As part of Fantasy Life's year-long NFL Draft coverage, I'm currently in Mobile, Ala., covering the Senior Bowl — filing reports, updates, and interviewing players. This is the third of three preview pieces I'll be writing ahead of the game. You can find the QB preview here. And RBs here.
Here's my latest NFL Mock Draft and here's my colleague Matthew Freedman's latest mock. And here is my…
2025 Senior Bowl WR/TE Preview
2025 Senior Bowl Wide Receivers
- Elic Ayomanor (Stanford)
- Jack Bech (TCU)
- Pat Bryant (Illinois)
- Chimere Dike (Florida)
- Da'Quan Felton (Virginia Tech)
- Tai Felton (Maryland)
- Jayden Higgins (Iowa State)
- Tez Johnson (Oregon)
- Jaylin Lane (Virginia Tech)
- Bru McCoy (Tennessee)
- Jaylin Noel (Iowa State)
- Jamaal Pritchett (South Alabama)
- Xavier Restrepo (Miami)
- Jalen Royals (Utah State)
- Arian Smith (Georgia)
- Isaac TeSlaa (Arkansas)
- Kyle Williams (Washington State)
- Savion Williams (TCU)
Pre-Senior Bowl WR Rankings:
- Jalen Royals (Utah State)
- Elic Ayomanor (Stanford)
- Jayden Higgins (Iowa State)
- Tez Johnson (Oregon)
- Xavier Restrepo (Miami)
- Jaylin Noel (Iowa State)
- Jack Bech (TCU)
- Pat Bryant (Illinois)
- Savion Williams (TCU)
- Tai Felton (Maryland)
- Jaylin Lane (Virginia Tech)
- Bru McCoy (Tennessee)
- Da'Quan Felton (Virginia Tech)
- Chimere Dike (Florida)
- Arian Smith (Georgia)
- Jamaal Pritchett (South Alabama)
- Kyle Williams (Washington State)
- Isaac TeSlaa (Arkansas)
2024 Senior Bowl Tight Ends
- Elijah Arroyo (Miami)
- Gavin Bartholomew (Pittsburgh)
- Jake Briningstool (Clemson)
- CJ Dippre (Alabama)
- Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green)
- Thomas Fidone II (Nebraska)
- Terrance Ferguson (Oregon)
- Jackson Hawes (Georgia Tech)
- Gunnar Helm (Texas)
- Moliki Matavao (UCLA)
- Mason Taylor (LSU)
Pre-Senior Bowl TE Rankings:
- Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green)
- Gunnar Helm (Texas)
- Terrance Ferguson (Oregon)
- Mason Taylor (LSU)
- Jackson Hawes (Georgia Tech)
- Moliki Matavao (UCLA)
- Elijah Arroyo (Miami)
- Thomas Fidone II (Nebraska)
- Jake Briningstool (Clemson)
- CJ Dippre (Alabama)
- Gavin Bartholomew (Pittsburgh)
News: Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said LSU WR Kyren Lacy will not participate in the Senior Bowl following Lacy’s arrest earlier this month. Lacy is facing charges of negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death, and reckless operation of a vehicle.
Most to Prove: WR Savion Williams (TCU)
Allow me introduce you to the receiver prospect who will draw the most contentious arguments on #DraftTwitter this spring. My tweet from earlier this month will give you an idea why.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Williams is a two-time member of Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List.” Over the summer, Feldman reported that Williams had a 10-6 broad jump and 40-inch vertical while squatting 600 pounds and clocking 22.5 mph on the GPS. Feldman also reported that the former high school quarterback “can throw the ball 80 yards”(!).
NFL teams will want to take notes on how TCU changed Williams’ usage patterns this past season. In 2023, TCU miscast Williams as a stretch-the-field (12.2 aDOT) boundary receiver (86.7% of snaps). In 2024, Williams had a 6.7 aDOT as his boundary snaps were slashed to 70.9%. On nearly one-third of his snaps, TCU either lined Williams up in the slot or in the backfield.
Like Cordarelle Patterson and Laviska Shenault, Savion Williams is an athlete you manufacture touches for close to the line of scrimmage. Then you watch him run. TCU peppered Williams with screens, touch passes, and simple drags/slants in 2024. The Horned Frogs also brought Williams into the backfield for handoffs and direct snaps. Williams has great burst and speed, and he runs with power.
