Top 10 WRs in 2025 + Chiefs get healthy before training camp, Colts QB battle & more!
01:12:48 Share

On this episode of Football 301, Charles McDonald and I cover the latest news around the NFL before Nate Tice joins us for our top 10 wide receiver rankings. Tons of good conversation, maybe some slight disagreements. All that and more coming up on today's show. Let's get into it.

It's the NBA offseason, everybody. That means it's the best time to check out my podcast, The Kevin O'Connor Show. We're breaking down everything that's going down. Draft pick performance in Summer League, NBA trades, free agency news, and what it all means for the coming season with all of these teams making big changes this offseason and how it could change the entire landscape of the NBA. So check out The Kevin O'Connor Show wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back to Listen to Your Heart. I'm Jerry. And I'm Jerry's heart. Today's topic, Repatha, Evalokimab. Heart, why'd you pick this one? Well, Jerry, for people who have had a heart attack, like us, diet and exercise might not be enough to lower the risk of another one. Okay. To help know if we're at risk, we should be getting our LDL-C, our bad cholesterol, checked, and talking to our doctor. I'm listening. And if it's still too high, Repatha can be added to a statin to lower our LDL-C and our heart attack risk.

Hmm. Guess it's time to ask about Repatha. Do not take Repatha if you're allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat, or arms. Common side effects include runny nose, sore throat, common cold symptoms, flu or flu-like symptoms, back pain, high blood sugar, and redness, pain, or bruising at the injection site. Listen to your heart. Ask your doctor about Repatha.

Learn more at Repatha.com or call 1-844-REPATHAH. Do Crohn's disease symptoms keep coming back? Tremphia, Gacelcomab, may help. At 12 weeks, rapid symptom remission was achieved in most patients taking Tremphia, and some experienced visible improvement of their intestinal lining at 12 weeks and one year. Individual results may vary. Tremphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease.

♪♪

Hello and welcome to Football 301. I am not Nate Tice. I am Matt Harmon. Nate is still on paternity leave. So while he is away, Charles and I are covering the latest news before we get into another one of our top 10 rankings. Charles, what's going on, buddy? I'm dying. New York City and I guess most of the East Coast has turned into an absolute furnace. I

It's bad out here. You know, every time it gets hot like this, you have like all the concrete multiplying it and we are just smoking it here. So I am risking my life to record this podcast today and I hope every listener appreciates it.

Well, the listeners, the viewers definitely appreciate your true show of heroism here. That is for sure. What's the what's the real feel up there in New York right now? Oh, last I checked, the real feel was 104 in my neighborhood. It's it's one of those days like where as soon as you step outside, it's like, no, I've made a horrendous, horrendous mistake. We're just gonna have to pay the AC bill because there's really no other option.

Yeah, we're rocking a sweet 104 right now here in Southeast Virginia. So it is definitely a hot time to be alive. It is not a hot time of NFL news, but nevertheless, we've scraped together a few topics to talk about here, Charles, before we throw to our top 10 wide receiver ranking show that we recorded a little bit ago. So just a few little cleanup items for us to talk about. First of all, probably the biggest, which is, I mean, this is very relative,

But the biggest story in the NFL the last week or so was former Packers quarterback Jair Alexander signing with the Baltimore Ravens. Charles, pretty good move here by the Ravens, I think.

Yeah, I was surprised that the money was as low as it was on this deal. Because I know Jair has been banged up a lot recently. I think he's missed. He's only played in seven games, I think, each of the past two years. Or maybe it's two of the last three. So I kind of understand why they felt like they wanted to move on, couldn't get anything in the trade, and then ended up cutting him. Yeah.

I guess I'm not surprised that Baltimore is a team that did this because they always do stuff like this. But what was it? One year, $4 million guaranteed for six total. Jared's only 28 years old. So this is someone who theoretically, I think when he's healthy, he still plays good ball. It's just the injury stuff. So I thought he was going to get maybe like a little two-year, something much higher than that. So he's on a real one-year prove-it deal. And if he's healthy and can give them, let's say,

12 games like that's probably the best secondary football.

Yeah, I mean, look, I think two things are appealing about the Ravens here. One, him and Lamar Jackson are boys. I think that was a big reason why he wanted to make this move here. I think Lamar was very vocal about like, let's go and get him. Was super excited to get him there. I think that's part of it. Also, it's a chance to win a Super Bowl. You know, I think that obviously. And look, if he has a great year with, as you say, one of the best secondaries in the league, he can just walk right into free agency next year, probably at a higher value than he certainly is right now. Yeah, I think I think he's still

Pretty good player. And last year, you know, obviously been doing a bunch of charting right now, like watching that Ravens defense. You forget because of how they ended the season on defense. Just what a mess they were early on in the year. Obviously, like moving Kyle Hamilton to safety was a big deal. Like Marvin, excuse me, Marlon Humphrey settling in at the slot was big. But like, I don't think their perimeter is.

coverage was all that bad. They were just like night. They were like, had no sense of like how to play at the catch point. But if Nate Wiggins develops and then Alexander's healthy, like, yeah, this is a, this is a really good group.

Yeah, I think if you're feeling optimistic about this move, I think what Nate Wiggins did over the back half of the season probably has you pretty excited. Because that's where you just saw all the athleticism and all the potential. And while he kind of started to figure out his issues at the catch point, Brandon Stevens spent the entire year just getting absolutely dunked on. It was crazy because the year before he had a good season. And then it just...

he couldn't find the ball. That's got to be the worst feeling, constantly losing at the catch point. You're there. You're right there, but you're also so wrong at the same time. I'm just looking at it like this. I know anything can happen. Injuries can happen. We've seen it happen with Jair. We've seen it happen to his Raven squad over the past few years. We're crossing our fingers here, but

Kyle Hamilton Malachi Stark safety Duo and you get to move Darius Washington to the third spot which is much better for I think for a player of his skill set if you watch the finals this week and there were people saying you know why don't you just let TJ McConnell start a whole game well you saw it because he's TJ McConnell you see those guys at safety and then at cornerback you look at Marlon Humphrey uh Jair Alexander Nate Wiggins and then uh some depth pieces that they have I mean that's a

That's a really, really good secondary, man. If those guys stay healthy, like your biggest question mark to me is outside of Jairus health is I guess how does Malachi Starks play as a rookie? But that's a really good landing spot to be in with those vets and that coach and stuff.

Yeah, even like Uzi's decent depth at the outside cornerback spot. Like he obviously has had injuries and, you know, maybe wasn't the same player of late, but that wasn't like the worst flyer in the world either. But yeah, I mean, this Ravens defense, I think the secondary probably has to be better this year just because I'm not quite sure they have like

One of the best pass rushes in the league. I think they're always kind of like doing some sort of veteran reclamation project at the edge position. Like Kyle Vannoy gave them a great year last year. Is he going to give them another great year this year at this point in his career? So I actually think the secondary probably has to take like a larger portion of the burden this year, since I'm not quite sure what they're going to get up front.

Yeah, and I think that's a good point because it's not just some of the pass rush stuff. Like their run defense kind of gave them... It's crazy because their run defense was so good last year. Like it gave them a chance while the pass defense was terrible. Like they're one of the best teams on third and fourth and short against the run. And then Buffalo just...

Just pummeled them. So Michael Pierce is gone. He's been a big player for them against the run over the past few years. We're going to need some guys to step up. So there's some changing faces. I guess maybe they're just thinking, let's just go in and make at least one area of our team dominant and, you know, quietly need a little bit more from Roquan Smith next year, too.

I was just going to say that's one thing that from last year they did not get a great season, especially in coverage from Roquan Smith. So hopefully that is something that was maybe just a one-year blip and not like signs of decline or anything. But that actually perfectly transitions us to the next topic that I want to talk about, which is injury-related because Rasheed Rice and Josh Simmons are going to be full participants for the Kansas City Chiefs as

at training camp. I say that this transitions from Roquan Smith because I just recently charted Rasheed Rice and man, he had the Ravens linebackers in hell in that week one game. And that was just a theme that carried through most of the course of the season. So that's

Two, I think, pretty big pieces of information for the reigning AFC champions here, Charles. These are two of the more pivotal players. I guess left tackle in itself is a pivotal position, whether it's Moore or Josh Simmons, whoever starts most of the season. But Rasheed Rice being something close to the form he was last year is also pretty big for this team this season. Yeah. I mean, thank God. I mean, they need him so bad. Because it was funny because...

