4) Brian Thomas Jr. (CeeDee Lamb) OVERVIEW: 6’3, 209, legit (i.e., Combine) 4.3 wheels and SEVENTEEN touchdowns last year, Brian Thomas Jr. is the most physically gifted wide receiver to enter the league since Megatron. Only in the insanely stacked wide receiver class of 2024 could BTJ be ranked fourth. His only weakness on film (and I’m not minimizing this because it can be a serious problem) is that he is a natural basket catcher. Mini rant: scoring touchdowns is 100% a skill. It’s not a random stat. It’s not luck or chance. It’s not play calling. It is a bonafide football skill, more akin to an art form than any other aspect of the game. Like art, most people suck at it—so it’s popularly dismissed or diminished of import—but a very very few are masters at it. When a small % of people are really f-ing good at something and 99.99% of the population sucks at it—it doesn’t make it not a skill. (Rant over) Slick footwork and a card catalog of release moves, BTJ doesn’t just vary his release to keep DBs guessing, he chooses a specific release that will work, but is also using that release to set the DB up for future exploitations. Once he’s off the line, good luck hanging with this cat. Effortless runner—would be hard to tell how fast he’s actually moving, if not for the DBs working so very hard to try and keep up, as he’s torching them for yet another TOUCHDOWN. BTJ can ball. STRENGTHS: - Elite height, weight, wheels combo - Excellent catalog of release moves - Predatory mind: BTJ isn’t reacting to defenders—he’s setting them up - Natural fluidity; smooth strider - Calm and collected - SCORES TOUCHDOWNS WEAKNESSES: - Wants to basket-catch - Still looks like a basketball player at times - Was he the 1b option at LSU bc Nabers was better, or bc Jayden preferred throwing underneath to Nabers bc he has a weak arm? Or was he 1b because he lacks the alpha mentality? - Needs to stand in front of a jugs machine and catch footballs until the body catching instinct (that many basketball players inexplicably seem to have) is dead and buried FINAL THOUGHTS: BTJ is an exciting prospect with arguably the highest ceiling in this stacked wr draft class. Somehow, he’s been lost in the Nabers/Jayden hype, when on film, he often looks to be the most important element of that trio. Was he a product of so much attention being placed on Nabers? Or was Nabers a product of BTJ? Did Nabers assume the 1a role bc he’s a YAC guy and Daniels has a weak arm? What kind of numbers might BTJ have put up if he was on USC? These are just a few of the questions that makes wide receiver the hardest position to evaluate in football. Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if in 4 years, everyone forgets BTJ was the 4th wr taken. COMP: BTJ looks like CeeDee looks now. CeeDee still does the basket catch from time to time but really came into his own this year (after Dick Sherman called him out and lit a 🔥 under CeeDee’s ass and ultimately made CeeDee a lot of money). BTJ might need a similar event to help him reach his full potential. Maybe being the 4th wide receiver taken is all the motivation he needs.