{"id":863057,"date":"2026-04-10T10:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863057\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:34:06","slug":"the-falcons-should-draft-a-wide-receiver-the-beast-breaks-down-their-best-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863057\/","title":{"rendered":"The Falcons should draft a wide receiver; \u2018The Beast\u2019 breaks down their best options"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. \u2014\u00a0The NFL Draft<\/a> is less than two weeks away. \u201cThe Beast\u201d is here. And the Atlanta Falcons have to be taking a wide receiver, right?<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s release of Dane Brugler\u2019s annual draft guide<\/a> means it\u2019s time to start getting serious about figuring out which direction the Falcons are going in the draft, and another pass catcher has to be a serious consideration.<\/p>\n

Despite what Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can always add more players to every room, but I feel really, really good about where we are (at wide receiver),\u201d Stefanski said as his new team opened Phase 1 of its offseason program.<\/p>\n

The Falcons have seven wide receivers on the roster at the moment \u2014 Drake London, Jahan Dotson, Olamide Zaccheaus, Casey Washington, Chris Blair, Dylan Drummond and Deven Thompkins. London, Dotson and Zaccheaus are the top three in that group, but the depth gets thin after that. Washington, Blair, Drummond and Thompkins had 16 catches combined last year and have 44 combined in their careers.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Falcons coaching staff carried three proven pass catchers into the season last year (London, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud), and it proved to be a bad plan almost immediately. Mooney was injured on the first day of training camp and never got up to full speed, McCloud fell out of favor and was released midseason, and London missed five games due to a knee injury.<\/p>\n

With Mooney and McCloud gone now, the Falcons added Dotson and Zaccheaus in free agency, but those two combined for only 57 catches last year.<\/p>\n

So, with lots of help from \u201cThe Beast,\u201d an assist from Derrik Klassen at \u201cThe Athletic Football Show<\/a>\u201d and one hint from Stefanski, we\u2019re going to dig into 10 wide receivers the Falcons could add in the draft. Based on the current makeup of Atlanta\u2019s wide receiver room, Klassen believes they should be focused on a Z-receiver type who can consistently line up outside the numbers and win downfield \u2014 and also pick up easy screen yards. Stefanski\u2019s input comes from something he said about why the Falcons added Dotson and Zaccheaus to the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so much of it is finding dominant traits that players have and adding them to the room,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So, with those landmarks as our guide, here are the receivers Atlanta should be looking at, in order of Brugler\u2019s rankings.<\/p>\n

Germie Bernard<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 41 overall, No. 7 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Second<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-foot-1, 206-pound former Alabama receiver \u201cprojects as a starting Z receiver and as an NFL team\u2019s second or third option,\u201d according to Brugler. That\u2019s exactly what the Falcons need. Bernard does not have a dominant trait, but he\u2019s good at everything and fits perfectly with new general manager Ian Cunningham\u2019s plan to raise the floor of the team\u2019s talent. There are no can\u2019t-miss prospects, especially in the second round, but Bernard can play outside the numbers and also be used in the screen and run games. He had five rushing touchdowns in his career.<\/p>\n

Chris Bell<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 47 overall, No. 8 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Second<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-2, 222-pounder from Louisville is a risk for early 2026 because of an ACL tear he suffered in November, but he expects to be ready for training camp. Bell\u2019s blocking is questionable, and he has drawn 16 penalties in the last three seasons, many of which were unsportsmanlike conducts due to what Brugler describes as a \u201cvery emotional\u201d personality. So, why would a team pick him in the second round? Because he\u2019s big and explosive with tons of yards-after-catch potential.<\/p>\n

Ted Hurst<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 72 overall, No. 13 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Third<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-4, 206-pounder made a top-30 visit to the Falcons\u2019 facility, and he didn\u2019t have to go far. Hurst played his final two seasons at Georgia State after two years at Valdosta State. He has some work to do to develop his game, but he would be an immediate deep threat. Nobody in major college football had more 20-plus-yard catches in the last two years than his 34, and his 4.42 40-yard dash time feels even faster when he hits the open field.<\/p>\n

Zachariah Branch<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 76 overall, No. 14 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Third<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 5-9, 177-pounder from Georgia is the great nephew of former Raiders great Cliff Branch. He wouldn\u2019t fill Atlanta\u2019s need for an outside Z receiver, but his suddenness and speed (4.35 40-yard dash) make him a dangerous weapon in the screen game and the run game. More than 80 percent of his catches last year came within 9 yards of the line of scrimmage, so he may never be a complete receiver. But his athleticism with the ball in his hands definitely counts as the kind of dominant trait Stefanski is looking for. He told NFL Network he had a top-30 visit scheduled in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Bryce Lance<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 90 overall, No. 16 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Third-Fourth<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The brother of Chargers backup quarterback Trey Lance, the 6-3, 204-pound Bryce has the speed (4.34 40-yard dash) and ball-tracking skills to be a deep threat. He\u2019s not a fully developed prospect, but he has shown the willingness to be a good blocker and was a team captain last year at North Dakota State after turning down lucrative transfer offers.<\/p>\n

Chris Brazzell II<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 96 overall, No. 17 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Third-Fourth<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-4, 198-pounder comes out of a Tennessee program with a bad track record for transitioning wide receivers to the NFL, but his physical gifts are going to get him a shot somewhere. With 4.37 40-yard dash speed and an 80-inch wingspan, he would be an immediate threat even if it did take him some time to develop into a complete wide receiver after taking only one snap from the left side of the formation in college last year.<\/p>\n

Reggie Virgil<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 23 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Fifth<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-3, 187-pounder could end up being the Costco version of Carnell Tate, nearly as good and a lot less expensive. He spent three years at Miami (Ohio) before transferring to Texas Tech, where he had six touchdown catches but five drops. Brugler describes Virgil as a \u201ctall, silky-smooth athlete with \u2026 long-striding speed and adequate ball skills,\u201d and that feels like a good profile for the fifth round or later.<\/p>\n

Ja\u2019Kobi Lane<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 24 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Fifth<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-4, 200-pounder from USC will have to get stronger and doesn\u2019t have enough special teams background to give himself an easy way to make a roster, but he has 10 1\/2-inch hands, a wingspan of more than 80 inches and an easy athleticism that gives him a chance to develop into a contributor. Nine of his 18 career touchdowns came in the red zone, so that\u2019s a plus.<\/p>\n

Jeff Caldwell<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 26 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Fifth-Sixth<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-5, 216-pounder had a nice Senior Bowl week to get on a lot of radars and then ran a 4.31 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. After spending four years at Division II Lindenwood, he was honorable mention All-Big 12 at Cincinnati last season.<\/p>\n

Josh Cameron<\/p>\n

Brugler\u2019s ranking: No. 28 wide receiver<\/p>\n

Round projection: Sixth<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019d fit: The 6-2, 220-pounder had 121 catches for 1,626 yards in the last two seasons at Baylor. He\u2019s very strong (395-pound bench and 528-pound squat), but he didn\u2019t do any speed testing at the combine or his pro day, and pro teams are worried about his separation skills. There are no perfect prospects in the sixth round, though, and his production makes him intriguing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. \u2014\u00a0The NFL Draft is less than two weeks away. \u201cThe Beast\u201d is here. And the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,224,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-863057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-falcons","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116379966753391789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}