The Chiefs have had an interesting two year stretch where in 2023, when they won the Super Bowl, there were so many people complaining about that team. And then 2024 was like actually the team that they thought they were watching in 2023. Because once Rasheed Rice went down,

man, that was, it was, it was, it was tough to watch. And I know Nate and I, we were talking all season, like, Hey, you know, like the success rate is still kind of high on this offense. You know, they still move the ball. And then like week, like week 10 or week 11, I'm like, all right, man, but it's that three yards of play, you know, how, how, how sustainable is this? If you're actually going to try to win a Superbowl, uh,

As long as you got my homes, you can get to the Super Bowl. But obviously, they didn't have nearly enough firepower to play with Philly. So this is at least a step back in the right direction for them getting some blue chip talents on the field again because they were just kind of

running out of bodies. I mean, Joe Thune at left tackle when he's, you know, 33, 34 years old late in his career, that's not really a viable strategy even though he did play admirably. So you get Josh Simmons who, if he's healthy, I don't know how to evaluate a torn patellar tendon. I'm not a doctor. I was kind of surprised that he was back this fast because he did hurt during the season. But if he's healthy and he can look like he did before he got hurt, that's a day one starting franchise left tackle and we know how good Rasheed Rice is. So, yeah,

I hope it's good because I'm, I don't, I'm tired of seeing Pat Mahomes live like this. Like I, same dude. I, I, it's like, cause I, I did run through some chiefs film earlier, uh, last week just to re re, uh,

ingratiate my brain with the idea of working for the fall. And I came more, I came, I came more like impressed again with how good Pat kind of was last season considering the circumstances. I mean, a lot of quarterbacks would have failed in that situation. They still got to the Superbowl. So you don't, you can live like that and make it to the Superbowl. So let's hopefully get a little bit better for that personnel so you can get back to scoring points again.

Yeah.

over like 50% of his routes are screen slant dig. I think it's almost like 60% actually. So, I mean, he is for the most part going to be working over the middle of the field screens underneath quick, like flat routes, things of that nature. But they also did not, that was a missing dimension once he went out. Yeah. Even,

Yeah, I mean, even once Xavier Worthy started popping off towards the end of the season, into the playoffs, he was mostly beating man coverage on these quicker out routes. And he's obviously not going to work consistently over the middle of the field. And I do think if you're feeding somebody screens and design touches, you want it to be Rice because...

Obviously, Worthy's fast. We all know that. But Rice is bigger and faster than you think. And I don't know if he's going to be 100% healthy. We also still are like, at least me personally, Charles, I'm still always recalibrating my expectations for Rice because he's operating in such a different role than he was as a collegiate prospect when he was

always outside on the line of scrimmage running go routes and curls like he obviously does not do any of that stuff now but in the three games that I chartered for him last year he had a 99th percentile success rate birth zone coverage like all time in reception perception now I mean that obviously it's a three game sample it's not full season but it's behind like

an Antonio Brown year, Cooper Cups nuclear season, and like one random Julian Edelman year. It's like in that ballpark. So if he can be that tier or even close to that tier of zone beater for a full season, that's obviously crucial for the Kansas City Chiefs. It's just how much of his full form are we going to see? Really, to me, the Simmons news is almost more important just because that was the bigger problem by the end of the year. Yeah, I still will say, even with the Simmons news, I...

I, I, I, maybe it's just me getting old, but, uh,

I still would just give him a chance to just get acclimated and just see how it looks. Because I've seen people say, oh, nice, we're back. I was like, give him a chance. You don't got to put that expectation on him just yet. And he had a very, very serious injury last year. You signed Jalen Moore for a reason. That's what I'm saying. But even if he's healthy, you still have some questions there. I know Chiefs fans are sold on Kingsley Sumataya at left guard.

I just don't know how you can be that sure based on how he played before he got benched. I know he had a nice week 18 game, but I don't know. It's kind of like preseason week five almost. I mean, that's kind of rude because the Broncos did play the starters, but you get what I mean. It's a...

It just has to change because they didn't have enough firepower. And I think the way you described Rasheed Rice and how he plays is, I guess, what I would call like a young man's game. So I hope those knees are good to go because it's still going to be a lot of short passes, but they need him to kind of take the top off when he gets the ball. Because Andy's always going to be a West Coast guy. He's leaned more into that since Tyreek Hill left. But now that Travis Kelsey left,

you know, is at the end of his career, it isn't as explosive as it used to be. It just got so, so constipated. So they need Rasheed Rice to not only be healthy, but like as good as he was last year, pretty much.

Yeah, I still don't think they have a field stretcher unless Worthy really is going to be that guy in year two, which he wasn't in year one. But they can really stress teams out horizontally if Rishi Rice is healthy. But I still think that he is so comparable to Juju Smith-Schuster. And that really is what ruined Juju's career, honestly, was the knees and the fact that he quickly went from playing a young man's game to an old man's game very quickly. So that is at least a... By the way, Juju is still on the roster somehow. Like all the old bros that they had there last year, him, Kareem Hunt, like...

They're still hanging around on this roster for whatever reason. I don't know why. Win a ring, I guess. That's the bottom line here. Next storyline to talk about here, Anthony Richardson just checking in on the injury situation with him. As people know, he's been getting a second opinion on his shoulder, which is the same shoulder that he hurt as a rookie, which...

By the way, I don't love that this is... This sounds like old Cam Newton. Like everything that we're hearing with Anthony Richardson, that makes me uncomfortable. According to The Athletic's James Boyd, he believes that Daniel Jones has, quote, already taken a significant lead in the Colts'

quarterback competition. It does feel like Charles that we're all calibrating to Daniel Jones is going to start week one and probably the most of this season. Do you think we see Anthony Richardson start more than I'll say four games this season? Yeah.

Yeah, because I've seen Daylon Jones play football before. I've also seen Anthony Richardson play football, though. Right. So this is, you know, I recorded that show with Bomani last week. We're talking about the Browns quarterback room. He's like, this is one of those rooms where maybe everyone plays. And that could be the case for Indianapolis, too. I mean...

Now that you're here, the Daniel Jones signing that we did rag on for two months on end looks a little bit better because imagine if you didn't have this. But I mean...

At the end of the day, you're still going into the season with Daniel Jones as your starting quarterback. I was living with the Anthony Richardson stuff for a really long time, but I think the injuries are piling up just a little bit too inconsistent. And it seems like the Colts are just about ready to move on and maybe have been ready to move on for a little bit. It's unfortunate because you always want the video game characters to kind of figure it out, but

If what James is reporting is true, and I have no reason to doubt that, he's a really, really good reporter, plugged in with the Colts, this Anthony Richardson experiment might be over in Indy. I'd probably be trying to trade for him. If I was the Rams or something, a little day three pick just for a flyer, but it seems like they're ready to move on and potentially draft a new quarterback next summer.

I was talking with Corey Kinnan, who does quarterback charting work for us at Reception Perception, and he basically reminded me of the Kevin O'Connell, Anthony Richardson, like midfield moment after he got benched and Flacco started that game against the Vikings and how like

like O'Connell was building him up. I'm like, Oh my God, just put, put him in the Vikings Jersey. Now, like he's Daniel Jones is about to take anti Richardson's job and, and, and Anthony Richardson should just go and take Daniel Jones's little like quarterback rehab spot that he had on the Vikings roster last year. So I'm not saying that Jersey's,

that JJ McCarthy is going to lose his job to Anthony Richardson, but like we know O'Connell wants to build up these like quarterback reclamation projects. He seems to have an affinity for Anthony Richardson. Like let's just go ahead and make that happen because I do think that Daniel Jones can if he's healthy. That's also another question to like this is not a guy that's been injury free of late either and he's certainly not been a guy that I think I think he's lost a lot of whatever juice he had on his arm. He's lost a lot of it like

I think they're going to have to do a lot of the Gardner Minshew sort of like quick RPO hitting stuff with Daniel Jones on our center, which I do think can maybe get them to like a functional offense with the weapons. It's so bad to watch for a full zero. It's not fun, bro. It is not fun to watch, but at least some of these guys will get catches. Like, I mean, that's basically the long and short of it. So, okay, let me ask you this then.

Just over under on quarterback starts here. Daniel Jones, 10 and a half starts this year, over under. Under. Anthony Richardson, over under, five and a half starts. Who's their QB three? Let's see. Well, this is where I was going to get depressing. Riley Leonard. Over under 0.5 starts. Okay, so I went under on 10 and a half. I'll go over on both the other two.

