usatsi-22014693-1.jpg
USATSI

NFL training camps are right around the corner, which means football is essentially back.

That means now is as good a time as ever to take a look at some the key players in the 2025 NFL Draft. This early preview is Part 2 of our CBS Sports summer prospect series with the quarterback position kicking things off on July 15.

Last year's wide receiver crop ended up producing seven first-round picks -- Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. (fourth overall to the Arizona Cardinals), LSU's Malik Nabers (sixth overall to the New York Giants), Washington's Rome Odunze (ninth overall to the Chicago Bears), LSU's Brian Thomas Jr. (23rd overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars), Texas' Xavier Worthy (28th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs, Florida's Ricky Pearsall (31st overall to the San Francisco 49ers) and South Carolina's Xavier Legette (32nd overall to the Carolina Panthers). Three other wideouts flew off the board within the first five picks of the second round: Florida State's Keon Coleman (33rd overall to the Buffalo Bills), Georgia's Ladd McConkey (34th overall to the Los Angeles Chargers) and Washington's Ja'Lynn Polk (37th overall to the New England Patriots).

The 2025 NFL Draft class doesn't have that volume of high-level talent, but it possesses a solid top five. Without further ado, a zoomed in look at the top five wide receivers with comparisons and rankings from CBS Sports HQ analyst Rick Spielman, the former longtime Minnesota Vikings general manager, and final thoughts from yours truly. The WR prospects are ranked by their readiness for the NFL entering the 2024 college football season.   

T4. Isaiah Bond (Texas)

  • Height: 5-foot-11 | Weight: 180 pounds
  • Accolades/notable statistics: Most receptions (48), second-most rec yards (688) on Alabama in 2023
  • Rick Spielman's comp: Denver Broncos WR Marvin Mims Jr. 
  • Games to circle: at Michigan (Sep. 7), vs. Georgia (Oct. 19)
  • Draft range: Second through third round

Final thoughts

Isaiah Bond is a shorter wide receiver, but possesses a decent build at 180 pounds. His NFL future is likely in the slot where his speed, burst and agility could shine. 

Even though he transferred to the University of Texas this offseason, Alabama's rabid fanbase will forever have fond memories of him because of his 31-yard touchdown catch in the back corner of the end zone against at top nemesis Auburn with 32 seconds left to play in a 27-24 stunner of victory. That win kept the Crimson Tide's College Football Playoff hopes alive. 

Bond is a jitterbug after the catch, and he has the potential to thrive in the NFL as a slot receiver who can go deep effortlessly. 

T4. Evan Stewart (Oregon)

  • Height: 5-foot-11 | Weight: 170 pounds
  • Accolades/notable statistics: 2022 SEC All-Freshman Team at Texas A&M, five-star No. 5 ranked overall transfer per 247Sports (No. 2 ranked WR)
  • Rick Spielman's comp: Denver Broncos rookie WR Troy Franklin
  • Games to circle: vs. Ohio State (Oct. 12), vs Washington (Nov. 30)
  • Draft range: Second through third round

Final thoughts

Evan Stewart is a natural athlete who will easily run a 4.3 40-yard dash, and his cuts getting in and out of his breaks while route-running are tight. The big knock on him is the strength as he is listed at only 170 pounds, but he could fix that in the weight room over the span of a year. The wingspan is nice as one can see with his one-handed snag as a freshman against Ole Miss in the video below. 

Stewart went for over 100 yards in both of the games he played with Texas A&M starting quarterback Conner Weigman in 2023 against New Mexico (115 yards and two receiving touchdowns on eight catches) and Miami (142 receiving yards on 11 catches) before Weigman went down with an early season-ending foot injury. He finished with 91 receptions, 1,163 receiving yards, and six receiving yards in two seasons at Texas A&M, the last two dysfunctional years of the Jimbo Fisher era. 

With a more filled out frame, there is a lot to like with Stewart. 

3. Emeka Egbuka (Texas)

  • Height: 6-foot-1 | Weight: 205 pounds
  • Accolades/notable statistics: 2022 second-team All-Big Ten; ranked fourth in Big Ten in receptions (74), third in receiving yards (1,151), and third in receiving touchdowns (10) in 2022; led Big Ten in kickoff yards per return (29.0) in 2022
  • Rick Spielman's comp: Indianapolis Colts rookie WR Adonai Mitchell
  • Games to circle: at Oregon (Oct. 12), vs Michigan (Nov. 30)
  • Draft range: First through second round  

Final thoughts

Entering the 2023 season, here was my evaluation on Egbuka. 

