Where is Virginia WR Malik Washington Headed in the 2024 NFL Draft?

Matt Newton | Apr 11, 2024

Virginia wide receiver Malik Washington catches a pass during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The next Virginia football player to hear his name called at the NFL Draft will almost assuredly be Malik Washington. The standout wide receiver played only 12 games as a Cavalier, but he left as the program's record holder in single-season receiving yards and receptions and garnered several much-deserved postseason accolades. After continuing that momentum with some solid performances at the practices leading up to the Shrine Bowl and then the NFL Combine, Washington is in good position to realize his lifelong dream of getting selected at the NFL Draft.

But which lucky NFL franchise will have the pleasure of drafting him?

Somewhat unfortunately for Washington, who might have been as high as a second-round pick in a different year, this draft class is loaded with incredibly talented pass-catchers like Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze, who are all expected to hear their names called early in the first round. With so much talent in the draft, Washington is somehow the 17th-ranked wide receiver prospect per the CBS Sports NFL Draft Prospect Rankings despite leading the country in receptions, ranking second among draft-eligible receivers in the Pro Football Focus REC grade, and ranking fifth among Power Five receivers in lowest drop rate.

As the 91st-ranked overall prospect in those prospect rankings, Washington likely projects as a late third or early fourth round draft selection. Some NFL teams in desperate need of help at wide receiver are the Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, and Carolina Panthers, but those teams are likely to spend some of their high draft picks to do it. Given where Washington is situated in the receiver rankings, he should be available for almost every NFL organization to have a shot at taking him with their third or fourth selections in the draft. Any NFL team looking for depth at receiver could spend a pick on Washington and get one of the most ready-to-play right away pass-catchers in the draft.

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports released a new seven-round mock draft on Thursday and he has Malik Washington going as a late third rounder, No. 98 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That could be a potentially ideal outcome for Washington, as the Steelers don't have much receiver depth beyond their WR1 George Pickens. Pittsburgh could be just the place where Washington could get an immediate chance to show what he can do on the field.

Washington has also been mocked to a few other franchises like the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, and two-time defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, who are another team who will undoubtedly look to bolster the available targets for Patrick Mahomes this offseason.

The suspense of where Malik Washington will end up will come to an end in a few weeks, as the 2024 NFL Draft will unfold from April 25-27 in Detroit.