The Philadelphia Eagles, NY Jets and San Francisco 49ers all want a wide receiver in the draft this year and they may trade up for names like Odell Beckham Jr. or Mike Evans, as those names are rising on draft boards and look like they could be potential top 10 picks and some reports say the LSU receiver could be second behind Sammy Watkins on Thursday night.
Beckham has been rising up draft boards due to his size and speed and Ed Werder from ESPN.com wrote that teams would not be surprised to see Beckham go ahead of Mike Evans in the draft on Thursday night. Evans has been considered the number two receiver behind Sammy Watkins and he could go in the top 10 to a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Beckham could be in the mix for the Oakland Raiders or Buffalo Bills. Evans is a big dude with great speed, while Beckham has shown great athleticism in workouts and he put up some very good stats last season alongside Jarvis Landry.
Beckham is 5-foot-11, 198 pounds and he won the Paul Hornung Award last season while putting up over 2,000 total yards and that was in part due to his skills as a return man, which is another reason why he is rising on draft boards. Marqise Lee was thought of as a better prospect before last season after he finished in the top five in Heisman voting, but he had only 57 receptions for 791 yards last year while dealing with some uneven play at QB at USC. Beckham was great last season while playing with Zach Mettenberger, putting up nearly 60 catches for 1,152 yards and eight touchdowns and now he could end up being a top 10 or top 15 pick after many saw him as a mid-round pick coming into the draft.
Lee still will be a first round pick, but Beckham and Evans are the names to really watch after Watkins goes and that likely will be in the top five. Lee had 118 catches for 1,721 yards two years ago and now Beckham comes in and a team like the Jets would kill to get him, as he could be the perfect complement to Eric Decker after he signed with the team in the offseason. According to ESPN.com, Beckham made over 60 percent of his catches from beyond 10 yards from the line of scrimmage and that is big for the Jets, as they have not been able to sustain deep threats for their QBs in what feels like years and he could be an explosive option.
The wide receiver position this year is very deep in the draft and teams like the Eagles and Niners could survive without trading up, but they love what they have seen from these players. Evans is strong and averaged over 20 yards per catch last season and the Eagles need to replace DeSean Jackson in the offense after he put up over 80 catches and 1300 yards last season. Brandin Cooks is a name that is getting attention as well after he blazed a great forty time at the combine and he could be in the mix as well.