There you go. It gets really sad when we get a week 18 Riley Leonard game. You know, everyone's fired.

From the moment they signed Daniel Jones, part of me is starting to talk myself into, oh, you know what? I do think that this can be a functional offense with Daniel Jones just because they have really good receivers in Michael Pittman and Josh Downs who fit his game well. And we'll see. They are remaking the offensive line. But Jonathan Taylor's there. But my first instinct when they signed Daniel Jones was, tell me how both these guys don't make starts and everybody gets fired at the end of the year. Sometimes the most likely answer is just what's...

What's going to happen like your first instinct is what's going to happen. And yeah, like let's just throw Riley Leonard in the mix there. He gets one like ceremonial start at some point just so they can get a look at him. I do think that's probably what's going to happen here. Last piece of quote news. And this is going to transition us into our top 10 wide receiver show. Russell Wilson.

Always a good quote. He says, Charles, that he signed with the New York Giants because of Malik neighbors. Wilson said, quote, I came here because of him. He said during the Fanatics Fest over the weekend via Empire Sports Media. I really wanted to play with someone who was special like him. Charles.

I mean, what are we talking about here, Russ? All the options. And it was simply because of Malik neighbors. Can you read that? The last bit of that Russell Wilson quote again, maybe just the last line. I really wanted to play with someone who is special. Stop after play. I really wanted to play. That's it. That's it.

That's it. It's got nothing to do with Malik neighbors, obviously. But, you know, Russ, Russ, Russ does how to play this game. I mean, OK, OK, this this offseason was actually kind of interesting because there weren't actually that many quarterback spots open. Russ played for the Steelers last year. We've known as annoying as it was that they've been locked in on Aaron Rodgers being a quarterback this entire time, the entire offseason. That was never really an option for him.

Um, so then it really truthfully, if he wanted to start and is not wanting to be a backup, he only had two options, the Giants and the Browns. Uh, the Browns decided to go Joe Flacco and trade for Kenny Pickett. So he really wanted to play. So he went to the Giants. Uh, I, I, I, I am fascinated to see how this goes. Um,

Because, you know, Russ in his head is not feeling the heat of a first round rookie quarterback behind him. No, he's not thinking like that. So he's he's I mean, I think him and neighbors will be good because neighbors is really good. But you came here because of Malik neighbors. Come on now. Yeah. You just didn't want to retire yet.

So Russ may have lost a few steps as a scrambler. Maybe isn't the same. He's just obviously not the same quarterback he once was. He is still as much of a PR man as he ever was. That is for sure. This is a classic. Russell Wilson. Dude, I was going to say, I...

I went to the New York Liberty game last week and Russell Wilson and Ciara were at the game on the sideline. And it was so funny because I was basically like I could see like across. I was basically saying like eye level across from Russ. No, not eye level. I wasn't saying courtside, but a few rows up.

And he was like on his phone the whole game. And then they got a spotlight. Hey, everybody, Russell Wilson and Ciari are at the game. And he gets up and he's got baby future with him and they're waving Liberty towels and going crazy. And then, yes. And then as soon as it stops, he's back on his phone, like scrolling. And he almost got hit by...

two women on the court because the ball was like spiraling out of bounds right towards him. He didn't look until the very last second. He almost got hit, but he played that moment perfectly. And he got that crowd fired up before he stopped watching that game. Hey, he still got the fastball there. That is for sure. In terms of like the, the cheerleader and the PR person. But you talk about, he's not ready. He's not feeling the heat.

of a first round rookie quarterback. He's going to be feeling the heat of that schedule, man. I think that Thursday night game week seven against the Eagles. I've said that that's the one where after that game Jackson Dart will be starting. I mean, they're going to throw him. Well, week six, excuse me. They'll throw him out there week seven against the Broncos. Not a fun start, but we got the life. He's going to get eaten alive, but it is what it is. Commanders

Cowboys, Chiefs, Chargers, Saints, Eagles. That's the first six games. So I don't think Russ makes it out of that stretch. I do think – I think that he hopefully enjoys his six weeks with Malik Neighbors, the reason that he signed with the New York Giants because I think that's about all we're going to get out of Russell Wilson in the next six weeks.

started quarterback New York Giants oh man real quick before we get out of here I've been kind of laughing at people say well what's the easiest start for Jackson Dart to come in what there is no easiest start he played for the Giants week one the 2026 season I don't know who's their week one opponent next year okay it's funny because you said the Broncos who they play the week after that at Philly you know

The Eagles again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the Niners. And then at Chicago. Like, that's a tough little stretch. Good luck, Jackson. Just start him now and get it over with. What are we waiting for? Everyone's getting fired anyway. Just start him now.

I'm pretty much with you on that one. Well, we're going to talk more about Malik neighbors in this show because one of us has him as a top 10 wide receiver. After the break, Nate is going to join us and we're going to rank our top 10 wide receivers heading into the 2025 season right after this.

What if you could use your home equity to pay off your debt without monthly payments so you could focus on reaching your other financial goals? With a home equity investment from HomeTap, you can. Get access to your home equity in cash. Get access to your home equity in cash.

Get closer to financial freedom and get more out of life. Learn more and see if you pre-qualify for an investment at HomeTap.com. Subject to eligibility, terms and conditions apply. Get access to your home equity in cash. Visit HomeTap.com to apply in minutes. That's HomeTap.com.

Every bold journey starts with a decision to go. And if you're ready, the Defender is too. This is a vehicle built for more, whether you're heading off the grid or just getting out of town for the weekend. Defender is a true icon reimagined for a new generation. Its rugged exterior is built from durable materials and tested in the toughest conditions. Inside, it's modern, functional, and refined, with smart storage and premium touches that keep you comfortable wherever the road leads.

It's packed with tech like 3D surround cameras, clear sight ground and rear views, driver assist features, and an intuitive infotainment system. With three models, the Defender 90, 110, and 130, there's a Defender for every kind of adventure, from city streets to remote trails. This is a vehicle that, like you, is capable of great things. Explore the full Defender lineup at LandRoverUSA.com.

At Amica Insurance, we know it's not just what's inside your home that matters. It's who you share it with. That's why we work even harder to protect it. And as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us. Amica. Empathy is our best policy. Call 877-41-AMICA for a free coverage review.

All right, we are here to rank top 10 receivers. We are recording this in May. I am currently on paternity leave. So doing this beyond the grave, beyond my lack of sleep, before my lack of sleep, I should say, because probably right now no one can get ahold of me, but ranking top 10 receivers. I'm actually, I cannot wait for this because when I did the short list, I got it down to 16 guys. And then I was like, oh boy.

oh boy how am i going to cut this guy off where am i going to cut this off so i'm curious where we're going to go but we're going to rank it on through 10 through 1 we'll start in some chunks and blocks discuss them see our differences see our similarities and go from there we are also just ranking these for 2025 no contracts no age or anything just their play in 2025 so in january we look

back at this and go, yeah, I got that right. Or like me with quarterback rankings, including Trevor Lawrence and stuff. But anyways, Charles, let's kick us off. Receivers 10, 9, and 8. Let's hear what you got. I got pretty jumbled here. Honestly, 7 on, I didn't really feel all that strongly about

Any of them just because I think they're all good players. But no, I were mentioned, like I said before in our quarterback show. So I'm just going to go give it straight. Number 10, Devante Adams. Number nine, Terry Hill. Number eight, T. Higgins. OK, that's a good list. All right, Matt, what were your 10, 9 and 8?

Yeah, so I told you guys that I went coward with number 10 because for me, I had 10 to – I had number 10 and then 10 guys after him like all in the same list. And I really wanted to put either Brandon Ayuk or Ladd McConkie at number 10. But –

I definitely would have had top 10 going, you know, coming out of 2023, 100, like going into 2024. And if he wasn't coming off a stupid contract thing, I definitely would have had him top 10. So I feel pretty bullish. You can get back into it. Ladd McConkie, I'm so high on after his rookie year. And like I said, there's another group of like eight dudes that I could have at number 10, but I ultimately went coward and I left Tyree kill at number 10. And, uh, I really wanted to drop them out of the top 10 because I,

I'm just kind of, I want to be out early on Tyreek for a variety of different reasons. And I'm a little just concerned about coming into this season for him, just overall with where he's at. But so that was kind of its own tier was 10 to all those dudes to basically like wide receiver 20. It's pretty jumbled there. I thought six to nine were very clear in their own group. And I have Drake London at nine and Malik neighbors at 10. I mean, excuse me, eight, sorry.

