2024 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Ricky Pearsall, Roman Wilson, Xavier Worthy

This is what we’ve been waiting for, fantasy football enthusiasts. The NFL Draft is under way, and we finally get to see where the rookie prospects are going to launch their professional careers. And NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values.

As the players are selected, let’s dive into what our NFL Draft expert, Thor Nystrom, has to say for each pick made. Here you can find all of Thor’s 2024 NFL Draft Rankings and player comparisons. Below we’ll dive into a few notable names expected to be selected this week.

Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Outlook

Thor’s NFL Draft Profile & Player Comp

6. Ricky Pearsall | Florida
6010/189 | RAS: 9.91
Comp: Adam Thielen

In the last three seasons, Ricky Pearsall has functioned as the WR1 for Jayden Daniels (at Arizona State), and the WR1 for Anthony Richardson and Graham Mertz at Florida. He then embarked upon a dominant pre-draft process, with an awesome Senior Bowl showing and an eye-popping NFL Combine.

Pearsall has an advanced feel for route-running and coverage designs. He will modify his path to get into open grass against zone and flick unpredictable and unsettling tempo changes at defenders in man like a toddler in control of your car’s volume knob. Pearsall marries head/shoulder deeks with sudden cuts at the peak of his stem to coax false steps. Deliberate footwork in and out of breaks. On extended plays, he’ll throw the plan out the window and freelance himself open.

Pearsall is blessed with truly exceptional hands (86.8 PFF hands grade in 2023). He spears balls outside his frame with regularity. Extremely reliable with anything inside his frame. Multiple one-handed highlight reel catches on campus. His catch against Charlotte – if you’ve seen it, you’re watching it in your head as I type – is one of the greatest any of us have ever seen in college football.

That catch was an extreme example of Pearsall’s Professor X-esque concentration – he’ll take the shot every time to complete a catch. He shows good spatial awareness and body control near the sidelines and in the end zone.

Pearsall showed the versatility to swap interchangeably between the slot and boundary in college. When we spoke at the Senior Bowl, Pearsall told me the NFL had mostly spoken to him about the slot. But this was before that event had ended. And a full month before Pearsall put the NFL on notice with his huge performance in Indianapolis.

Ricky Pearsall has had one of the best pre-draft processes of anyone — he’s my WR7 in the class

At the Senior Bowl I spoke with him about the highlight-reel catches, the various high-profile QBs he’s been WR1 for, and who he patterns his game after

pic.twitter.com/l8xZIDLAW2

— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) March 28, 2024

Pearsall’s athletic profile and tape suggest he could be used in the same interchangeable way in the NFL. If used on the boundary, as was the case in college, he’ll need to be adjusted pre-snap to free him from press coverage.

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7. Roman Wilson | Michigan
5106/185 | RAS: 8.6
Comp: Golden Tate

A sleek, fluid athlete with all the speed and quicks you’d want out of the slot. An assignment-minded player whom Michigan’s NFL staff greatly trusted – Wilson was the focal point of designed timing concepts in high-leverage situations.

Wilson’s lack of size and strength will relegate him mostly to slot duties in the NFL. But this will also prevent him from being pressed. Wilson has short arms – tied for second-shortest of my top-15 WRs – and thus a smaller catch radius, but he’s reliable on anything he can reach.

No, really – Wilson had one drop and zero fumbles as WR1 during Michigan’s undefeated 2023 title run (after two drops and zero fumbles in 2022). In an odd genetic quirk, Wilson has very big hands – bigger than Rome Odunze’s, one-eighth-of-an-inch smaller than Marvin Harrison’s and the same size as Xavier Leggette’s. Since he never flubs balls, this should probably be discussed as often as his size is.

Wilson struggles in true contested situations due to his body composition. But he’s skilled at making tough catches in congested quarters, a very good ball tracker who sees the ball well through the catch phase no matter what is happening around him. Wilson consistently makes plays downfield when he can free himself – we saw this in numerous big spots over the past two years.

