2024 WR Class

[Couch-Potato]

Some interesting WRs in the upcoming class, who do you like?

1st - 2nd RD WR Targets:

Keon Coleman, FSU, 6-4, 215, 4.6
Emeka Egbuka, OH ST, 6-1, 205, 4.3
Adonai Mitchell, TX, 6-4, 195, 4.5
Troy Franklin, ORG, 6-3, 185, 4.41
Xavier Legette, SC, 6-1, 225, 4.29
Brian Thomas, LSU, 6-4, 205, 4.35
Xavier Worthy, TX, 6-1, 175, 4.22
Ja'Lynn Polk, WAS, 6-2, 205, 4.48
Johnny Wilson, FSU, 6-7, 235, 4.42
Branden Rice, USC, 6-3, 210, 4.38
Malachi Corley, WKU, 5-11, 200, 4.46
Jermain Burton, BAMA, 6-0, 195, 4.31

*This entire class is tall WTF?

[Couch-Potato]

Originally Posted by Couch-Potato

Will someone just ask the kid already what the deals was?!

lol I'm sending him a DM on behalf of Chiefsplanet fanship on IG.

Sent. Let's see how well his agent's schooled him lol

[Dante84]

Kollmann speaks on XL’s slow development and breakout (thread):

I've been doing a lot more work on Xavier Legette this week to figure out the "late breakout" question mark. Unfortunately, this young man has had to go through a lot in his life to get where he is today and I think it's a testament to his character that he IS here.

��... pic.twitter.com/rGgu5SsWsm

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) March 6, 2024

[staylor26]

I've never been overly concerned with the late breakout, but yea, Kollman lays it all out very well.

Honestly, I've always been more concerned with his age and the fact that he's still pretty raw.

He's easily my top WR of the round 2 guys though, and I'd be ok with him at 32 if that's the direction we go.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Kollmann speaks on XL’s slow development and breakout (thread):

I've been doing a lot more work on Xavier Legette this week to figure out the "late breakout" question mark. Unfortunately, this young man has had to go through a lot in his life to get where he is today and I think it's a testament to his character that he IS here.

��... pic.twitter.com/rGgu5SsWsm

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) March 6, 2024

I dug into some of that context around his late breakout early in the year. I didn't know about the situation with his parents.

I think his slow development/late breakout is one of the outliers you can put to the side and not worry quite as much about.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I dug into some of that context around his late breakout early in the year. I didn't know about the situation with his parents.

I think his slow development/late breakout is one of the outliers you can put to the side and not worry quite as much about.

Especially when the guy is a freak of nature.

He's not going to all of a sudden no longer be 220 with sub 4.4 speed.

[wachashi]

He had a breakout SEASON, meaning he was elite over the course of several games, not just one.

I really think the late bloomer stuff is overblown with Legette, regardless of the possible reasons behind it.

You've got a full season of elite production on tape to go with elite measurables. I really don't care what he did before his breakout season.

[Couch-Potato]

Noting that ESPN has Xavier Legette at #31 on their updated big board post combine.

I'm a career salesperson, I regularly see folks who are in the wrong situation change to a new manager, team, comp structure, geography, life partner, or whatever and they become highly productive. There are a lot of variables that could've contributed to his lack of production that we're not privy to so folks are naturally skeptical. I'm not holding it against him, but I'd like to hear how he articulates his growth and jouney to overcame whatever challenges he faced. Sent a IG DM and an email to his publicist for us from Chiefsplanet.com lol, would be a lot of fun if he responds. So far I've heard that he's converted from QB, had some family issues, and trained relentlessly in the offseason to make a push for the NFL his 5th year.

If you consider a younger guy like Keon Coleman, who produced what ~650 yards last season in college, he really hasn't broken out yet at all. Sure, he's displayed a much higher floor but Legette has the "hot hand" now and is potentially demonstrating he's ready to make an impact sooner than other WRs in this draft. He's at least "broken out" on the college platform which you can't say for all of the top 15 WRs. Some have pedestrian numbers. ****ing Ladd McConkey only had 480 yards last season and people are suggesting he go in the first round!? WTF!?

[Nightfyre]

I think AD Mitchell is my first round target. The guy had great tape against the best competition. He moves the chains and has speed to burn. Excellent leverage manipulation to create separation. Good in congested situations.

