.

The evidence is already in on that.............

Results:

ACL injury was linked to a successive injury of the same ACL, and other injuries in the LE. HS was associated with subsequent ipsilateral HS and knee injuries. Previous achilles tendon rupture increased the risk of an analogous injury on the contralateral side. An ankle sprain was associated with a re‐injury of either the ipsilateral or the contralateral ankle. Post‐injury changes were present in strength. proprioception, and kinematics, which may have led to overall changes in motor control and function.

Conclusion:

This review provides insight into the changes occurring following common LE injuries, how these changes potentially affect risk for future injury, and address the needs of the active adult population in rehabilitation.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4196323/

And Tyson's knee injury wasn't your every day, run of the mill ACL tear......

Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State, 2026 Draft Class): Identified as having elite potential but significant injury history, including an ACL/MCL/PCL tear in 2022–2023, causing him to miss time before entering the 2026 draft pool

Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson, Willis McGahee, Dalvin Cook, Nick Chubb, Rob Gronkowski, Todd Gurley, Carson Palmer,

Not sayng it is the norm for these players to succeed nor am I saying it's a good idea to ignore injury history
My personal preference is avoiding these players high and taking a risk in later rounds
Just emphasizing the need to weigh risk/reward on an individual basis

Chubb has only played one season since recovering from his injury.

I provided you with the scientific evidence that an ACL injury creates a higher likelihood for another one. And in this case it was more than an ACL and in fact was a compound knee injury. I don't know what more anyone could do to convince you that such an injury history should cause you to proceed with extreme caution. And that simply seeing that the injury has healed and you're healthy to play now has no bearing on this.

I think he was talking about Chubb’s college injuries. He had a great career despite the college knee issue.

That said, when given two choices, if one already has a history, I would take the other one every time.

Big difference in a should injury and a couple torn ACL's among other things

Exactly
And agree