So, okay. You have Malik neighbors at eight and who's your neighbors at eight Drake line at nine and Tyree kill cowardly. I left a 10. Okay. Okay. So Tyree kill did not make my top 10. And I think, I think we're on the beginning of this. I think we're on the beginning of the downside. Yeah, we are. No. And so I want to, I want to bail. I, if I have stock marketing, the stock market's,

have taught me anything. You want to get out early before it's too late. But yeah, so Tyreek did not make mine. But my 10 through 8, he was on the next list, I would say, which I would include these

Next two guys would be probably part of that. So number 10, I want Brian Thomas Jr. for the Jaguars, which might be a little early on it. But then the more I watched them, like, yeah, actually a number nine. I had scary Terry McLaurin, which apparently I'm the only one to include these two in my top 10. I thought scary Terry might make it. I've actually always been a guy that's like, oh, scary is more of a high end to high end to maybe a low end one. Nah.

Maybe it's the Jane Daniels magic, that chemistry, whatever it is. But seeing how Terry played last year and everything he did, the contested catches in the end zone, like such a weapon in the end zone, like back shoulders and everything. Again, some of that's with Jane Daniels and the accuracy that he throws and the ball placement. But man, I...

Terry had more to his game than maybe even I gave credit for it. And I really liked Terry and I was mad, but just the dirty work stuff. I always liked the speed. I always liked that route running. He was a solid route runner, but the ball skills, maybe I maybe have been lower on him and watching last year is kind of, you know, revel.

revelatory. I was very excited watching Terry last year. And then number eight, I had Amara St. Brown, who really appreciate the production. Some of the dirty work stuff he does, you can tell he's a really smart player. Just other guys I might prefer other things that they can do as well. But one of the most productive players, one of the most

reliable players, how strong he is, how he can come down with the ball as well. So I know I'm the low guy on Amante Brown, but that's just kind of a little preference thing. But he is strongly included in the top 10 for me, as opposed to maybe nine and 10 for maybe the differences. But Charles, you also had Devante Adams in your top 10 and T Higgins.

Devontae Adams, I just missed mine. I'm very excited about him this year. But mention why you had Adams first included in your top 10. Well, first, I just want to say there's too many receivers. There's just so many good ones. Tell me about it. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, Aaron.

every year we keep saying wow another strong receiver class another strong receiver class and then you're starting to do this exercise I'm like dude there's like there's probably like 30 guys I could put at 10 that's okay 18 made my initial off the top of my head list I had 20

That's a lot. But for 10, I went Devontae Adams. I think he still has some number one wide receiver skills available for him in the Rams. I think based on what he did last year with Rodgers, I thought the miscues in production were more on Rodgers than they were Adams. Still got a lot of athleticism left. Still got a lot of basketball skills left. So I think in a more...

a steady cohesive environment like the one that sean mcveigh has built for the rams will be uh better for him and i i don't know like how many more years he has uh being a guy that could potentially go out there and be a dominant receiver production wise but i do think he's got at least one and i think that this is the environment to get it out of him yeah i i wanted to include him so much i mean i

It was hard. I kept up Mike Evans and Devante Adams. And maybe I don't know what it was just those two. I was like, I want to include them because I think they're like, I know what they are. And I think there's gonna be a good year for him, but I just kind of kept them off. You also had T Higgins in your top 10, Charles, uh, at number eight, you were the only one that include him in your top 10. Not that I'm, he was part of my short list as well, but why'd you kind of give T Higgins the nod to include him in the top 10? Um, yeah.

Honestly, because I was getting a little frustrated, like trying to whittle down the list. And I was like, man, how long am I really going to spend on this? Like, I can't spend all day. You just go with the guys you like. Right, right. Exactly. So I was like, I like T. Higgins. I like watching T. Higgins play. I think he's awesome. And so he made my top 10 out of this jumbled list. Perfect. That's,

That's literally how it went. And for 10, I literally did a coin flip between Devontae Adams and Drake London and Devontae Adams. So that's why he got number 10 for me. But Tee Higgins, I just love watching him play. And I think when the Bengals offense...

is at his best and they're just shredding guys. You kind of get to see that T Higgins is the widest team where that can do a little bit of everything. Whether it's, you know, the jump ball stuff down the field, even some of the shorter stuff like towards the sideline, I think he's really good. Just, just a really complete player. And they were able to sign him for, honestly, if you look at the contract, a pretty team friendly deal that they can get out of like after a year, if they want to, which I don't think they'll need to because they,

I think he's one of the best receivers in the league. So I think he's a guy that could have gone on to another team and been able to stand tall as the number one receiver. But obviously in this situation, it's just going to be what we see more where a really good receiver gets to take advantage of some really good opportunities because you've got Jamar Chase on the other side. And I think the battle continues this year.

Yeah, I love Higgins. He's my preferred type of receiver. I think what you just mentioned, too, when we were talking about Burrow and the quarterback list, quarterback rankings, is I think some of Higgins' route running underneath and like outbreakers is a little better than maybe... It keeps getting better. I'm not going to say he's the best route runner in the world, but he's a very...

solid route runner and he's becoming more refined and maybe they've limited some of the ones that he's not as good at because he's so long legged and stuff. But man, he is a little more fluid, you know, coming out of breaks and stuff that maybe I've given him credit for. Matt, you are the only one with Malik neighbors in your top 10. You had him at number eight.

Again, not disagreeing because I had Higgins and neighbors also included in my short list. But Malik neighbors, you're very bullish on him. Talk about why this PPR explosive play monster is in your top 10. Yeah. Speaking to just what Charles said about the

Just how there's too many damn receivers. And I actually made your point about Terry McLaurin's funny because I've always been the high guy on Terry. I'm like, he's a top 10 receiver. Like you guys just don't know it. Cause he's playing in goofball offenses with middling to bad quarterbacks. I mean, people were excited about Sam Howell at one point, like give me a break. I mean, come on. So, uh,

Um, you know, it just, I've always been a high gone Terry, but now I just think like there there it's not that he's fallen off. In fact, you could argue he's still just as good as ever. And he's playing with a quarterback who's finally able to, to kind of accentuate that. But it just, there's so many young receivers that are coming in and just pushing these, these rankings. Um, and that the group last year, the 2024 class, um,

I just posted, I mean, we, I don't know when people are going to be listening to this, but I just posted the year two receivers on reception perception. It's class fricking rules, man. Like, I mean, it just, this is going to be, we're going to look back on this as a really special classic. Everybody knows neighbors. And I wanted to like Brian Thomas Jr. Is on my short list. Like I mentioned, lad McConkey was a guy fighting for my 10 spot. I wanted to include someone here, uh,

And shoot, by the way, like I also think guy, you know, maybe Ricky Pearsall is not going to be like a top 10 receiver, but it wouldn't totally surprise me if, you know, Roma dunes or Marvin Harrison jr. Just based on what they did as a rookie. If they take another step, they could be in this conversation. They're not right now, but they could be like, cause that's how good this class is. But I think,

Just proof of concept right now, I think the guy with the highest ceiling is Malik neighbors, what he does against press man coverage. I think he was better against zone coverage, like consistently settling down. Then Brian Thomas jr. Was. And I think when you just look at him from,

like a boundary perspective. He can play all three receiver positions. That's really exciting for Malik neighbors. What he does with the ball in his hands is, is it was special as a prospect and he backed it up on film as a, as a rookie. And then when I spoke to him at the Superbowl, and this is like a little bit, sometimes this can get you a little more juiced up on a guy. You talked about this with CJ Stroud on the quarterback episode, Nate, when I talked to neighbors and just like ask them a very simple question about what,

like what goes into being a good yards after catch player. And, you know, typically I expect when I asked a guy like that question, they're going to talk about, you know, being big, fast and strong, blah, blah, blah, blah. He had like a long thoughtful answer about like watching defenders and spatial awareness and all this. And I was like, Oh my God, that just made me like this guy even more. Like I, it just made it made like the ceiling even higher to me. If like, he's already a freak show and he's putting this much thought into the

craftsman portion of not just route running, but also what he does with the ball in his hands. I think the ceiling on him is really, really high. But like I said, Ladd and Brian Thomas Jr. deserve to be in this conversation too after their rookie. If people think it's hot to talk about Ladd McConkie this way, they're not watching him play. That's just the reality of the situation. He's unguardable.

