If you listen to the top personnel experts in the industry talk about their approach to the draft, you’ll hear more about lifting the skill ceiling, finding players who match their schemes, and adding new dimensions and playmaking capability. The best clubs use the draft to constantly replenish the talent pipeline in order to remain competitive and, hopefully, gain an advantage over the rest of the league.
As Ron Rivera proved, going into a draft with the goal of filling roster deficiencies may lead to poor decisions and overlooking premium potential at other positions. Unfortunately, it is sometimes unavoidable. Due to the state in which Peters discovered the roster, he was unable to fill all of the voids in a single free agency period. Aside from the glaring quarterback deficit, the Commanders may be compelled to use their early Day 2 picks on offensive lineman and other critical needs, such as cornerback and possibly pass rusher.
Nonetheless, after the first two or three picks, fans may be surprised to see the Commanders brain trust deviate from script and begin selecting players based on the quality and skill sets they offer to the squad, rather than where the roster requires the most immediate improvement.
One quality that has been in short supply since Jordan Reed’s heyday is a large receiving target to create coverage mismatches and make life easier for Washington’s frequently struggling passers. That demand continues to this day.
Large receivers come in a variety of flavors. A quick look at the rosters of the teams that competed in the 2023 Conference Championships reveals an abundance and variety of big receiving targets, including WR Josh Reynolds (Lions, 6-3, 194), TE Sam LaPorta (Lions, 6-3, 245), TE Mark Andrews (Ravens, 6-5, 247), FB Patrick Ricard (Ravens, 6-3, 305), TE Travis Kelce (Chiefs, 6-5, 250), WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (6-4, 206), and WR Rashee Rice (Chiefs for the time being, 6-2, 200).
Adam Peters’ 49ers had more big targets than any other team in the 2023 season playoffs. QB Brock Purdy has plenty of enormous receiving options, including TE George Kittle (6-4, 250), WR Jauan Jennings (6-3, 212), WR Deebo Samuel (6-0, 215 pounds), and FB Kyle Juszczyk (6-2, 235).
If the Commanders are serious about catching up in the armaments race and competing for championships, they will need to strengthen their receiving corps with additional size, muscle, and dynamic playmaking abilities. Tight ends and fullbacks are worthy subjects for another day. In this roundup, I’ll look at some big wide outs that could be available on Days 2 and 3 of the selection to help Washington rekindle its dormant playoff tradition.
As luck would have it, the 2024 draft appears to be one of the best for huge wide receivers in recent years. The prospects listed below are in the order that they appear on one of two consensus big boards. The Athletic Consensus Big Board was used to rank the top 100 players. Players who did not make the top 100 were ranked using the NFL Mock Draft Datatabase 2024 Consensus Big Board (MDDB). When available, Hogs Haven draft profiles are associated with the prospects’ names.
