Albert Breer’s Latest NFL Draft Buzz: Comparing the Top Wide Receivers

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Jordan Tyson vs. Carnell Tate

Jermod McCoy

Francis Mauigoa

Caleb Downs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Mike Vrabel

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A little more than 48 hours until the 2026 NFL draft kicks off—be sure to check out The MMQB show’s livestream on Thursday night, as we’ll be analyzing picks as they come in. For now, here are a few things that I’m hearing as we draw closer …

Jordan Tyson vs. Carnell Tate

Jordyn Tyson’s pro day at Arizona State on Friday—he ran about 15 routes, mostly to show that he’s healthy and ready to roll—revived the debate that never really got going on whether he or Ohio State’s Carnell Tate will be the first receiver off the board.

So I figured we’d dive in on that here. There are differences between the two.

With Tate, you’re getting the taller, angular weapon who can win at all three levels, is a polished route runner and tactician. He’s not a freak athletically, but as we said Monday, most teams had him at the combine in the mid-to-high 4.4s in the 40-yard dash. That’s plenty good enough for the sort of receiver he is, and probably makes him a touch faster than Tyson, who didn’t run a 40 in the run-up to Thursday night.

Tyson’s superpower is that he’s a bigger guy, at 6’2 1/8” and 203 pounds, who moves like a little guy—which had three different people I talked to comparing him, from a movement standpoint, to Justin Jefferson. “He’s Justin Jefferson Lite,” said one assistant GM. “He’s just not as good after the catch.” There are questions, though, on how tough he plays, and also relating to durability, after a torn ACL ended his freshman year at Colorado, a broken collarbone ended his first season at ASU, and hamstring issues plagued his final season in college.

In other words, Tyson might have a better chance of becoming a No. 1 in the pros, while Tate is more of a known commodity, coming with less risk.

“With Tyson you have balance, body control, he breaks tackles, can make the spectacular play,” said an AFC GM. “Tate’s more the smooth, athletic, long route runner.”

The Giants, I’ve heard, are in play to take one of them at No. 5. And, yes, GM Joe Schoen led a New York contingent to Tyson’s pro day last week. The Giants also had Tyson to New Jersey for a 30 visit, and John Harbaugh was at the first ASU pro day (Tyson didn’t work out at that one). But Schoen and Harbaugh were at Tate’s pro day, met with him there, and had him to Jersey for a 30 visit, too. So all the work’s been done on both. Most teams I’ve talked to give Tate the edge, particularly if you’re taking one in the top five, because there’s a lot less risk.

We’ll see which way the Giants go. Or if both slip by them.

Jermod McCoy

As a follow-up to Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy’s injury situation—which, again, is a question on longevity, and not specifically the ACL tear in January 2025—the wide range of outcomes he’s now facing promises to have a bit of an effect on how the corners come off the board.

First, it solidifies LSU’s Mansoor Delane as the clear No. 1 corner. At this point, I’d say there’s a better chance than not that Delane goes inside the top 10.

Second, it pushes other guys up. McCoy’s teammate Colton Hood (they never actually played together since Hood just transferred to UT, and McCoy missed all of 2025) now could sneak inside the top 20, and then the question moves to who’s next—with San Diego State’s Chris Johnson, Clemson’s Avieon Terrell and South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse in that mix. How far McCoy slides really is anyone’s guess. But teams are preparing for, and gaming out, the possibility that he’ll be there for them in the second round.

Francis Mauigoa

We wrote about Miami OT Francis Mauigoa’s back issue in the April 13 takeaways, and it’s worth revisiting, while we’re here, the level of risk associated with the Hurricane big man.

The teams I’ve talked to say the question on Mauigoa’s clean-up surgery is when he’ll have it done, not if. Some think the right thing to do would be to have it right away. It would sideline him for three months, which would put him in position to return during training camp, and at that point he’d have to get back in football shape to compete to start. The other option would be to put it off until after his rookie year, with the risk being that it flares up at some point and costs him that time in-season.

Either way, for now, Mauigoa is symptom-free, and ready to roll. We’ll see which path he and his new team choose to take about a week from now.

Caleb Downs

How high Ohio State safety Caleb Downs goes is another moving target.

Everyone loves the player—the tape sparkles. The question is going to be how high a team is comfortable taking a safety who isn’t freakish physically and wins largely on football IQ, instincts and with a breakneck play style.

“Downs is clearly one of the best players in the class. He can play anywhere, he’s unique—an eraser,” said an NFC executive. “There’s an easy vision for him. He’ll be a great culture guy, high character, anybody would be happy to play him. He’s got the vision and mind of Eric Weddle, but he’s twitchier. He’s got [Minkah] Fitzpatrick’s makeup and character, but he doesn’t have his physical ability. He’s just a unique player.”

And that makes him a little tough for teams to value at the very top of the draft. But it seems pretty certain, or as certain as it can be with draft prospects, that some coaching staff will be happy it has him when the actual games are being played.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mark the Buccaneers down as another team looking to move down on Thursday night, from their perch at No. 15. And I think they’re positioned to pull it off.

Behind them, you have the Lions at 17, Panthers at 19, Steelers at 21, Eagles at 23, Browns at 24 and Bears at 25 as teams that might need tackle help. And with a run on the position potentially looming over that alley of picks, the Bucs could give someone the opportunity to jump the line. Which, I think, is something to keep an eye on as we draw closer.

Cincinnati Bengals

I’d also tell you not to be surprised if the Dexter Lawrence II trade winds up being a precursor to the Bengals being more aggressive moving around the board this weekend.

Cincinnati’s generally been one of the most conservative teams in football with draft trades—and it’s actually now been three years since they last did a deal to move up or down at any point in the draft (they made just two trades involving picks over that period, and both were for veteran players, shipping off Joe Mixon and bringing in Khalil Herbert in 2024). The Bengals have seven picks heading in. We’ll see what happens.

Kansas City Chiefs

And maybe it’s just exploratory, but the Chiefs have at least made calls on the idea of moving up. Of course, they’re right there with the Eagles and Rams, who’ve also explored those ideas, that generally investigate all their options. So maybe it’s just gotten other teams’ attention this year because they have a pick in the top 10. And it would still surprise me if Kansas City wound up going all the way up to Nos. 3 or 4. But this is a rare spot for them, to be picking this high, so it makes sense that they’d look at everything.

Mike Vrabel

And one final non-draft note: On Tuesday, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel finally addressed the pictures of him and respected NFL reporter Dianna Russini that appeared in the New York Post on April 7. He explained to a small group of reporters that he waited to speak publicly until he could talk to his players, which he did to kick off New England’s offseason program Monday.

So what did he say to the players? My understanding is that he led with it, as he stood in front of them Monday, quickly apologizing for bringing unwanted attention to the team. He promised that he’d make it right and do all he could to put the focus back on the players. To those in the room, he came off as genuine and remorseful, and maybe most of all, relatable.

My take on this is pretty simple. His personal life is his personal life and, obviously, he’ll have to deal with that part of it. Professionally, Vrabel has preached accountability to his players, the same way most coaches do. In each meeting room in Foxborough, there’s a sign that reminds players to make great decisions on and off the field. If he’s not accountable to that message with his players, then he risks his words starting to ring hollow.

So the fact that he immediately took accountability with the players, at the first point he had them all together, was always going to be the right thing to do. And now, even if Vrabel can’t personally, his players can start to move past this.

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