It's more like the only one that screws Ladd is Ladd. His body falling apart. That's it. It's not his play. No, I totally agree with you, neighbors. It's all these guys. I mean, Marvin Harrison Jr., I'm not going to lie. I included on that 18 list because I was like, we're talking about this upcoming year. And I'm still so bullish on him. I'm still so bullish on him. Like you mentioned, there's other guys in this class I still really like.

Well, Jalen Polk is not one, but Malik neighbors though, is if he's able to do this with,

DeVito throwing to him and just, and the coaches trying to save their jobs. And yeah, he gets hyper usage, but the thing is he's worth the usage and just the, I keep always coming back to this. The name of the game is explosive plays and neighbors is going to be one of the most explicit explosive players in the league. As long as in the week, he just has that a class Twitch and ball skills and stuff. So I'm very excited to like kind of watch him develop and,

with whatever quarterback is throwing to him this year and see the varying kind of chemistry that he's going to have to overcome. But I think he's going to find it somewhere because he's just that talented of a player. I'll hold on to Drake London discussion because I'll just give you my Rebels goal receivers seven and six and receiver. I'll start because I just, that was a segue that works for me. Number seven, Drake London. Number six, CD lamb, which is,

I'll talk about in a sec, maybe once we get to CD land, but Charles, who were your seven and six, seven and six. I had a, I'm on Ross St. Brown seven and Nico Collins six. Okay. And then Matt, who'd you have at seven and six? I had, I'm on Ross St. Brown at seven and Pukana Kua at six.

Okay, so I was like one one spot off with Amara St. Brown. I felt like I was like, Oh, no. It was like, Lions fans. No. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm gonna get Holmes in my mentions. But no. All right, let's start. By the way, they will not like, say, St. Brown's the best receiver in the league. They're not gonna be happy. Yeah.

They're never happy. Come on. They're never happy. You don't go from the hero to the villain faster with any fan base than the Detroit Lions over the last few years. Which, hey, that's the price of success. So, I get it. It is. It is. At least they don't have some young quarterback that's actually not very good. Like...

I'm saying golf is fine. I'm saying like young guy that that's what makes the fan bases just increase to another level. But no. All right. So we had so we have St. Brown here. I'm actually start with my London discussion. Matt, you had him at number nine. I am at number seven. But why bullish on Drake London and Charles? You said he lost the coin flip to bake the 10 spot, I believe. So we'll call it the de facto number 11. But Drake London, Matt, why are you bullish on him in 2025? I know you are a fan, but I want to hear I want to hear more.

Yeah. It's funny. Like we're talking about that 2024 class. I thought, you know, the 2022 class was actually pretty similar in that, you know, those guys were all pretty tight at the top, but I do think that Drake London has pulled away from Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, not by much, but a lot of, they didn't make my short list. I'm like, I could see a scenario where he is, he is in this, in this discussion next year. Garrett Wilson did kind of make my not short, short list after the fact, but

Um, John Dotson didn't, who was drafted in that draft class in case anybody's curious, uh, didn't, didn't make the short list, but, um, I was never a Berks guy, but, uh, anyways, uh, with, with, with Drake London, uh,

Man, fantastic player. You can throw him out there at X receiver and he has the press coverage ability and the ball skills to win there. Even if he's not the fastest guy in a straight line, he is so fluid underneath to beat press man coverage. But this new Falcon staff last year did a great job, like moving him around the formation, putting him in the slot, getting them off the line of scrimmage. And he just truly became like,

another tier of a weapon better because of that. Just when, yeah, whenever he was inside, like just hit him on an in breaker again and again and again and again. I think he could, he could be a candidate to lead the NFL and catches if Michael Penix is, is the guy. And I think Penix probably stylistically is just not going to lead to that type of that type of efficiency from his wide receiver one in terms of,

leading the NFL in catches. But if he played a lot, and I'm not saying that golf is or Pennix or what, like that's not a discussion, but if he played like with a golf type, I think he would catch like 130 passes because he's that level of efficiency. But I think what we saw with Pennix when he was under center in the final three games, like he's going to unlock that area of Drake London's game where he's so good along the boundary. He's so good on these like deep, deep outbreakers. So, and he catches up, he sneaks up on you after the catch. So yeah, I think Drake London's been playing

at a level where he's like kind of knocking on that door of a top 10 receiver and I think this is the year like consensus wise he absolutely smashes through it I've been a fan London since came out been a fan of him with whoever's calling plays there even in the Arthur Smith offense and everything he catches everything and and I just think that

Yes, he's not this deep thread. He's not going to take every throw to every catch to the house. But at his game, his box that he plays in, he's elite. Like he is top tier ball skills, top tier contested catch guy. And it's not again, it's not theory. He's doing it week in, week out. The versatility brought up that they moved him around. That's why I like him, too. He also is willing to get gritty as a blocker. Same with St. Brown. Actually, that's why I tear these two together, because it's like I think they are

similar style players, even though they're built differently. St. Brown and London, both USC guys that, you know,

I saw Jackson Dart with Drake London, but not St. Brown so much. But yeah, but I watched that offense in there at USC, but just a big ball winner that does a lot and is very good at that skill set. Like that. That's why I like it so much. It's not just again, like, oh, he's a big guy. Then you see him just get dogged by some under undersized corner or something like that. But no, I also on this top or this next little list here, Charles starting the Nico Collins love at number six,

Spoilers, he's higher on my list, and I'm going to guess he's higher on Matt's list. But Nico Collins, why number six? Why ahead of maybe guys, Tyreek Hill, T. Higgins, Devontae Adams, some real names here. Why do you have him at number six? I think to me this is where I guess I started kind of like the no-brainer wide receiver one tier thing.

on this list. And I think just everything that he afforded the Houston Texans offense last year from... I mean, well, I think the best way to describe Neal Collins is you saw what happened when he was out of the games. It got really, really difficult for them. They had nothing, really. They had nothing. And I think in an offense that is... that was kind of as incomplete as Houston's was, you kind of got to see how...

much he added to the offense from, you know, the ability to stretch the field, the ability to take short stuff and make big plays off of it. It just kind of felt like he had really come into his own where the physical ability that you saw at Michigan and coming into the league had kind of actualized itself

into being like, oh no, this is just flat out one of the best wide receivers in football. Someone who can really actually break a game wide open and someone who had become absolutely essential to the Texans offense with how they were constructed last year. So I don't really see why that would change because I think when

You have a switch that offensive coordinator and maybe you're going through some bumps in the roads with your two rookie wide receivers that you just added. It helps to have something that feels as sure and as solid as where Nico Collins and CJ Shroud's relationship was on the field last year. So I think he's going to take off this year. If he doesn't get hurt, I would imagine he's going to have the absolute bonker season production wise. And he's just like a clear cut wide receiver one. Don't even really have to think about it.

No, I think Matt and I are going to continue that sentiment that you just had there. We all had the same top six in some order. So I think, Charles, what you said there, this is the cut.

It's kind of like, I think the six to me, I know Matt has a lot of opinions on who's elite and who's one and who's a one B and a two a and everything in your tears. But I think to me, these are the six dudes. These are, and this is the cutoff. You had Nico Collins, Matt had Puka Nakua. I had CD lamp, but in some way, shape or form, it's this top six. We're going to take a break.

And I'll get to why I was lowest maybe on CDLM, even though I'm a huge fan. And we'll also probably talk about Puka Naku'a some more, but we're going to take a break right now. See you guys in a sec. What if you could use your home equity to pay off your debt without monthly payments? So you could focus on reaching your other financial goals with a home equity investment from HomeTap. You can get access to your home equity in cash.

Get closer to financial freedom and get more out of life. Learn more and see if you pre-qualify for an investment at HomeTap.com. Subject to eligibility, terms and conditions apply. Get access to your home equity in cash. Visit HomeTap.com to apply in minutes. That's HomeTap.com.

Something new is happening at Cox. Now the price of your Cox internet and mobile plan won't go up for three years and Wi-Fi equipment is included. So no frustrating price changes, just a lot more of what you want, like a pizza with extra pineapple. Yikes. Okay, let's stick with something everyone wants. No price changes on your plan, guaranteed.

Learn more at Cox.com slash value. Must have at least 500 megabits per second speeds and Cox Unlimited mobile taxes and fees excluded from price guarantee. Mobile data speeds reduced after 20 gigs usage per month. Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach?

Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids' spending with real-time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save, and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com slash podcast.

