Scout: Three First-Round Options at Receiver

In the opinion of a top scout from an NFC team, here are three top receiver prospects who could be available at No. 30.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In a perfect world, the Green Bay Packers could fill a hole at inside linebacker or offensive tackle in the first round, then circle back to a loaded crop of receivers in the second and/or third rounds. However, if the top linebackers and tackles are gone, Green Bay could take a receiver in the first round for the first time since Javon Walker in 2002.

In the opinion of a top scout from an NFC team, here are three top receiver prospects who could be available at No. 30.

TCU’s Jalen Reagor (5-11; 4.47 40)

Reagor did everything during an All-American junior season. He caught 43 passes for 611 yards and five touchdowns, rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns, and averaged 20.8 yards per punt return with two touchdowns. He was one of two players in the FBS with two punt returns for touchdowns, both of which went 70-plus yards. His father, Montae Reagor, played nine seasons in the NFL and was a defensive lineman for the 2006 Indianapolis Colts team that won Super Bowl XLI.

From Pro Football Focus: Reagor’s production might not suggest that he’s a first-round pick. He ended last season with just 43 receptions and 611 receiving yards, but he also received an accurate pass — based on PFF’s ball-charting data — on just 35% of his targets in 2019. Abysmal quarterback play, combined with a lack of creativity in Reagor’s usage, makes the lack of production forgivable, especially when you look at the physical tools he brings to the table.

Baylor’s Denzel Mims (6-3; 4.38 40)

Mims narrowly missed finishing his career with 3,000 receiving yards. Most of the damage came his final three seasons, with 61 receptions for 1,087 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore, 55 receptions for 794 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior and 66 receptions for 1,020 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior. Before his monster 2017 season, he lobbied to switch positions and play cornerback.

From Pro Football Focus: On a weekly basis, Mims emerged with a tough contested catch having a defender draped on his back typically along the sidelines. With what we are learning from the work Dr. Eric Eager has done with his college-to-pro modeling, success in contested situations isn’t at all a key to success at the NFL level. In fact, the opposite could be easily be argued — where a high percentage of contested targets, even if caught, highlights an inability to create separation. This is something that will only compound at the NFL level when facing off against better coverage players.

Colorado’s Laviska Shenault Jr. (6-1; 4.58 40)

In three seasons, he caught 149 passes for 1,943 yards and 10 touchdowns and added 280 rushing yards and seven more scores. In 2018, he led the nation in receptions per game (9.6), finished the year with 86 catches for 1,011 yards and six touchdowns and was the only player in the nation with at least five touchdowns receiving and rushing. His father died when Shenault was 10, struck by multiple vehicles when he slipped on the shoulder of a highway.

From Pro Football Focus: At 6-foot-2 225 pounds, Shenault has the big body needed to post up inside the red zone and win on contested catches. He has an elite physical tool as an explosive runner — he forced 44 missed tackles over the last two seasons while averaging 7.0 yards after the catch per reception for the Buffalos.