2024 NFL draft - How a loaded WR class could help teams immediately | Zero Blitz

Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz is joined by Connor Rogers of NBC Sports to breakdown the top two wideouts in the 2024 NFL draft - Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and LSU’s Malik Nabers - and how the depth of this year’s receiving corps will provide teams with potential starting material well into the second day of picks. Hear the full conversation on the “Zero Blitz” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

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JASON FITZ: I want to start wide receiver, mostly so I can humble brag and remind the world I'm a Biletnikoff Award voter. The crazy thing is, you mentioned Marvin Harrison Jr. The most incredible stat to me is zero. And that's the number of drops he had this year, zero. I think Nabers is every bit today as can't miss as Marvin Harrison, Jr., is, which is stunning to say. And then I just-- I always-- look, I'm not comping the player. I'm just comping the value, right?

Look at what Ja'Marr Chase did for the Bengals. You cannot tell me that adding somebody like a Marvin Harrison, Jr., won't make-- like, if you buy the mocks right now, and we believe that, according to Tankathon, Arizona is picking third, if Arizona feels like they have Kyler Murray locked in and they're happy there, my God, they add Marvin Harrison, Jr. That's a home run. If you buy any of these mocks that have the Bears suddenly taking a quarterback at 1 and then somehow landing Marvin Harrison, Jr., that is-- like, that's the sort of combo that changes the entire trajectory of Chicago for the next 10 years.

CONNOR ROGERS: It completely does. And this is a great conversation to have because I remember I wrote a mock draft not that long ago for NBC, and I had that exact scenario. I had the Bears taking a quarterback at 1. And then they were picking fifth at the time, and Marv was gone. But I took Nabers. And a lot of Bears fans respectfully just wrote back. They're like, oh, this is interesting. It's not a really big wide receiver. Does he complement DJ Moore? Is he that good to warrant this kind of selection? Because all we've heard about is Marvin Harrison, Jr., or bust.

And you go back to Arizona with Marvin Harrison, Jr., it's just such a layup, right? You have Kyler in place. You have a blue chip kind of wide receiver prospect that you feel only comes around every couple of years. The closest thing I've seen in terms of just overall talent is Chase. And Arizona has some talent on offense where he's not coming in. It's like, man, good luck.

Like, you have Kyler under center. You took Paris Johnson last year that we've seen flashes from. Hollywood Brown has had a tough go of it since Kyler has been back, but he could still play. Trey McBride has been an incredible player in his second year in the NFL. So what those wide receivers, the bump they can give for you is really underappreciated during their rookie seasons right now.

JASON FITZ: I believe the two guys we're talking about right now rise above any of what we've been talking about. As much as we've been saying every year it feels like this is a great wide receiver class, these two guys are flat out better, in my opinion, than what we've been seeing over the last several years out of stacked wide receiver classes.

CONNOR ROGERS: Five wide receivers in the top 20, 14 in the top 75. The depth of this class is absurd. And it has speed. It has size. It has guys with polish. It has guys that are raw but have that size and athleticism and length that you want to get that ball of clay and mold them into your offense and have them stretch the field. This one is unique because of every box it checks, the blue chippers at the top that, in my opinion, should both be top five picks. Then you have the fact you have depth in round one. But then you go back to that well on day two, and you're like, man, I'm going to go draft a starter in the third round. That's special stuff to me.