Breaking Down Devante Parker, Preston Williams, 2020 WR Class with Trevor Sikkema

immediate impact, and this year's wide receiver class. All of that and more on this Wednesday, April the eighth edition of the Drivetime Podcasts. I'm last year, we saw a host of Dolphins wide receivers contribute to an effective passing

game and did so in a variety of ways. Furthermore, this draft class has been dubbed by NFL Networks Daniel Jeremiah as the US receiver class since he started doing scouting in two thousand three, and my guest today knows a thing or two about big time receivers up close and in person. He covered the Buccaneers computer report dot com and he's one of the most revered draft analysts in the game today. So let's go ahead and get to my interview with Tampa Bay Trey Trevor Sikima and

joining me on the podcast. Now you've heard me reference their work all the time here on the Drivetime podcast, the Draft Networks very own. He's also the host of Locked on NFL Draft. He is Trevor Sikima. Trevor, what's going on, man, h. It's good to be with you, man always. We met down at the combine. Now we're getting a first chance to do a podcast together, and we're gonna get into this ridiculous versatile receiver class here in just a moment. But I want to start by

going off the Dolphins current wide receiver group. We had a twelve hundred yard, nine touchdown receiver last year in Devonte Parker, and a rookie who was really coming into his own before an injury, and a variety of guys that made plays in a variety of ways. Let's go ahead and start with the four her first round draft pick, DeVante Parker. Easy for me to say, what did you see in his game last year that led to the

breakout season for him in twenty nine. I honestly just thought it was all coming together, like you know, And and the longer I do this, the more I realized that there's a lot more that goes into succeeding on an offensive end than just one in one talent. You know, you gotta have chemistry with the quarterback. It's it's it's got to be something that's prevalent on almost a play to play basis, and along with that as well, play

caller and whoever's calling the shots on offense. All that stuff has to be there, like, it's got to have chemistry with it. You've gotta feel comfortable, and we get that. I just feel like you have the best chance to get the most out of your abilities as you will because the scouts, that's what we that's what we try to write down, right, We try to figure out what

a guy can do for you. And DeVante Parker, I was a big fan of pist when he was coming out many years ago now, and so for him to man, it's been this long since he broke out, I kept thinking, maybe this is it for DeVante Parker. I had a lot of high hopes for him. I did think that he would need a little bit of work coming out of college. But here we are, and honestly, last year, I thought that he just put it all together. He

was able to give them everything that they wanted. I mean, the yards is seventy two catches, almost double diggy touchdowns. That was so great to see for from somebody like me who watched flashes of him when he was playing in college and thought, this guy can be a difference maker in the NFL if you get him with the right system, and he's getting pretty comfortable, and I just think it's taken that amount of time for him to really be able to get the most out of what

he does. And obviously he did have that type of, you know, high pedigree talent, being a first round draft pick. And one of the things I loved about watching his game last year was the ability to really shield guys off of the football when he went to high point those quote unquote balls and they really weren't fifty fifty balls when he was attacking them, because he pulled down more than half of them last year, and FITS was

certainly willing to give him a chance. Now. Another guy that was really off to a strong start before an injury cut his season short was a free agent, undrafted rookie Preston Williams who climbs all the way up to the starting position by the time the season started, and at his size, he was really creating a lot of separation with his ability to sink his hips, drop that

pad level at the top of routes. What was your report coming out of Colorado State on Preston Williams and how did he translate that into immediate production as a professional?

I mean, I thought the tape was great. The athleticism was there for him, you know, you talked about it right there, being flexible enough and explosive enough, precise enough in his movements to where he can sink his hips, he can fool people with some of his his his routes, he can have good feet, and he can have separation in his long speed. I think that that all just showed up. I thought that all of his routes kind of really came together, and I just think that it

was a great year for him. You know, you talked about the Monte Parker putting it all together. I thought that Preston Williams certainly put it all together. And we learned that early on. I mean that was early on in the season. In the preseason, we got him on our radar and so and I thought the athleticism was there for him. He just couldn't put it all together

in college. And that's why you know that, among other things, is why he didn't go as high as he wanted to, didn't get drafted, and and found a good spot in Miami. Though you know, he was able to make the most of it. And you mentioned making the big plays right in front of your own eyes. Trevor did cover the Buccaneers up until last year, so he saw that preseason game when prest and he just went nuts in that game. He looks like an all pro right away off the top,

and it's like, Okay, we got something here. And the nice thing about that was he was doing that in camp. He translated into season six into in season success as well. And by the time he and DeVante got cooking, man, these guys were tough to cover. But we have a draft class coming down the pipe this year that I mentioned it off the top, Daniel Jeremiah says he's been doing this since two thousand three. Is the best deepest