"Emeka Egbuka has the silky smooth ability to accelerate at the last possible second while the football is coming down, making what appears to be a contested catch an effortless-looking breakaway. He ended up moving to the slot after Jaxon Smith-Njigba's early-season injury in 2022, which only enhanced Egbuka's ability to create openings in small spaces. He turns the five-yard gains into 10-yard gains and the 10-yard gains into house-calls. His route-winning movements can become more refined, but that's mostly nit-picking. Egbuka is in the running for one of the best Ohio State receiving prospects of the last few years, in a class with Harrison Jr., Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Chris Olave. He's a first-round lock."

Fast forward to today, and he returned to school for 2024 after a campaign plagued by injury. Egbuka had ankle surgery mid-season, which caused his production (515 yards and four receiving touchdowns on 41 catches) to come up well short of his 2022 All-Big Ten season in 2022 (1,151 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns on 74 catches). When healthy, Egbuka is a first-round caliber receiver. His attempt to play through the injury limited the explosion and downfield ability he put on tape repeatedly in 2022. 

Should Egbuka remain upright, he can be a solid first-round pick and ready to contribute in the NFL as a rookie, no matter the offensive scheme. 

2. Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona)

  • Height: 6-foot-5 | Weight: 210 pounds
  • Accolades/notable statistics: 2023 Third-Team All-American, 1,402 receiving yards ranked as fifth-most in FBS in 2023 and are second-most in the FBS among returning players in 2024
  • Rick Spielman's comp: Atlanta Falcons WR Drake London
  • Games to circle: at Utah (Sep. 28), at TCU (Nov. 23)
  • Draft range: First round, first 10 picks 

Final thoughts

Tetairoa McMillan doesn't immediately shoot out of a cannon, but once he gets chugging down field, his acceleration hits another gear. His ball skills and ability to handle contested catch situations is outstanding: McMillan's 1.5% drop rate was the lowest among 44 Power 5 receivers with at least 100 targets last season. The length and catch radius McMillan provides is second to none in this draft class. 

Sixty-five of McMillan's catches went for either first downs or touchdowns, and the only two players with more catches for either first downs or touchdowns were receivers selected in the first 10 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft: LSU's Malik Nabers (70, selected sixth overall by the New York Giants) and Washington's Rome Odunze (selected ninth overall by the Chicago Bears).  

McMillan cranked up his production when the lights were the brightest last season: he went for 266 yards and a touchdowns on 11 catches in a 59-23 beatdown of archrival Arizona State, and he followed up that performance with an Arizona single-game bowl record of 10 catches that went for 160 yards in a 38-24 victory over Oklahoma. There's a legit chance McMillan could be the first receiver drafted next April. 

1. Luther Burden (Missouri)

  • Height: 5-foot-11 | Weight: 208 pounds
  • Accolades/notable statistics: 2023 Second-Team All-American, 2023 First-Team All-SEC, 1,212 receiving yards in 2023  ranked as ninth-most in FBS in 2023 and are fourth-most in the FBS among returning players in 2024  
  • Rick Spielman's comp: Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney
  • Games to circle: at Texas A&M (Oct. 5), at Alabama (Oct. 26)
  • Draft range: First round, first 10 picks 

Final thoughts

Luther Burden possesses off the charts athleticism, and he is pound-for-pound the best wide receiver in college football in 2024. Burden is the most dynamic playmaker with the ball in his arms after the catch. The route-running could stand to be tightened up, but if a defense allows him to secure a catch, their misery just gets started. 

His 1,212 receiving yards on 86 catches made him the fourth-leading receiver in college football, first in the SEC, and his 724 yards after the catch ranked as the third-most in the sport. When Burden gets hot, he is so tough to stop thanks to his combination of speed, agility and strength: he totaled five consecutive games with at least 110 receiving yards, and he did so against a solid list of times: vs. Middle Tennessee State, vs. Kansas State, vs. Memphis, at Vanderbilt and vs. LSU. 

The one knock on Burden is the smaller you are, the more of technician a receiver needs to be with their route-running. His route-running is something that Burden could easily show improvement in over the course of the college football season and in the NFL down the line.