2023 NFL Draft: Top 5 Wide Receivers

The wide receiver position in the NFL Draft has been absolutely loaded with talent over the last 3 years with a class that featured Justin Jefferson, then a class with Ja’Marr Chase & Jaylen Waddle to last year’s class with Garrett Wilson, the wide receiver has become a coveted position to target. Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, we’ll be ranking the top 5 wide receiver prospects in this year’s class. 

#1: Quentin Johnston – TCU

Johnston didn’t have the best stats of the receivers in this draft class, but he has almost everything else that NFL scouts are looking for. Johnston has the ideal build of a NFL receiver, the route running abilities, and can do well in the short game or on the deep ball. Johnston is the most complete wide receiver prospect in this year’s draft and should be the first one taken off the board. 

#2: Jalin Hyatt – Tennessee

If a 207 yard, 5 touchdown performance wasn’t enough to get Jalin Hyatt on your radar, he did all of that against an elite Alabama defense. If that still wasn’t enough to convince you that Hyatt is seriously talented, his 1,200 plus receiving yards and 15 touchdowns should do the trick. Hyatt helped with the rise of Hendon Hooker’s stock in the draft and Hyatt is a wide receiver that is seriously being underlooked. Before his explosive 2022 season, Hyatt only had 226 & 276 receiving yards in the previous 2 seasons, but in 2022, he finished top 5 in the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns earning him the Biletnikoff Award. 

#3: Zay Flowers – Boston College

Flowers is just the type of small speed demon that guys like Bill Bellichick love snagging as teams look for players with more traditional builds. Flowers lines up well both in the slot & on the outside as a vertical deep threat. His speed allows him to make the separation between him & the defender which is a big reason why he was able to rack up over 1,000 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns but not being able to haul the ball in on key plays is something that teams are going to have a hard time looking past. Flowers can’t change his size, but he can work on having fewer drops, especially if he wants to make it at the pro level. 

#4: Jaxon Smith-Njigba – Ohio State

The only thing we can truly say about Jaxon Smith-Njigba is missing the vast majority of the 2022 season took a good hit to his draft stock. If this was after the 2021 draft, Smith-Njigba would have been fighting Drake London & Garrett Wilson for the top spot in that class. Despite missing almost all of 2022, Smith-Njigba is still ranked in our top 5 wide receivers in this year’s draft class which goes to show how dominant of a 2021 campaign that he had. Smith-Njigba finished 3rd in the nation in receiving yards with an impressive 1,606 yards on the year. If he can return to that form, with his build, speed, and physicality, he would be a dream selection for a GM who doesn’t have a top 10 pick and is looking for someone who can step in day 1 and be a difference maker. 

#5: Jordan Addison – USC

Hyatt isn’t the only Biletnikoff award winner that is in this year’s draft class as former winner Jordan Addison has been flying under the radar. Addison won the award when he was playing at Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett who was drafted in the first round by the Steelers last year. Addison decided to transfer to USC to play under offensive guru Lincoln Riley which paid off well as he had another solid campaign. Despite not putting up as high of numbers with USC as he did in Pittsburgh, it still shows scouts that Addison isn’t a one trick pony and can work well with multiple different offensive schemes. Addison is a versatile player that can do it all, but he doesn’t have the elite talent as some of the others ranked on this list who are more boom or bust.