class he's seen in that time. And let's go ahead and get into the nuts and bolts here about this receiver class. I think most believe there are three guys that stand out above the rest. I'm curious to hear how you Trevor separate, Judy, Rugs and Lamb. Yeah, man, they're good. Uh, these are these three guys are going

to make team is very happy. And I think that that's always a conversation that I have with people, is you know, when when people do mock drafts and everything, they go, oh, you know, we don't have to take a wide receiver here, because there's just so many in this class. We could take one later in the draft. That's true. It is rich with talent. These guys at the top are very worth it to be at the top.

I mean, Henry Ruggs with the world class speed, Jerry Judy is one of the best route runners I've ever seen in my life. And then Ceedee Lamb. Just the determination, the hands, the run after the catchability. These guys can separate and the difference makers makers on the team for a variety of different reasons. And it's not just those either.

I think that that's really important to remember. Henry Ruggs isn't just speed, right, I mean, he's not a guy who's who's just gonna be able to run the vertical routes and nothing else. This kid is tough. He goes after catches, he can one hand pluck him, and he can run through contact as well. So you have to you have to note that just as much as the speed on the scouting report, Jerry Judy's got the long speed to go along with that short area quickness. He's

got great hands as well. And then Ceedee Lamb. He's a lot of an all around wide receiver. He's a true number one. He's gonna be able to play in next He's gonna be able to play off the line of scrimmage as well, whether it's in the slaughter to the outside. And I think that that's really important. I think that right now, if you ask me to rank them, I would have Henry Ruggs at number one, and then Ceedee Lamb and Jerry Judy. I think would be different

for each team. There are certain teams that would love those more than the other. But it's almost like splitting hairs in that regard. It's not like one guy over the other would go Okay, that's a bad fit for this team. I just think that the peaks of what they do well could work for some coaching staffs better than others. But no doubt about it, you're getting a difference maker with those guys as my two or three

wide receivers. Trevor set him up from the Draft Network here joining me on the Drivetime podcast part of the Miami Dolphins official podcast network and Trevor. We had Brett Coleman on the podcast yesterday talking about running backs and there was an interesting discussion we had about how some of the depth can impact where that initial run starts for the running back position. And I have to imagine

that's eve and more tenfold at the receiver spot. Where does that grouping of guys start to come off the board and what does it do as far as like pushing guys that maybe would have been first round picks or second round picks in a normal year, what does that do for them going down? Maybe even in today two? You wonder where that runs gonna start, right, because there are teams that need a wide receiver. But just like we discussed there, where did they end up taking him.

Jacksonville needs a wide receiver they pick at nine. The Jets need a wide receiver at eleven. Las Vegas Raiders need one at twelve. But are are those teams going to take one? I'm not sure you know, Jackson will sitting there at the at the nine spot. I think they'll probably have their eyes a little bit more on the trenches or maybe even a cornerback position than anything else.

But I really think that early right after that top ten at eleven, twelve, thirteen New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco forty niners, that's where I would tell you we would start to get that run on wide receivers, and shoot, it could be three in a row right there, right. I mean we could go boom, boom boo, whom ceedee, Lamb goes eleven, Jerry Judy goes twelve, Henry Ruggies goes thirteen, or however you want to place it up. I think

all three of those teams need a wide receiver. And then if that happens, that's going to determine the rest of the draft. That's gonna determine when the other guys start coming off the board, that Jalen reagors, the Justin Jefferson's, the kJ Handler's, Denzel Mims, Brandon, I you all of those guys that I just named right there, and even more could potentially be first rounders. It just all depends

where that run starts. And so I don't think it's gonna start in the top ten unless you get a team who's really aggressive, say like one of those bunches there, perhaps even the Denver Broncos as well, that maybe moves up to a team looking to move back at number seven with Caroline or number eight with Arizona, something like that, to go up and get a Henry Ruggs or a

