As I was taking in the NFL combine last week, I found myself flashing back to a couple of other draft classes, because of how the wide receivers were grouped on my board.
In 1985, I had very close grades on a trio of wideouts who turned into really good players. Al Toon, Eddie Brown and the great Jerry Rice all went within six picks of one another, and I had them pretty closely grouped on my draft board. Rice, of course, became a star (even after a rookie season that had some critics already applying the "bust" label), and while his star surpassed the rest, all three were successful.
It happened again three years later. In 1988, I had similar grades on the trio of Tim Brown, Sterling Sharpe and Michael Irvin. And just as it happened in 1985, those three went within six picks of each other, and again all three had careers to be proud of.
If we can someday look at the top three wide receivers in this class and say they accomplished anything close to what the top three in 1985 or 1988 did, I think it would be pretty remarkable. But I bring up those classes because it's again a closely grouped trio at the top.
Beyond them I list 37 other wide receivers to watch for the 2015 NFL draft. It's yet another deep group.
The elite trio
Should go in top-10 range, can be impact NFL players early on.