Out of the slot, Wilson is a squirty, bursty route-runner who is tough to stick with one-on-one. He adjusts tempos at will, putting his man on a balance beam. Wilson changes directions fluidly without losing momentum. He quickly finds bare patches against zone and squats.

The film I watched on Wilson showed a high effort gnat of a blocker. He won’t overpower anyone, but he also doesn’t shirk assignments. Wilson goes right at his man and forces him to fight through to get involved in the play.

Though Wilson’s counting stats suffered due to Michigan’s run-first ethos and the Wolverines starters getting pulled in the second half of many blowouts last year, his value can be seen in ranking No. 1 in expected points added per route run. He was also top-10 nationally in QB rating when targeted.

Wilson doesn’t break many tackles and isn’t a huge YAC threat, but he profiles as a reliable and efficient starting slot in the NFL immediately.

Check out more NFL Draft profiles and player comps from Thor in our 2024 NFL Draft Guide

8. Xavier Worthy | Texas
5112/165 | RAS: 9.41
Comp: DeSean Jackson

Worthy was initially part of Michigan’s vaunted 2021 recruiting class that included JJ McCarthy. But after his enrollment into the university hit a snag over academics, Worthy re-opened his recruitment and signed with new Texas HC Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian, the former Alabama OC, had pitched Worthy on becoming the DeVonta Smith of his revamped Longhorn offense.

Worthy will, of course, not be drafted as high as Smith. But after his record-setting 4.21 forty at the NFL Combine, Worthy remains in play to go in Round 1. Worthy and Smith have similar frames – Smith entered the NFL an inch taller and five pounds heavier – but differing playing styles.

Worthy is more reminiscent of DeSean Jackson, and, more recently, Hollywood Brown and Tank Dell. He is a slippery burner with natural separation skills. The athleticism and lightning-quick feet make him extremely difficult to stay within space.

Worthy showed the ability to play both inside and outside at Texas. I think he can do the same in the NFL. He’s a good route-runner – independent of the athleticism. Worthy sets up defenders to fail before the ball has been thrown, and he’s shown the ability to win at all three levels while handling heavy usage in Austin.

The Longhorns got Worthy involved in a myriad of ways, including shuttling the ball off to him behind the line of scrimmage. As Sarkisian had promised, the Texas staff wanted the ball in Worthy’s hands. Worthy had 197 catches and 26 TDs over three seasons.

I have only one real concern about Worthy, and it has nothing to do with his weight. His ball skills need real work. When the ball is in his hands, everyone in the stadium holds their breath. But getting it there isn’t always a fixed outcome, despite his prowess at separating. On tape, Worthy’s drops fell into two buckets: 1) Bad technique and 2) Poor concentration. The fact the issue couldn’t be isolated to one fixable thing bears mentioning.

The technique aspect has to do with a bad habit of excessive body-catching – letting balls get into his frame and trapping them against his torso. This also has the effect of slowing his process into becoming a runner, adding transition time. This doesn’t occur every catch – I saw impressive instances of extension for bucket throws, for instance – but his odds of securing the ball plummet in instances it crops up. Beyond that, Worthy has a smaller catch radius and isn’t reliable on stuff soundly outside his frame – even balls that were supposed to be thrown that way.

For example, in the huge showdown against Alabama in Week 2, Worthy broke the ankles of his man on a whip route at the goal line. He basically had one-half of the end zone to himself as he sprinted toward the pylon. QB Quinn Ewers led him that way – correctly – to keep the ball far safely away from a trailing backside defender. This forced Worthy to reach out for what should have been a touchdown. But the ball clanked off Worthy’s hands to the turf. Hand up – I’m a huge Xavier Worthy fan. But it was this sort of thing that forced me to temper my final ranking of him.

Worthy had 12 charted drops in the last two years, but even that number seems generous – I sure feel like I saw more. Worthy has lightning-in-a-bottle athleticism, but the lack of money-in-the-bank reliability is what ultimately cost him a Round 1 grade in a split decision on my board. If he can button that part of his game up, we’re in store for another decade of DeSean Jackson-like highlights.