NFL draft preview: Wide receiver lacks elite talent compared to last year's crop
The Bills could still use another receiver – even if general manager Brandon Beane doesn’t necessarily agree with that.
This is ninth in a series of position previews for the 2025 NFL draft. Today: Wide receivers.
You didn’t need a Magic 8 Ball at this time last year to accurately predict which direction the Buffalo Bills were likely to go with their top draft pick.
After trading away Stefon Diggs, the team’s need at wide receiver was clear and obvious.
Fast forward to today, and the Bills still could use another receiver, even if general manager Brandon Beane doesn’t necessarily agree.
“Needs? I wouldn’t say needs, but we’ll look for competition,” Beane said last week at the NFL’s annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. “I would say our offense did pretty good last year.”
That’s true, but it’s never a bad idea to continue to restock the cupboard for quarterback Josh Allen.
The 2025 class of receivers is thought to be significantly less impressive than the 2024 group, when nine of the first 34 overall picks played the position, including the Bills using the first pick of the second round on Florida State’s Keon Coleman.
Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden, middle, celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against Colorado State last season. Eric Gay, Associated Press
“Compared to last year’s offering … this year’s crop will be more about filling in missing pieces than adding star power,” nfl.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote, ranking receiver sixth out of 11 positional groups in this year’s draft class. “I have no Pro Bowl-caliber grades on any receivers in this group, but I do believe Matthew Golden is an ascending talent, Luther Burden III is undervalued and Tetairoa McMillan has a higher ceiling than his 2024 tape might indicate. There is solid depth that will provide help at WR3 and WR4 into the fifth round.”
Overall position ranking: 6/10.
Bills view: The top four receivers on the Bills’ roster are Coleman, Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir and Joshua Palmer, who was signed as an unrestricted free agent from the Chargers. The Bills have lost Mack Hollins in free agency and Amari Cooper remains unsigned. That means there is at least one, and maybe two jobs up for grabs. The roster does not seem to have a proven vertical threat who can threaten defenses over the top. That’s a skill set that Beane would be wise to add to the current group.
Bills need ranking: 7/10.
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan runs against TCU in November. LM Otero, Associated Press
The best: Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona.
A first-team Associated Press All-American, McMillan set an Arizona single-game record with 304 receiving yards against New Mexico. He also set the program record for career receiving yards with 3,423, including 84 catches for 1,319 yards and eight receiving touchdowns in 2024. He started all 12 games. McMillan was the highest-ranked recruit signed in Arizona football history as a five-star prospect who was a national top-five wide receiver in high school.
Names to know: Matthew Golden, Texas; Luther Burden III, Missouri; Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State; Jayden Higgins, Iowa State; Jalen Royals, Utah State; Isaiah Bond, Texas; Tre Harris, Ole Miss.
Golden ran a 4.29-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. Will he last to pick No. 30? Probably not. … Burden is the second youngest of 10 children. He has nine sisters. He’s a former five-star recruit who did not have great quarterback play in college. … Egbuka was a team captain for the national champions and set a program record with 205 career receptions. … Higgins started his college career at Eastern Kentucky before transferring to Iowa State. He finished with 87 catches for 1,183 yards and nine receiving touchdowns in 2024. … Royals had 55 catches for 834 yards and six touchdowns in just seven games before a foot injury ended his season. … The Bills reportedly will host Bond on a top-30 visit and have been widely rumored to have done a good bit of investigation into his background. He surrendered on a sexual assault warrant Thursday and was released after posting bail, according to published reports. … Harris had 60 catches for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing five games with a lower-body injury.
Tiger wings: Draft weekend promises to be emotional for Jack Bech. The TCU receiver is expected to be chosen in the top two rounds. Bech’s brother, Tiger, was killed in the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. Tiger Bech was a wide receiver and All-Ivy League return specialist at Princeton.
“(I) just know my brother’s got me,” Jack Bech said at the NFL scouting combine. “I’m huge in my faith. I always keep God first, no matter the circumstance, no matter what’s going on. I believe that He makes no mistakes and there are no coincidences in his realm, no matter what’s going on. I feel like my brother, I know his wings are going to be on me from now until the end of time. It’s pushed me to new heights.”
Sleeper: Dymere Miller, Rutgers. Miller spent four years at Monmouth before playing the 2024 season for Rutgers. He totaled team highs with 59 receptions for 757 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. It was the most receiving yards for a Scarlet Knights player since 2015.
TOP 10 WIDE RECEIVERS
Rank Player, school Ht. Wt.
1 Tetairoa McMillan*, Arizona 6-4 219
2 Matthew Golden*, Texas 5-11 191
3 Luther Burden III*, Missouri 6-0 205
4 Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State 6-1 202
5 Jayden Higgins, Iowa State 6-4 215
6 Isaiah Bond*, Texas 5-11 180
7 Jack Bech, TCU 6-1 214
8 Jalen Royals, Utah State 6-0 205
9 Tre Harris, Ole Miss 6-2 205
10 Tai Felton, Maryland 6-1 183
* — Underclassman