Ceedee Lamb. But if no movement happens, which we know is not normally the case with the draft, but just so we could project things here, if no movement were to happen in the top ten, I tell you that eleven, twelve, thirteen spots the sweet spot for wide receivers to really start going. That's of the Dolphins pick eighteen after their pick number five in the draft, an interesting spot there

at the receiver position for them. And we've been doing these draft podcast all week and really getting into the draft here on Drive Time, and one of the things I keep noticing is that a lot of these positions do have depth, and obviously I think the receiver group does probably stand out above the rest with that depth and going off your guys is a big board at the Draft Network and doing those mock drafts on the Draft network dot com, I always find myself picking from

a variety of players in rounds four and five that I still think this guy could contribute right away. You're number one, But at the receiver spot, you guys, you guys have got Lamb seven, Judy ten, Rugs twelve on your big board. Then Justin Jefferson, Jalen Reagor, Lavisco, Chanal kJ Hamler, Denzel Mims, Brandon ayuk, Te Higgins and Donovan People's jones. They all check in in that twenty eight to fifty three range. If you could, Trev tell us what those guys do best. Yeah, man, I mean just

it's it's a pick your preference. And I think that's the most alluring part of this wide receiver draft is that for whatever offense you run, whatever kind of wide receiver you need, do you need an outside acts, Do you need a guy who can go up against press coverage? You need a bigger body player, do you need more of a flanker. Do you want a guy who's off the line of scrammage, guy that you can move in motion?

Do you want to slop player, a slot guy who can make the most out of space, is great in short area quickness, can win with separation quickly for your quarterback to find an easy option. You can find that receiver, whatever receiver it is that you need at any spot over the first really three rounds of the draft. Now, obviously the ones that you're going to pick higher got a better chance of hitting and their highs their ceilings of what they're able to do, or a little bit higher.

But man, it's just it, it's so vast the kind of guys that you could get there. You named so many names there, and there are so many others that you still did not name that I've got in my head that could still really help out a team. And so with those players, I really think that we're gonna

see a ton of Day two guys go off. You know, melt Kuiper talked about thirty wide receivers going to the top what was it, three four rounds something like that, And you know DJ has said before that's the deepest one of those talented wide deeper class he has ever seen. I definitely agree that it's it's it's deep, and it's talented. But that second and third round, that day two, that's

the sweet spot. That's where you're gonna see a lot of teams, especially with the situation the way that it is, where these visits for some of these players are are more remote. They're not happening as easily, it's not as much of a connection as it was before. That might cause more teams to go into the wells of positions that they know are good rather than taking risk on some others. And wide receivers absolutely, along with running back one of the positions that that I think teams are

going to really go for it. So if you let me ask you this, then trump because if you can get if you get that big run on receivers, let's say ten or fifteen guys go off in the second and third round, and then you come back in the fourth round and these teams are sitting there with the receiver covered, restocked, so to speak. Does that then create another slide at the back end of the draft where we're going into rounds five and six and you have guys that you have good grades on still available. I

think it's certainly possible. Um, I don't think the slide from round three to four would be as drastic as maybe when you see that first group of three wide receivers, the RUGS, J D C, the LAMB group between the next group going off. But I think it's gonna be a little bit more spaced out than that. I don't think there's necessarily going to be this giant gap of like, oh, it's been you know, say, thirty picks since the wide

receiver has been taken. I just think there's so many good ones that teams are going to be plucking them all over the draft. But I also don't want to totally discredit the second half of your question there, because there are still going to be receivers that get drafted in the fourth, fifth, perhaps even sixth round that you could go into training camp with. It's fighting for a roster spot, and that just doesn't happen. You know, that does not happen every single year, and that's why it's

a rare class. And if I had to put your feet to the fire and say give me a name of a guy on day three, if you're just building a roster from scratch, and you've got nobody on that you don't you know, there's no outside perspective. A guy that you think can plug in day one and have a chance to be a competitor and a contributor rather on the roster opening day. Okay, I will give you three as a matter of fact. Isaiah Hodgens, wide receiver out of Oregon State. This guy's got so such great

body control. He's one of the best hands catchers I've also ever scene. I think he had one drop this season, which is crazy. He's super reliable. He's not the most explosive guy, but man, he gets done. He's so reliable in what he does. I think he could have a big impact as an early Day three guy. Quintet Cepis, the wide receiver from Wisconsin. Okay, I know his combine was a little bit confusing. I was confused as anybody else was. But put on the tape, this guy can play.