All right, we are back and we're going to get into our top five. I had spoilers before the break that we have the same top six. So kind of a little hint of where we're going with this. Charles, who are your number five and four on your top 10 receivers? Number five and four, I had CeeDee Lamb and Puka Nakua. I had CeeDee Lamb and Puka Nakua.

Yeah, we're all going to have the same. Matt, who are your five and four? I have Nico Collins and AJ Brown at five and four. To me, I would just say about Puka real quick. I think he is the

I think five to one are its own tier. And like, I haven't charted Puka Nakua yet as the time we're taping this. I'm kind of waiting to graduate him to that tier until after I do that. But, you know, so he's just a Puka tier right now. Right. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's in the purgatory tier. Gotcha. I had for my five and four. I had Puka Nakua at five. Nico Collins at four.

All right. So I like this. It's got the same names, but just a little differences, little changes on here. So, Matt, why are you lowest, though, on A.J. Brown for this top five ranking?

I mean, I don't know. Do you prefer others? I know they're all sick. They're all so sick. They're all so similar. I didn't expect to come in and be the low man on A.J. Brown and have to defend that at all. That's the fourth best receiver in football. I mean, he's a complete player. I have no problem with his game at all. So, I mean, it's not as if I'm like... I just made...

honestly like i said these are guys are all the same tier to me so if you prefer aj brown to the guys i have i would say maybe at three like the guy i'm gonna have at three if you have him um ahead that's that's fine with me yeah no that makes total sense uh again so charles had cd lamb at five i had him at six and again so like matt matt said okay five top five top six so cd is that cut off for me cd to me though is the

best power slot guy, I guess to put it a best guy that I think can work in the middle, get some yak in the middle. They don't ask him to do a lot of the dirty work stuff anymore. When you pay a guy that much money, I wouldn't do that either. That's not why you pay a guy to do that, even though that's a great aspect of this game. And I liked a lot when they split them outside and,

It's just that maybe that Cowboys offense was never able to fully, fully take advantage of it. Maybe two years ago when Brandon Cooks came in before he kind of fell off a cliff too. But you kind of got to see it. You see you kind of maybe move them around. Not only just line them up at X, but target him as the X receiver. So you got to see a little bit more of that. It's just that I just think the I'm always going to go in my scouting brain. All right.

how do you win on the outside? Can you win on the outside? Are you really good on the outside? The slot stuff is the cherry on top. Ideally it's both. Um, I think CD is excellent from the slot. Good on the outside. It just might be these other guys are excellent on the outside to me. Um,

So maybe that's why I just, you know, this is the tie breaks. This is the top six. They're all the same tier for me. So maybe that's why I explained my ranking for CD lamb, but Charles, you had them at five. Why, what, give us some CD lamb love and Matt, you had them in your top three, I'm assuming as well, but Charles, why, why some CD lamb in your top five?

I just think at his best, and I know that he and Dak weren't quite always on the same page last year in ways they were the year before. It just feels...

it feels so consistent in a way that you don't really have to think about, you know, like, oh, I know. And that, and to me, that's, I guess like that comfort level is something that you look for in elite NFL players where it's like, okay, well, I know if CeeDee Lamb's out here, we're going to be able to get a good, like 10 quality targets over the middle of the field because, you know,

he's CD lamb. And I think that just like that certainty. Yeah. It's kind of, I mean, seriously, it's kind of hard. He's like automatic. It's kind of hard to talk about a league player sometimes, you know, it's worse. It's like, well, he's like a basketball player to get like, you know, you're getting, he's getting you 18 and eight, you know, he didn't, I know he automatic, he's going to be efficient. No. So yeah, continue. Yeah. And I, you just don't really have to think about it. And I, I think that he's, he, he has set such a high, uh,

a high baseline on what you can expect from him that I just expect him to get back to being another all-pro level receiver this year. And I think that with Dak hopefully improved from where he was over the first handful of games before he got hurt last year, you're probably going to see a big improvement from the Cowboys offense. But yeah, to me, he's just one of those no-brainers.

high floor players. And I think that what's kind of impressive about him is I kind of don't always look at guys who live in the slot as like, oh, I think you're one of the true best receivers in the league. But he is. Like, he's...

He's just productive. He does all the tough stuff you need as a wide receiver in terms of catching the ball. He can go make big plays down the field at times. So there's just a lot to like with this guy. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what this offense looks like with the offensive lineman they just drafted, Tyler Booker, and obviously getting Jack Prescott back in the center.

And Pickens is going to open up stuff. Like, I really do think it's going to. I know. I think we're all pretty bullish on the Cowboys again. Charles predicted this Super Bowl week. God dang it. That's right. But Jerry, he trapped us again. He did the thing. He did.

I take the bait every time. Last year it was Mike Zimmer. This year, God, I take the bait every year. No, honestly, I even looked at my tiers. I'm on Ross St. Brown and then Drake London, CeeDee Lamb. I think CeeDee's the best of that little group. But they all kind of are the power slots that can do a little on the outside. And that to me is maybe that's why I had them tier that way. I didn't even do that on purpose. I think my brain automatically did that a little bit too. Also, CeeDee's one of the best players.

Even though he's not the fastest guy, he's so good with the ball in his hands. He has really good vision, contact balance, and those things, too. Also, I thought I was going to be the highest guy in Puka Nakua at five. He's in Puka Tori for Matt, but you had him at four, Charles.

Why did you give the nod to Puka Nakua? I actually didn't know you were this big of a fan of him, so I'm actually curious to hear about it. He rocks, man. He and Puka's rocks. Until I started putting this together, I really didn't know that I was this high on him. But honestly, I think it might mostly be like the toughest catches on his tape

are stuff that I don't know how many other receivers can actually do. Where it's the coordination along the sideline where you're seeing like the toe tap stuff, the body control that I think he has like some of these like secondary athletic traits sometimes that you think of when you're talking about draft prospects, like where you're not talking about just like straight line speed or explosion, but more like the body control. Other forms of athleticism. Yes. She is like super duper elite.

in those forms in a way that i think pushes him uh into spots where he can be productive for most guys who have just like his straight you know height weight speed uh can't so it's like the concentration uh the body control the balance uh and just like the hands like he he's just he's just super duper consistent um and i think that when you when you when you start just looking at

the production for the past, really, I mean, since he got started, since he got into the league, you look at the production, it's just kind of, it just kind of started becoming more undeniable. And I think that his style of play, it kind of meshes with Stafford so well because Stafford, he's, he's going to give you the chances down the field. And as we, I know we've spoken about on this show before, if Stafford trusts you, you're going to get like a hundred, you know, 150, 160 targets a year.

just based off of that. So you get to see the full kind of display of his repertoire. And I think it's really, really complete the more you start putting it together. And I really just kind of fell in love with this game when I was skimming through the tape for this. That's it.

the last month of the season when he, where he came back in injury second half of the season, but it's like the last month, I think Matt, I even said to you, I was like, where do we rake Puka? Cause I, that's, I had like an epiphany. I was like, dude, this, this is a top five receiver. Like, it's not just like, Oh, he's fun. He's like a Robert Woods plus. Yeah. It's like, no, this dude's awesome. Like this guy does everything. And you just said it too, like production wise to Charles. And again, some of this is the hyper-efficient Rams offense and having Stafford and everything. But again,

you don't do this by accident. So since he entered the league, so there's been 118 receivers over the last two years that run 400 more routes. So that's the qualifiers here. Pukunukuwa's first...

and success rate per route. So successful target per route at 18%. The league average of the receivers is 9.8%. So almost double the league average. If you're looking at baseball stats and looking like OPS, that means OPS plus that's 200. What he's doing right there. First downs per route run second, only

Only behind Tyreek Hill. But at 13.6%, explosive plays per route run. Second, only behind Nico Collins. Actually tied with Nico Collins. Maybe just one in there. And he's second in yards per route run at 2.92. Three yards per route run in one season is phenomenal. 2.92 over your first two years in the league.

You're doing something right. And yes, system's going to help him out and everything. And yes, Sean McVay uses him perfectly, but you can use him perfectly in a lot of ways. And also just talking what you said, Charles, about his ball skills and stuff.