Williams isn’t is a complete receiver – far from it. You can send him on go-routes. But he isn’t going to be shaking anyone out of their cleats on nuance routes. Williams also lacks ball skills, a body-catcher who hugs balls into his frame.
At the Senior Bowl, you’re going to see Williams’ skill with the ball in his hands. Any progress he can show evaluators with his route-running and ball skills would be a huge bonus.
Most to Gain: WR Jalen Royals (Utah State)
My top-ranked receiver at the event. Royals burst onto the scene in 2023 with 71 catches for 1,080 yards and 15 TD. He piled up a 55-834-6 receiving line in seven games in 2024 before a foot injury ended his season early. He’s expected to be on the field practicing at the Senior Bowl – if so, these are his final days as an under-the-radar prospect.
This is a sleek athlete. Royals is so smooth, with effortless acceleration and speed. The 6-foot, 205-pounder wins separation with acceleration and footwork – he slams on the breaks, cuts clean angles, and accelerates back to top speed in a few steps.
A dual-sport athlete who played a lot of basketball in high school, Royals fell through the recruiting cracks. But he’s always been a great athlete – Royals reportedly ran in the 4.3s coming out of high school – and he proved the past two years to be far more refined as a receiver than was originally thought.
Royals’ ability to win separation in the intermediate area and run after the catch forces defenders to play up on him. But he’s also a very good deep receiver, with the wheels to out-run anyone and a really good feel for racking-and-stacking corners.
This week, Royals steps up in competition on the big stage. Royals should be an unfair assignment for defensive backs in one-on-one drills in Mobile. But this area will give Royals an opportunity to answer one big question on his eval: Releasing clean off the line against long boundary press corners.
Mystery Man: TE Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green)
In 2024, Fannin Jr. set new FBS records for a tight end in both receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,550). He also set three different PFF Era records: yards after contact (868), missed tackles forced (32), and receiving Grade (96.5). For his career, Fannin only dropped 2.2% of his catchable targets, an incredible number for his volume of targets.
Fannin’s career 2.99 YPRR number is more than a half-yard higher than any other tight end in this class. He flashed his skills in traffic in 2024, catching 54.5% of contested balls. Yes, he’s undersized. The 6-foot-3, 231-pound Fannin Jr. is essentially the same size as Evan Engram.
Like Engram, Fannin Jr. will be heavily-used out of the slot in the pros. In college, Fannin Jr. lined up everywhere, shifting into the backfield, lining up out-wide, and taking inline snaps. Bowling Green pounded Fannin Jr. with targets short and intermediate to leverage his after-the-catch skills. He outruns linebackers, and safeties need help getting him to the ground.
Fannin Jr. is a zone-coverage killer who posted an outrageous 4.4 YPRR against zone last year. He’s also a threat up the seam. He uses his body well downfield, and he’s shown a natural ability for tracking balls over his shoulder.
Fannin Jr. is a get-you-over blocker – he gives effort, but doesn’t have the play strength when isolated against power DEs. But, ala Isaiah Likely, Fannin Jr. is going to provide a 12-personnel offense with a skilled receiving weapon. He’s likely to hear his name called on Day 2 in April.
Two other WRs to watch
Elic Ayomanor (Stanford)
A late-bloomer from Canada, Ayomanor burst onto the scene by lighting up Colorado CB Travis Hunter in 2023, finishing the upset win with 13 receptions for 294 yards and three TD.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder plays bigger than his size. He’s a bully of a boundary receiver, with good play strength and a feisty style. Ayomanor is a lunchpail blocker who gets after it.
But Ayomanor isn’t a physically-limited fighter – he’s a strong athlete and former track star who has been clocked at 21.5 mph on the GPS. He’s still working on his release package, but what Ayomanor does have is lower-half suddenness, driving hard off the line and winning inside leverage on crossers and slants.
Ayomanor’s ball skills will shine in Mobile. He goes up and gets it downfield. Last season, as a marked man in Stanford’s receiving corps, Ayomanor had 12 contested catches. He ran a limited route tree in his two active seasons and needs more polish in that area.
