Fantasy POV: Lamb, Jeudy battling for top wide receiver in NFL Draft

Two juniors, CeeDee Lamb of Oklahoma and Jerry Jeudy of Alabama, have been
“battling” for the top spot among wide receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft.  With two days left until the draft begins, Lamb is No.1 and No.7 overall and Jeudy is No. 2 and No. 10 overall.

It kind of explains why quarterback Tua Tagovaloa was so successful at Alabama and Jalen Hurts put up some great numbers at Oklahoma.  Each quarterback had at least one All-American wide receiver to catch his passes.

But there is more to this year’s draft of wide receivers than focusing on Lamb and Jeudy.  It is probably the deepest, most talented group of pass catchers to enter the NFL draft in a decade.

This article does not speculate on who will select each wide receiver and with which pick, but there are six wide receivers expected to be drafted in the first round.  In 2019’s NFL draft, only two wide receivers were selected in the first round.  Baltimore used the 25th pick to select Marquise Brown and New England used the 32nd pick to select N’Keal Harry.

Research done for this article indicates that by the end of the third round of this draft 17 wide receivers will have been chosen by an NFL team.  This skilled group of players is deep enough for every team in the NFL to leave the draft with a valued wide receiver.

The following selections are listed by the expected round the player will be selected, position rank and overall rank in the 2020 NFL draft.  You can print the article and use it as a checklist to identify who has been selected and who is still available on the draft board.

ROUND 1

1.      CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma (Overall rank – No. 7)

2.      Jerry Jeudy, Alabama (Overall rank – No. 10)

3.      Henry Ruggs III, Alabama (Overall rank – No. 15)

4.      Justin Jefferson, LSU (Overall rank – No. 24)

5.      Tee Higgins, Clemson (Overall rank – No. 29)

6.      Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado (Overall rank – No. 30)

ROUND 2

7.      Denzil Mims, Baylor (Overall rank – No. 37)

8.      Jalen Reagor, TCU (Overall rank – No. 39)

9.      K.J. Hamler, Penn State (Overall rank – No. 46)

10.   Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State (Overall rank – No. 51)

ROUND 3

11.   Michael Pittman Jr., USC (Overall rank – No. 66)

12.   Donovan Peoples-Jones, Michigan (Overall rank – No. 69)

13.   Tyler Johnson, Minnesota (Overall rank – No. 75)

14.   Chase Claypool, Notre Dame (Overall rank – No. 87)

15.   Van Jefferson, Florida (Overall rank – No. 89)

16.   Bryan Edwards, South Carolina (Overall rank – No. 90)

17.   Devin Duvernay, Texas (Overall rank – No. 96)

ROUND 4

18.   Antonio Gandy-Golden, Liberty (Overall rank – No. 103)

19.   K.J. Hill, Ohio State (Overall rank – No. 118)

20.   Gabriel Davis, UCF (Overall rank – No. 128)

ROUND 5

21.   James Proche, SMU (Overall rank – No. 129)

22.   Collin Johnson, Texas (Overall rank – No. 131)

23.   Jauan Jennings, Tennessee (Overall rank – No. 146)

24.   Isaiah Hodgins, Oregon State (Overall rank – No. 147)

25.   Quartney Davis, Texas A&M (Overall rank – No. 151)

ROUND 6

26.    Quintez Cephus, Wisconsin (Overall rank – No. 170)

27.     Kalija Lipscomb, Vanderbilt (Overall rank – No. 173)

28.    Lynn Bowden, Kentucky (Overall rank – No. 179)

29.    John Hightower, Boise State (Overall rank – No. 180)

ROUND 7

30.   Aaron Fuller, Washington (Overall rank – No. 206)

31.     Isaiah Coulter, Rhode Island (Overall rank – No. 214)

ROUND 8 (Compensatory)

32.   Quez Watkins, Southern Mississippi (Overall rank – No. 246)

FREE AGENTS (Undrafted Wide Receivers)

33.   Darrell Stewart Jr., Michigan State (Overall rank – No. 267)

34.  Joe Reed, Virginia (Overall rank – No. 273)

35.  Omar Bayless, Arkansas State (Overall rank – No. 277)

36.  Binjimen Victor, Stanford (Overall rank – No. 294)

37.   Kendrick Rogers, Texas A&M (Overall rank – No. 300)

38.   Aaron Parker, Rhode Island (Overall rank – No. 301)

39.   Ahmad Wagner, Kentucky (Overall rank – No. 306)