Opposite him, we should take a crack at Legette if he hits middle of round two. I really think he could be a DK Metcalf type. That leaves Rice as the big slot. That's a shit ton of cost controlled talent to keep the Chiefs offense potent for the next four years. Maybe take a flyer on guerendo as a foil for Pacheco

[Dante84]

The conversion from QB is intriguing to me, as we've had several productive players at skill positions who were former QB's - including Kelce and McKinnon.

For the late-bloomer stuff, I could see them possibly drawing comparisons to Cornell Powell who had the same questions coming out, and he never put it together. That said, XL is in a different stratosphere in terms of ability. Just gotta make sure his head is right, and I'm sure the interview process and whiteboarding will help clarify a few things.

[Dante84]

saw this one further down in the thread re: his Junior year

motorcycle accident during 2021 szn hindered his junior year development as well.

But to your point of XL’s resiliency, scored the game winning TD against Vandy a month after

— Wyman Baxley (@WymanBaxley) March 6, 2024

[Couch-Potato]

I made a spreadsheet but can never figure out how to imbed.

Here's a breakdown of the WR's within reach who have had a breakout 1k+ season, are 6 ft+, and run sub 4.55 40s:

Thomas Jr*
Franklin
Legette
Polk
Baker
Pearsall~
Walker~

Pearsall and Walker can also be considered for having near 1k seasons in their college careers and being in the conversation for RD 2.

Negatives:

-Let's say Thomas is out of range.
-Which of these guys have drop concerns? Franklin and Walker.
-Which of these guys showed some issues at the combine? Franklin.
-Which of these guys would be stuck as a slot? Pearsall.
-Which of these guys has made zero noise? Baker and maybe Polk who's under-appreciated currently.

Positives:

-Which of these WRs shined at the combine? Legette and Thomas Jr.
-Which has Big Playmaker ability? Legette, Thomas Jr, Franklin.
-Which of these WRs has the best physical gifts? Legette and Thomas Jr.
-Which can we hit in the screen game, deep, and has plus man to man skills? Legette, Franklin, Walker.

...I'm just arguing that there's a case to be made for the kid is all. Would be fitting to fix our miss on DK for XL! But it better work out lol

[Couch-Potato]

13 Deep Catches = 7 more than Worthy, who he's 50 lbs heavier than and only .1 sec slower than

He plays slot, outside, and the screen game, plus i'm pretty sure he's an effective blocker at that size.

85.6% grade against man coverage, he gets open.

10 contested catches at 47.6% rate, he can go up and muscle for the ball.

Only 2 drops all season at 2.7% drop rate.

His body is NFL ready and Andy can scheme for him.

Just my .02c

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Couch-Potato

13 Deep Catches = 7 more than Worthy, who he's 50 lbs heavier than and only .1 sec slower than

He plays slot, outside, and the screen game, plus i'm pretty sure he's an effective blocker at that size.

85.6% grade against man coverage, he gets open.

10 contested catches at 47.6% rate, he can go up and muscle for the ball.

Only 2 drops all season at 2.7% drop rate.

His body is NFL ready and Andy can scheme for him.

Just my .02c

Yeah, there's a lot to like with Legette. Great clay to mold there.

When looking at college production, I do think it's important to consider the system and QB a receiver was playing with when looking at things like "how many deep catches."

Quinn Ewers was pretty underwhelming throwing the deep ball, from what I gathered watching him and reading about UT. Probably one of the reasons they were able to ambush Alabama - Ewers made plays/throws down the field that he hadn't put on tape very often. Kind of like that Raiders win against the Chiefs in 2020, when Derek Carr supressed his inner Alex Smith and went bombs away on us.

[wachashi]

You want verticals and crossers? Legette is your guy. It remains to be seen if he can run any other routes with NFL precision. I like him, but I wouldn't count on him blowing up as a rookie.

[Couch-Potato]

Originally Posted by wachashi

You want verticals and crossers? Legette is your guy. It remains to be seen if he can run any other routes with NFL precision. I like him, but I wouldn't count on him blowing up as a rookie.

Fair! Again, not that I think he's our savior or anything but a couple of additional arguments in his favor while we're on the topic.

1) His size and contested catch advantages might make him productive without being the most precise route runner. Maybe. That's what folks argue for Coleman anyways.

2) I don't think we need a guy to do what Rice did last year, and have near 1k yards. We need a playmaker, a guy Andy can get the ball to and make something happen to give us an occasional spark. What we expected from Toney.