5 Unsung WRs Who Could Contribute Right Away

NFL team activities get underway later this month, and roster competitions will begin to take shape.

5 Unsung WRs Who Could Contribute Right Away

Wide receivers at the top of the ticket, like Tetairoa McMillan of the Carolina Panthers and Travis Hunter from the Jacksonville Jaguars, will have no problems earning starter’s duties out of the gate.

But what about the men drafted in Round 3 or later?

These are those men, unsung wide receivers who could grab targets in their offense sooner than most might recognize. They’re listed alphabetically.

1. Pat Bryant (DEN)

Broncos fans are excited about Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., and Devaughn Vele, but in NFL-speak, that trio is pretty damn basic.

Sutton won’t be dethroned from his WR1 perch, but Mims Jr. and Vele are negligible if Bryant seeks a swift promotion. Bryant tabulated nearly 1,000 yards in his final year at Illinois, facing stiff competition in the Big Ten.

Bryant is big at 6’2″ and has fantastic body control. He won’t beat anyone with speed — 4.61 — but he could carve out a role in Denver before too long.

2. Jaylin Noel (HOU)

The Texans need a Tank Dell replacement, on top of needing a Stefon Diggs replacement.

So, general manager Nick Caserio drafted Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel from the same school. One’s gotta be good, right?

Houston’s WR3 John Metchie III doesn’t have a stranglehold on the job after Nico Collins and Christian Kirk. WR3 or WR4 targets should be attainable if Noel shows his worth at training camp and in the preseason.

3. Dont’e Thornton (LV)

Thornton is huge (6’5″) and fast (4.3). Those traits are just fantastic. He has the physical tools.

And on the Raiders’ depth chart (after Jakobi Meyers), Tre Tucker and Jack Bech are not insurmountable WR demons.

Sometimes, tall and fast wide receivers — not named Randy Moss — don’t translate well to the big leagues. But what if Thornton is the exception to the rule?

4. Kyle Williams (NE)

The Patriots are begging for a wide receiver to bust out into prominence. By comparison to the rest of the league, New England’s wide receivers are just terrible. Awful.

Williams is fast (4.40) and a deep threat, which sounds like music to the ears of Drake Maye. Williams, perhaps more than any man on this list, will get fall and winter targets.

5. Savion Williams (GB)

No team has a more crowded batch of decent wide receivers than the Green Bay Packers, made even more complicated with the 1st-Round selection of Texas’ Matthew Golden.

Still, the Packers know how to scout WR talent, and Williams likely won’t be a flop. Williams has size (6’4, 220 pounds), speed, and explosion. NFL.com compared his versatility to Cordarrelle Patterson leading up to the draft.

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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the Minnesota Vikings, with 4-7 episodes per week. His NFL obsession dates back to 1989. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.