And the Ohio State corners while they were at the combine, talked about Quintees Cepis is the toughest wide receiver they went up against, and that means more than some forty numbers if you ask me. And then Lynn Bowden from Kentucky. He's just such a Swiss army knife, if you will. He played slot wide receiver for him. He was the leading UH leading pass catcher for him, I believe two years ago. He's played some running back for him, He's

played some quarterback. I'm not sure exactly where a team is gonna line him up, but all I know is that this kid is a great athlete. He's gonna give you a hundred one of the time, and he's just a gadget player. You could plug and play him into a variety of different roles and he can give you a lot of versatility. So those are three players that I'm really looking forward to seeing where their fit is

come Day three. So those are great player breakdowns, Trevi and So I think I would be doing my listeners a disservice if I didn't ask you to go back to the top of the draft and give me the same thing, Like, who's the guy in the first round that you would go to bat for there and a guy in the second round? In the third round, give me a couple more names at the top of the draft that you're saying are going to come into the

league and just blow things up all right. Also, so at the back end of the first round, and this isn't really a surprise. I means that he's a common name at the at the bottom of the first round, I'll say Justin Jefferson. I mean, I love Henry Ruggs, but I think everybody knows about HENR. Ruggs at this point. I touched on that little bit how he's more than speed. I think Justin Jefferson's gonna have a fantastic impact in the NFL because his contested catch numbers were so high

last year. Joe Burrow, one of those accurate quarterbacks that I've ever seen, last season, still had to put passes in really tight windows. Often that was to Justin Jefferson. Certainly, Jamaar Chase had a wonderful year as well, but Jefferson's contested catch trade was above nine, like insane. This guy just does not drop the football. And you know he had a couple of concentration jobs that brought his numbers down.

But that gives me so much hope towards If you put Justin Jefferson in the slot and given these two way goes, he could go left or right, he could go out or in. You know, he's not the fastest. I think he proved that the combine that he has plenty of speed to be good. But he's still not going to separate as good as some of these other players are. You know, he's still gonna come down with it. He's gonna be reliable in a lot of different ways.

I think his route tree is extremely diverse for a variety of different reasons, and so I love Justin Jefferson in that regard. And then a guy at the top of the sec and round that I think I think that he's probably gonna go in the second round. kJ Handler. I like kJ Man. I really really like kJ Handler. It was unfortunate that he did not get to run

at the combine. This is why receiver at of Penn State, by the way, because he would have rivaled some of the fastest players at the combine and people's eyes would have been open. Now you're gonna have to have a quarterback that knows how to be accurate with kJ Hamdler, because this guy is a blur, right, I mean, when he puts his foot in the ground and goes zero to one hundred, It's not every quarterback is gonna be able to hit him in stride the way that they

need to. But when you do, you see him do things to say. Ohio States cornerback Shawn Wade, who was viewed as the top fifty prospect if he came out, will probably be a first rounder next year. He cooked Sean Wade on a slant route for ninete yards in that game where Penn State played Ohio State. And that's just you know what you can do if you pair a guy with his kind of speed, his kind of explosiveness with an accurate quarterback. And so those are just

two guys. Is one at the end of the first round. One I think is probably going early Day two or sometime in the second round. That I love for those trades reasons, those are what separate him for me. You mentioned the comments about quintess c Fest at the Combine from the players, the cornerbacks that went up against him. I heard that same thing from at least two or three defensive backs about kJ Hamler there as well. So those guys in the Big Ten well respected by the

other Big Ten cornerbacks. He is Trevor Sikima. You can find his work at the Draft Network and of course check out his podcast, Locked on NFL Draft and follow him on Twitter at Tampa Bay Trey. Trevor, thanks a lot for doing this, man, Appreciate it. Yeah, appreciate Travis. And there he goes Trevor Sikama. You guys would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't check out the Draft Network and all they have to offer. All those guys have different prospective reports on all these players, the

mock Draft Machine. We're gonna have Benjamin Slack on later this week to talk about his quarterback charting project where he just covers every single throw in college football. It's great work they do over there at the Draft Network. And the more and more you hear about this draft class, whether it's running back, whether it's the offensive line, whether

it's receiver. We're gonna get to defense on a later a couple of episodes here next week on the Drivetime Podcast, and you're gonna see me and John Conjemmi, the co host of the Audible podcast, break this down on the Miami Dolphins social accounts, the website, anywhere you can find

Miami Dolphins content. We're gonna be on there. You guys are gonna hear us talk about how deep and how versatile and how many different options there are at every position in this draft class to really improve your football team and inject some young, viable talent onto your roster. It's gonna be an exciting weekend. We are just about two weeks away, fifteen days away as we talk about this on this podcast, this edition of the Drive Time, and with that, that's gonna be my time on this

edition of Drive Time. You all please be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and follow me on Twitter at Wingfield, NFL Fall the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out the Fi Tank with Juice and Seth and of course the Audible with John and Kim and Miami Dolphins dot Com for all your Miami Dolphins content needs.

And tomorrow on the podcast, we will have Oronde Gadsden as we take a look at Fins flashback, going back to the two thousand to win at Mile High against the Denver Broncos. But until next time, Fins Up