5 Prospects to Rebuild Broncos' WR Room

As the Denver Broncos rebuild their wide receiver room, they could look to add someone from the draft.

With the recent news that the Denver Broncos have traded Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns for a pair of Day 3 selections, a new face could be added to the wide receiver room. Denver retained Tim Patrick on an incentive-laden contract restructure. 

Still, Patrick's recent injury history leaves many question marks at wide receiver, especially with Courtland Sutton's future still somewhat uncertain. Once again, the NFL draft features a stellar class of pass catchers. 

Let's examine five wideouts who could be had later in the class.

Johnny Wilson | Florida State

© Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

A tall and physical specimen with outrageous competitive skills, Wilson projects as a prototypical X receiver with an insane catch radius. He has a massive frame at 6-foot-6 with nearly a 36-inch wingspan and uses it very well as a receiver. 

Wilson has strong hands and uses his length to make awkward receptions look easy. He can fight through press coverage without getting re-routed with physicality from defenders. 

There's enough suddenness in Wilson's ability to decelerate to create separation on hook, stop, and comeback routes, and he finds the football easily in the air when getting his head turned around.

Cons

Being a taller receiver, Wilson has stiffness and exaggerated step length when changing directions when running routes. He must also utilize his frame better and have more physicality in contested catch situations. 

Wilson doesn’t bring much juice as a blocker. He has enough long speed to be a viable deep threat in straight-line situations, but his short-area quickness and lateral agility are severely lacking. 

There are rumblings that Wilson could be a candidate to change to the tight end position, but he would primarily be a big slot target due to his blocking concerns.

My Grade: Round 4

Erick Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 163

Jacob Cowing | Arizona

© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

A super speedy yet minute receiver, Cowing brings elite-level verticality to the football field. In the quick game, he is best in open spaces, where he finds blockers to open up significant gains. 

Cowing was used as a gadget player for Arizona, being deployed on quick screens and jet sweeps, showing good vision and elite burst to get through openings quickly. He has a good nose for the endzone and is surprisingly difficult to bring down for a smaller player when he has the football in his hands. 

Cowing has great stop-and-start ability and can set up breaks with a solid stutter step to get defenders off balance.

Cons

Size, size, size. Cowing can get bullied as a blocker if he even tries. Contested catch situations are practically out of the question, and he gets re-routed far too often in his route stems. 

Cowing needs much more nuance as a route runner, and getting some speed variation to his game would be a great boost. His tape has some drop concerns, and his catch radius is severely lacking. Balls that are behind him often go uncatched.

My Grade: Round 4

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 147

Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint | Georgia

© Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

Rosemy-Jacksaint is a long and tall receiver with incredibly sticky hands. He tracks the ball well through the air and snatches it with ease. A prototypical possession receiver who thrives on the outside, he has a great catch radius and shows competitiveness at the catch point in contested catch scenarios. 

Rosemy-Jacksaint is an incredible blocker, especially at the second level, showing a desire to move targets off their spot, great hand placement, and the ability to re-engage when his positioning goes awry. His best work as a receiver comes when finding open spots against zone coverage, and he sits down well to show his chest over the middle of the field.

Cons:

It takes Rosemy-Jacksaint a long time to reach full speed, and when he finally does, he isn’t that fast. His initial quickness and sudden change of direction ability aren’t strong enough to help him create separation, and he finds himself caught in the mud coming out of his breaks. 

While Rosemy-Jacksaint does bring competitiveness to the catch point, there's a significant penchant for pushing off to help create separation, leading to pass-interference penalties.

My Grade: Round 5

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 166

Joshua Cephus | UTSA

© Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

Cephus is a tall receiver who is a monster in creating yards after the catch. There are several plays on his tape where he turns a short completion into a long gain or touchdown, showing great vision with the ball in his hands and a solid ability to break tackles. 

Cephus has smooth hands and a solid catch radius and showed good body control, working toward the sidelines to get both feet in bounds. He has great speed in a straight line, demonstrating the ability to eliminate pursuit angles.

Cons

Route running is a significant concern, as he wasn’t tasked with many different assignments in the offense at UTSA. Though he excelled in creating separation on double moves, most were wheel routes or stutter-and-go. 

Cephus has good change-of-direction ability for a player with his height, so that could be coached into him. One of the things that stood out the most was a lack of effort when he knew the ball wasn’t coming to him, with Cephus showing disinterest in playing at full speed or participating as a blocker at times.

My Grade: Round 5

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 158

Jha'Quan Jackson | Tulane

© Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

A straight-line speed threat, Jackson possesses explosive speed from the slot that instantly places defenders in conflict. He has good lateral quickness, making him tough to pin down as a coverage defender.

Jackson can easily stack defenders playing in off-coverage and blow by them with smoothness and acceleration at the stem of his route. He projects as a slot receiver in the type of creative offenses that utilize choice routes over the middle of the field, and he brings explosive punt return ability to the fold.

Cons

Though he is built thick in his frame, Jackson is a tiny player. Despite his lateral quickness, he lacks the nuance to set up defenders to create separation consistently when working toward the sidelines and relies on his athleticism more than technique.

Jackson has rarely seen press coverage as he was constantly lined up off the football and is easily redirected throughout his routes. Though he has gadget capabilities, what is coming with him is easily noticeable based on his formation alignment and stance pre-snap.

My Grade: Round 6

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 116

---

The Takeaway

Again, what happens with Sutton remains to be seen, given his contract situation. There are rumblings that he could be retained, even on his current deal. 

Broncos head coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton both raved about Marvin Mims Jr.'s potential at the Combine a couple of weeks ago, and Patrick could provide a big boost if he is fully healthy after suffering a torn ACL and Achilles in back-to-back seasons.

That said, Rosemy-Jacksaint profiles as a quality replacement and developmental player for either Sutton or Patrick in Payton's offense. Rosemy-Jacksaint's blocking proficiency and willingness to get physical at the point of attack project well to the next level, though his athletic ability will leave some teams wanting more. 

He's good enough as a route runner and has reliable hands to work in contested catch situations as a possession receiver over the middle of the field.

---

Follow Mile High Huddle on X/Twitter and Facebook.

Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!