I see some young Michael Pittman Jr. in Ayomanor’s game. Ayomanor isn’t much of a YAC guy. But he profiles as a quality NFL WR2 who will provide his offense elements of both possession-receiver efficiency and stretch-the-field downfield explosion.
Tez Johnson (Oregon)
When I started doing NFL Draft analysis a decade ago, a player like Tez Johnson would have slipped through the cracks. No longer. Johnson will be one of the most scrutinized receivers at this year’s Senior Bowl.
Here’s the question NFL evaluators will seek to answer this week: Is he Tank Dell or Paul Richardson or Tutu Atwell? Johnson is stick-thin at 160 pounds. But boy is he hard to stay with in space. And he’s a nightmare to corral with the ball in his hands. Johnson will likely return kicks as a rookie wherever he winds up.
Johnson is twitchy and explosive slot receiver. Not surprisingly, he doesn’t excel in contested situations. But Johnson, like Tank Dell at Houston, is a strong downfield receiver despite his frame. Johnson’s athleticism makes him an extremely tricky matchup for most nickel defenders. When that nickel doesn’t have over-the-top help, Johnson can get open deep in a blink.
Utterly lacking in play strength, Johnson can be bullied by press coverage. Fortunately, he didn’t see a high preponderance of that in the slot. And while Johnson had a strong 6.7% drop rate in college, he has a concerning habit of not always extending for the ball, sometimes reverting to trapping.
Johnson is Bo Nix’s adopted brother. The pair played with each other for one season, in 2023 at Oregon. Denver already has a few skinny receivers – including fellow former Oregon Duck Troy Franklin – but it would be fun to see Tez reunite with his brother Bo at the next level.
Two other TEs to watch
Gunnar Helm (Texas)
An unheralded three-star recruit coming out of high school, Helm waited his turn behind five-star former starter TE Ja'Tavion Sanders — a fourth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers last spring — and ultimately developed into one of college football’s best tight ends.
Texas TE coach Jeff Banks has recounted the story of Helm visiting his office after the 2022 season to argue that he was a better player than Ja'Tavion Sanders – a superior blocker and just as good of a receiver. Hard to argue in hindsight: I will rate Helm higher than I rated Sanders in last year’s draft class.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder has a big catch radius and very good ball skills. He’s extremely reliable in the short and intermediate areas. What he lacks in route-running pizazz he compensates for with efficiency to his spot and a very good feel for pinning defenders behind his enormous frame at the catch point.
Helm has the ball skills to compete downfield – Helm has a basketball background – but he’s an average athlete who doesn’t terrify defenses down the seam. Where you see his explosive plays are typically smooth receiver-to-runner transitions and quick upfield bursts into space.
Helm has plenty of experience inline, but he needs more work on his blocking technique. He fritters away the leverage battle by popping up at the snap, and at present he doesn’t have a great idea of what he’s doing with his hands.
You draft Helm for his receiving efficiency and ability to stay on-time with his quarterback. He will appeal to timing-based NFL offenses.
Mason Taylor (LSU)
Taylor’s got NFL DNA coursing through his veins. He is the son of Hall of Famer Jason Taylor and the nephew of Hall of Famer Zach Thomas. Taylor developed really good chemistry with LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier in 2024, serving as a perfect complement to LSU’s downfield receivers.
Taylor is really smooth with a hard-chip off the line before getting into his route on play-action concepts. It was clockwork seeing Nussmeier put it on Taylor’s hands out of breaks. Taylor was as reliable as it gets, dropping only one ball on 79 targets. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that this usage should have led to strong after-catch yardage numbers… but it didn’t. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Taylor broke a mere four tackles and averaged a meager 4.6 YAC in 2024. We also haven’t gotten to see Taylor downfield much. Over his career, around 70% of Taylor’s catches came within five air yards of the line of scrimmage.
Taylor has plenty of experience, a three-year starter. He’s an above-average inline blocker for this class, and he has plenty of experience in the slot. The receiving skill, versatility, and overall athletic package will appeal to the NFL. Taylor could help his cause by winning downfield in Mobile or showing more after-the-catch.
