Originally Posted by Dam8610
I watched Odunze now, so I figured I'd come back and address this. After watching at least 10 games of both Odunze and Nabers, it's close, but I'd take Nabers.
First, let's talk Odunze. Top thing I will note, Penix overthrew him and/or placed the ball high far too often. When he had catchable balls, he made a lot of tough catches. He won most contested situations, and he ran great routes that got him open with good separation often. The thing that surprised me most with Odunze was his open field playmaking ability. Receivers his size usually don't have the open field quickness/shiftiness he has. I've heard he's drawn Larry Fitzgerald comps, and while I don't agree, I'd call him more of a poor man's Larry Fitzgerald if we're using that comp, the traits I see that would cause someone to make that comp are the open field playmaking ability, the size, and the great highpointing ability on catches, especially in the redzone. The biggest negatives to Odunze for me are twofold: first, it seems he has a bit of a habit of playing down to his competition, which seemed to be a trait of his whole team, and second is that there were a few times in about three or four games I watched where Odunze had concentration drops. These were situations where the ball was placed perfectly, Odunze was wide open and set up to make a big play, and he just dropped the ball. If you're drafting Odunze, you're drafting him as your WR1, and that is something that is inexcusable for a WR1.
Now let's talk Nabers. The thing that jumps out about Nabers immediately on any tape you put on is the playmaking ability, which is electric. Get him the ball in the open field and he has the chance to take it to the house on every play. The next thing that jumps out is the route running ability and ability to create separation. He's open by 3-5 yards so often, and the subtle shifts he uses in his route running including speed changes and breaks are constantly creating that space for him. The third thing that stands out on his tape is the body control. This is what I saw that made me comp him to Reggie Wayne. If he's catching a ball on a boundary, whether it's the sideline or the end zone, he has elite ability to go up, win the contested catch, and still bring both feet down in bounds. As for weaknesses, it's really hard to find anything without nitpicking. The one I see in most scouting reports is that his route tree isn't diverse enough, but that feels a lot like last year's C.J. Stroud criticism that "he couldn't create outside of the structure of the offense", which is to say that it's stating a "weakness" just to have something to state as a weakness.
In summary, both are great players, both are probably gone in the top ten, but if both were on the board and I was making the selection, I'd select Nabers. That said, I don't think the Colts will get a chance to draft either, but I'd certainly welcome either as a dynamic playmaker to add to the arsenal for Richardson. Interestingly enough, however, Brock Bowers seems to have become one of the chalk picks for the Colts at 15, which is surprising considering I'd rate him as a Top 5 to Top 10 talent in this class. I would not be disappointed with that. There are actually a lot of ways the Colts could go at 15 that I'd be happy with, to the point that a trade down might not be a bad idea.
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