The Kansas City Chiefs could be on the hunt for a wide receiver in the 2023 NFL draft, but they might have a hard time landing an impact prospect in the first round.
After speaking with NFL decision-makers, Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy believes that there is a big disparity between NFL perception and media perception of the wide receiver position in this year’s draft. According to Nagy, of the wide receivers in this draft class, only Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba has a first-round grade from NFL clubs.
He suggests that seeing 4-5 receivers selected in the first round, as has become commonplace in mock drafts, simply isn’t realistic.
One thing has become clear on calls around league past couple weeks: NFL isn’t nearly as high on this year’s WR class as media.
Frequently seeing 4-5 wideouts in mocks. Have spoken to numerous teams that have only one first round grade at the position. That guy is JSN.
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) April 10, 2023
This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard this about the receiver class. Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon made a bold prediction last month that only one receiver would be selected in the first round of the draft. That scenario seems quite unlikely as it hasn’t happened in the last 16 years, but the news from Nagy at least suggests that teams aren’t sold on this receiver class.
Clubs typically have around a dozen first-round grades in any given draft class. Picking at No. 31, you simply shouldn’t expect to get one of those players. Maybe a player like TCU WR Quentin Johnston drops into their laps in the first round and they feel comfortable taking him. Maybe they’re also not high on this draft class and feel there isn’t much drop-off between prospects after Smith-Njigba goes.
It’s also possible that this is a smokescreen from NFL clubs who are trying to get some receivers to fall in the draft. This is certainly worth monitoring as we get closer to the first round.
