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2020 NFL Draft: The year of the wide receiver

By Ryan Roberts

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: CeeDee Lamb #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners completes the catch for a touchdown in the fourth quarter during the College Football Playoff Semifinal against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: CeeDee Lamb #2 of the Oklahoma Sooners completes the catch for a touchdown in the fourth quarter during the College Football Playoff Semifinal against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

After a 2019 NFL Draft that was absent of an unquestioned, elite pass catcher, the 2020 NFL Draft is loaded with viable early Round 1 wide receiver targets.

With the 2019 NFL Draft now completed, it is time to turn all draft pundits’ attention to a glimpse of what the 2020 NFL Draft haul may end up looking like. Extremely early in the process (and, of course, many things could and will change), the 2020 wide receiver class appears to be not only arguably the strongest position group in next year’s class overall but perhaps the strongest wide receiver class in NFL Draft history — and that’s only slightly hyperbolic.

Coming in all shapes and sizes, the 2020 class represents a well of (un)tapped and tantalizing potential. Whether you like big play guys, insanely quick slots, gadget players or your consistent technicians, there is plenty of options to fulfill all talent evaluators needs.

Who are the players everyone needs to keep an eye on? Get ready, folks, there are a ton of names to remember. Let’s take a journey through the country in college football, starting where we often do, with Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Mutants in Tuscaloosa

Fresh off a very deep 2019 class, 2020 boasts not only incredible depth but the previously absent star talent at the top of the class. Everyone knows about those mutants out in Tuscaloosa. Now juniors Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III and DeVonta Smith have been early contributors since they first stepped foot onto the campus at Alabama.

After those early flashes of things to come, such as Smith’s game-winning touchdown reception in the 2018 National Championship Game victory over Georgia, they showed during their true sophomore seasons this past fall just how good they can be while teaming up with fellow sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Each of the three boasts a different skill-set that continuously causes opposing secondaries all types of problems.

But is this wide receiver corps individually as astounding as one would think, or more the sum of all parts working well in harmony? Nope — they are all just really, really good.

The headliner of the group is 2018 Biletnikoff award winner Jerry Jeudy. Amongst a Alabama wide receiver pipeline that has included guys like Julio Jones, Amari Cooper and Calvin Ridley, Jeudy could stake claim as the best prospect at this point in his career amongst the four, respectively.

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