I think actually Matt, I'm tying this all together. I think Matt, you actually brought this up that he wanted to get better at some of the ball skills stuff. I think you talked about his improvement and everything. When we're talking about him during the year that he really wanted to, you know, get better at those types of things. So it was kind of encouraging to see it's like, Oh, you're a ball winner. You're good with the ball in your hands. He's good on jet sweeps and yak stuff like crossers good against zone, you know, still not the fastest guy in the world, but he just does so much. And I mean, and just such a detailed player too. And so smart and,

Uh, really one of my favorite players in the league, like period, any positions, Puka Nakua. And so kind of very excited that we get to talk about here and shine some light on here, uh, including them in our list. The, uh, one guy that I had Nico Collins at four, which I actually, I thought Matt, you're going to beat me there. That was the guy I was curious. I'm also pissed about that. I thought you were going to be the high guy on them and I'm the high guy and I'm by my four, you have my five, everything you guys said though. Like, I mean, Nico's the dude.

One of the fastest guys in the NFL. One of the best deep ball guys. Great on intermediate breakers. Great with the ball in his hands. Contested catches, route running. I love big, strong X receivers. And yeah. And he can run. And he's got ball skills. And this is a guy I've always just been kind of lukewarm on. And then I would say the last two years, I'm like, hope maybe CJ Stroud helps. But I'm just like, oh my God, you're a dude. You are just like a real...

real top five receiver number four to me. So I wanted to give him a shout too. So Matt, why'd you, I'm at the low ranking of five Nico Collins. Cause you hate him so much. Yeah.

shut up i mean you've been your guy since like day one yes no i mean you've been like a nico guy since day one if i remember since like his early uh in his rookie season uh like in the what i do that when i do the in-season rookie report for reception perception i highlighted there like oh no this guy plays like at that time like t higgins and now i think he's like

two tiers better than T Higgins as a player. So that's like where he's just made that like jump in development. But, um, I mean, just straight up, like every summer or every podcast that went on in the summer after serious, I was drafted and every one of your favorite NFL podcasters, like who's he just thrown into Nico Collins, like saying like, that's like, wow, literally, literally none of these people have watched Nico Collins play, which is fine. I wouldn't,

I didn't want to watch Davis Mills play quarterback, but it's my cross to bear. Watching Nico in isolation his first two years, fantastic player. I think what I would have said back then

great in contested situations, great against man coverage, like great on these in breaking routes. Now, two years later, I would say he is dominant at the catch point. He is dominant with the ball in his hands. He's dominant and gets all like every form of coverage out there. And he's done it all as like an 80, 80 player, like 80% outside 80% on the line of scrimmage. And like the role that everybody's complaining about Marvin Harrison jr. Playing in his rookie season is,

Nico Collins is playing that role and he's one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL because yes, like you said, CJ Stroud is good.

It's hilarious that a few people called him a Bobby Sloak merchant in his first year. Like, okay, give me a break. Sloak was a C.J. Stroud merchant. Yeah, right. But C.J. Stroud, yeah, that helps obviously to have the accurate quarterback who can deliver the football to all three areas of the field and set Collins up to be excellent with the ball in his hands. But he does all that in isolation, and he could do that with any quarterback in any offense. I'm actually pretty excited at this. I didn't think about this.

But the more I've marinated on, like, Nick Cayley coming over as the offensive coordinator, I wonder if Nico actually gets to move around a little bit more.

Like we're talking about all these things that Puka Nakua gets to do, you know, from all these different splits and formations and alignments. I wonder if we see less of Nico just at that X receiver position. And I'm encouraged that we're going to see Jaden Higgins not just play X receiver, but there's going to be times when he is the boundary receiver to allow Nico to do more things. So, yeah, I think he is a candidate for the Triple Crown this year to lead the NFL in catches, yards, and touchdowns. Like he is that good. And I think this system will be that good for him.

I like that. Just stay healthy, bro. Like, just stay healthy. Yeah, that too. Yeah, we've had two good takes in May that we got to remember. Stone and Madison. We got number one, Broncos number one defense for me. We got Nico Collins, potential triple crown winner, which I didn't bat an eye with. And Trevor Lawrence, top 10 quarterback. So, yeah, we'll see. Okay, yeah, that one too. Okay, I'm right. It's been one hour since we heard that show, and I'm just like, God dang it, Nate. Thank God I'm going to be off social media here when this show comes out.

Smart. I know. That was one I just had to include and say bullshod. Yeah, so over the last two years, though, Nico Collins had 200 snaps from the slot. So 18%, which ranked the 118 qualifying receivers, ranked 105th.

So, yeah, there's some room to move around a little bit there. But, yeah, Nico, to me, when I evaluated him out of Michigan, he went – I had a late second grade – yeah, late second, early third grade on him. He went where I thought he should go. And I was just like, oh, he's a big X. He could be a Gallup. You know, just like a good starting X, but a little stiff, maybe not as –

It's like, dude got faster, more explosive. Maybe I was just the routes weren't right for him. And it just like seeing it was game evolve has been really cool. And now I'm one of his biggest fans for a guy that, like I said, I started his career kind of lukewarm. And every year I watch Davis Mills to make sure he wasn't a dude. I'm like, oh, wow, this guy's make 12 is making another play there. Wow. 12 on a comeback there. Look at that route. And then you can see it keep going and going. So glad he's included on all of our lists here because I think he deserves it.

Charles, we're getting to our top three. We're on the podium here. Who are your top three receivers for 2025? My top three receivers. I have A.J. Brown, Jamar Chase, and Justin Jefferson. I think the top two are kind of in their own tier from these other four. But A.J. Brown, number three. I am just a sucker for powerhouse wide receivers.

I grew up watching Julio Jones. This is what makes me feel closest to Julio. It's just funny because at his best, it's almost like having... It's kind of like watching a playground bully out there sometimes where he is just so much bigger and stronger than the people who are covering him, but he still has the athleticism to punish people for big plays down the field where...

It's kind of like sometimes watching your dad try to box you out if you're playing basketball when you guys are younger. And he's just like, nope, you're not going to be able to get one on me. And he's just shoving people out the way and still doing what he needs to do out there. So that's why I like A.J. Brown. I mean, it's just...

the ultimate physical force as a wide receiver one um and i think what's fun about where he is is like playing with jalen hurts you kind of get to see like the the the the version of that where they have to lean on the most because like he's doing the go balls he's doing this stuff after the catch and it's just a bunch of strong land games and i think that that's fun and that's why i guess number three i like that matt your top three

I have C.D. Lamb, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase. That's kind of the same that I had with Charles there. Like what you said with the top two guys, they're pretty interchangeable. I ultimately just went with Jamar Chase with the kind of cop out of, hey, if we're saying this is for 2025, I have a little bit more faith in his quarterback than like J.J. McCarthy, just an unproven entity at this point. Now, Justin Jefferson has...

literally proven he could be dominant of anybody. We've seen that over the course of his career. But again, that's why I give the slight edge to Jamar Chase. And he's coming off the damn triple crown himself. So got to give him the edge there.

Very true. Yes, I went three. God, actually, I didn't realize how spicy this would be. I went Jamar Chase at three, AJ Brown at two, Justin Jefferson at one. Just a preference thing. And what did you guys mention with Brown, AJ Brown? It's one of these guys where even when he got traded to Philly, I was like, well, you know, he's kind of limited running breakers with him. He's great with the yak. I love him as a yak monster. And we'll see. And then it's such a vertical offense passing game, I should say, with the Eagles.

And it was like, oh, yeah, you are an all-American baseball player who can track the ball with the best of them and the late hands and like all of those aspects of his game. Even if the Eagles offense has always been kind of like, you know, a little limited everything, how dominant he is. No one gets open on stop routes more than A.J. Brown because he's 230 pounds and people are scared of him going by them. And so you can just throw a guy off and it's.

I mean, he has moments of frustration, some drops or anything like that. It's A.J. Brown reading a book on the sideline. He's a receiver. Reading a book, yeah. Reading a book. Reading a book. I read it every week. No, you don't. No one's ever seen you read the book before. It's on page one. Perfect crease. No, and there's a play from the Super Bowl.

Maybe it's because it ruined a prediction that I tilted my shoulder back on was Hurts throws out to Dallas Goddard's first quarter and Trent McDuffie gets a defense pass interference on it. It's a palms coverage. He's falling off on it and he's supposed to undercut it. And Jalen Hurts completed the same pass against him in the first Super Bowl. And that's why I predicted that they'd pick this one off. And I was like, oh, and there it was.

McDuffie falls off, but he stumbles when he's falling off. He recognizes it. And why he stumbles is he's so scared of AJ Brown and AJ Brown's so strong that when he does his little, you know, what they call an under route or a fin route, five, six yards and square in, he's so strong that McDuffie kind of just gets blown back when he breaks. And then he's trying to like regroup and then he's late to rally to the pick. And then he gets a DPI and Dallas got it.

So even when AJ Brown's not getting targeted, he's still like affecting the play. Like, yeah, I know gravity is in certain ways and the Eagles get some gravity because everyone's so scared of him and Devante Smith and everything. But just those little things too. He's just so such a physical and dominant guy that he's actually like affecting the game otherwise. And those kind of plays just,

catch up like he and also no one break he breaks so many tackles uh just so hard to beat one-on-one all that stuff and then jamar chase just no one tackles him the first first the first tackler never tackles him it's one of the coolest things to watch in football uh incredible with the ball in his hands he's easy top three for me i could have put him at two uh i i would not call him but i just think just jefferson's the dude

So that's why he's just the dude to me. He has the belt, no matter who he's playing quarterback with everything he can do. He can fit every offense. He could do everything inside, outside, every type of route. Yeah. Deep ball, ball tracking, rare moves like a Mac in a video game where his legs and his top don't aren't,

aren't conjoined like they move in separate ways i i just love jefferson so i'm always just partial to him but i don't think you guys go wrong with any of these top three guys uh or for me these top three guys how you ranked them so even when you got jamar chase at one matt which i get because it's just so with the things that he's doing so so explosive yeah i think he's always been really underrated as a technician uh in terms of just his ability to like

And obviously teams are scared of him going over the top, but that's because he's so good at selling that go route and then running the stop route, throttling down, coming back. I think he's gotten better and better working over the middle of the field, better and better just on –

like slant routes, you know, like that was something that maybe he was so vertically inclined in his first couple of years, but they've done more with him. Like he was a guy that came into the league in his first year and basically only lined up at X receiver, which is crazy because they also have T Higgins, who's like a card from stone X receiver, but they've actually done more to like flip those two years.

rolls around because it's allowed them to just get the football in Jamar Chase's hands. And like you said, not only does the first tackler never bring him down, he's also probably of these. And I, again, to me, one to five is all the same tier. Like there can be a season when, like I just said, Nico Collins, who was my number five could be the best receiver in football. And there's a, Jamar Chase could be the fifth and like,

We're not like there's no need to cry about that and like, you know, pull your hair out about that. Who cares? But I think of the top five, if I was just to say who's the one guy that I think could go from like the 50 yard line to the end zone like that, he's probably the number one candidate.

And he did it like 20 times. Right. Yeah. I can say that because I've seen him do it. There's like three plays. I can think of where he's just breaking off. Like he catches it. I eat your game. That turns into 70, 60 because he's breaking 14 tackles and everything. Yeah. It's,

His yak ability has just been so fun to watch in the NFL. I always kind of, even when I graded him out of the LCO, I was like, he's going to be a touchdown machine because his ball skills are so good and he's so strong. But it's just been all that yak stuff has just been really fun. And I know, Matt, you've been like, move him to the slot. Move him to the number three spot. You even asked him about it, I remember, last year. And it is kind of cool to see him

kind of develop a feel i always thought that you maybe kind of rushed some things and now it's like he's adding some of the some nuance and makes sense he's so young so it is really cool to watch the underneath stuff yeah he's one of these guys it's always been really great against press man coverage but like the zone coverage stuff has been i'm not going to say it was ever poor but it's been like above average and now i think like you said the feel for it this is your first note on a rookie receiver as well as feel for zone coverage wasn't wasn't great like

That's fine. That's teachable. Like in the right offense with the right coaches and like the obviously the right player who's going to work on it, that can that can get better and better. So that's where again, that's where you can go from like wide receiver eight in the league, like league neighbors have wide receiver eight. If he continues to develop in that area, like he could be in this top five. Like it's just that that's something that can get better.

Charles, any closing notes? Anything about Jefferson? How much you like him? Any other comments on the top 10? No, I think Jefferson Jefferson's pretty good. He's really good. Really good. There's one play that sticks out in my mind last year. I think it was the Vikings. I want to say maybe the Lions game late in the season where Darnold's under pressure and

And he just throws like this wild pass that's way behind Justin Jefferson. And like in stride, he just snatched his back. Lions game, Sam Darnold wild pass. Yeah. He just reaches back like in stride and he reaches back behind him with one hand, snatches up the air and then just keeps running. I'm like, yeah, that's just different. Just totally different. Yeah.

It is like growing up around Randy and Moss. It was like these guys, all these top guys, they kind of move different or have those abilities where it's like you stand out. Even some of that never watched football can go like, oh, you're different. And that's the thing with Jefferson. He just again, talk about athleticism shows up in different ways.

He is fast. He's not the fastest guy, but somehow he moves faster than everybody else. Always just one tick faster than everybody else. He is not the bendiest guy I've ever seen, but then he moves and can contort his body differently than other guys. It's just like these...

He's not elite all of them, but ends up being elite. That doesn't make any sense, but it does. And it's just like the combination of all of it is just, I, yeah, he's one, one, such a cool player. A lot of these guys are such cool players. That's why they made our top 10. Uh, I'll read them off. Charles went,

Number 10, again, we had a lot of short lists or medium lists or long lists that could have made this. But number 10, Devante Adams, then Tyreek Hill, T. Higgins, Amar Ross St. Brown, Nico Collins, C.D. Lamb, Puka Nakua, A.J. Brown, Jamar Chase, and Justin Jefferson.

Let's smell. See you at the top. And then Matt had Tyree kill Drake, London, Malik neighbors. I'm on Rossi, Brown, Puka, Nakua, Nico Collins, AJ Brown, CD lamb, Justin Jefferson, Jamar chase, even more LSU. And then I had Brian Thomas jr. Terry McCord, Rossi, Brown, Drake, London, CD lamb, Puka, Nakua,

Nico Collins, Jamar Chase, A.J. Brown, and Justin Jefferson. Again, more LSU. A lot of LSU. A lot of Ohio State. Some USC. God, oh my. Actually, when you break this down, not a lot of colleges that we're listing off here. Even C.D. Lamb's from Louisiana. Like, what's going on down there? He's the one. God, I know. Just look at this list. And then BYU. Just crazy.

Throw a BYU in there. John Smith, BYU. No, but we are closing it out today. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining us for our listing. I don't know why I said it like that. Our ranking episode that we'll be doing throughout June while I'm on paternity leave. We'll be back next week.

with a little bit more. I'm Nate Tice. Find me at Nate underscore Tice. That's Charles McDonald. You can find him at 4verts on Twitter and Blue Sky. And that's Matt Harmon. You can find him at Matt Harmon, either BYB or underscore BYB on Twitter and Blue Sky as well.

I got that right. Right. I'm going to figure them out by the time I have them all memorized. They're sure. I just go at Matt and then it fills in for me. So then I just go, but mailbag, make sure you send those in football, 301 mailbag at yahoo sports.com or leave us a five-star review on Apple podcasts, subscribe to us, follow us, read us those five stars. We'd really, really appreciate it. Especially when we're taking a little break here before we hit, hit training camp, which is gonna be a lot of fun, but,

Watch us on YouTube as well on the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel. Thank you to everyone behind the scenes, Stone, Madison, everybody. You guys make us look and sound good, sorting out all this paternity leave stuff for me, so I really appreciate it. Thank you to everyone for listening. See you guys next time.

Do Crohn's disease symptoms keep coming back? Tramphya may help. At 12 weeks, rapid symptom remission was achieved in most patients taking Tramphya, and some experienced visible improvement of their intestinal lining at 12 weeks and one year. Individual results may vary. Tramphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease.

Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and TB. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible and ask your doctor about Tramfiya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit tramfiyradio.com.

Need better internet? Cox Internet has the fast, reliable speeds you're looking for. Perfect for seamless streaming, gaming, and working from home. And now get Cox 300 Meg Internet for only $40 a month when you add Cox Mobile with a two-year planned price lock guarantee and Wi-Fi equipment included. So get your household up to speed. Switch to Cox Internet today. Requires Cox Mobile gig unlimited mobile data speeds reduced after 20 gigs usage per month. Taxes and fees excluded from price guarantee.

You know who's surprisingly good with money? Greenlight Kids. The other day, mine stopped to think about the ROI on a bag of chips. Seriously. From getting paid for doing chores around the house to saving up for concerts, Greenlight's teaching my kids how to handle their money. Greenlight your kid's financial future with the number one family finance and safety app. Try Greenlight risk-free at greenlight.com slash podcast.