2013 NFL Wide Reciver Draft Class rankings, analysis and fantasy football impact

      Today's blog is going to take a look at the upcoming 2013 NFL draft. I will specifically be looking at the Wide Receivers. I will analyze which will be good bets to have a fantasy impact this year and which ones to be wary of. The receiver class is fairly deep this year. With so many teams going with a more pass heavy approach there are several receivers that could have a decent impact as rookies next year. The things I look at to make a strong receiver in the NFL are speed, hands and leaping ability. A lot of the receivers at the combine with the fastest times did not do so well in the intangible areas that make a great receiver. It is all about what you want.  Speed above all else and you could end up with a Heyward-Bey like situation. If you go for the best combination of skills and intangibles you could end up with an A.J. Green situation. I would rather have the later. I also do not worry about attitude problems in receivers. They are all a bit diva-ish nowadays. So here are my updated top 25 wide receiver prospect rankings based on what I believe makes a great receiver. The number next to the WRs name is the quotient I use to measure their NFL potential. The smaller the number the better the prospect. The best a WR can score is 3. Scores over 100 are pretty low. A few may surprise you.
      **Remember these are not ranking when a guy is gonna go in the draft, this tells you which guys have the best potential to make a team and play a relevant role. Which players will have the best chance to have a fantasy impact.**

1. Rodney Smith 45
2. Justin Hunter 50
3. Cordarrelle Patterson 76
4. Stedman Bailey 59
5. Tavarres King 59
6. Corey Fuller 70
7. Aaron Mellette 71
8. Josh Boyce 73
9. Deandre Hopkins 74
10. Chris Harper 80
11. Da'Rick Rogers 83
12. Denard Robinson 85
13. Markus Wheaton 85
14. Kenny Stills 90
15. Tavon Austin 90
16. Robert Woods 90
17. Ryan Swope 98
18. Marquise Goodwin 100+
19. Keenan Allen 100+
20. Quinton Patton 100+
21. Aaron Dobson 100+
22. Cobi Hamilton 100+
23. Conner Vernon 100+
24. Terrance Williams 100+
25. Ace Sanders 100+

      Of the 9 speedsters on this list (9 of the top 10 combine 40 times) only 4 are in my top 10 prospects. The other 5 consisting of Goodwin 18, Austin 15, Swope 17, Stills 14 and Robinson 12 were in the top 10 40yd times at this years combine in that order. Other than Swope and Robinson who did well in the Vertical (7th and 9th best jump respectively) no one else finished inside the top 15 in either vertical or hand size. The other 3 averaged 28th vertical jump. All 5 of the top speedsters averaged 72nd in hand size. Speed is not everything.
      The guys I want to talk about are Cordarrelle Patterson, Justin Hunter, Rodney Smith and Stedman Bailey. Of all my prospects, these are my top 4 to make an impact with their respective teams next year. All 4 finished in the top 34 40yd times. Patterson and Hunter finished in the top 10, Smith was 28th and Bailey was 34th. Remember I said speed is not everything, but that is still not bad when combined with the next stats. Patterson and Hunter finished in the top 5 in the vertical jump. Hunter 1st and Patterson 5th. Bailey and Smith ranked 14th and 15th respectively in the vertical jump. When is comes to hand size the ranks go as follows: Smith 2nd, Bailey 11th, Hunter 39th and Patterson 65th. I am kind of giving Patterson a pass on his low ranking for hand size. The difference between Patterson (9 in. and Justin Hunter (9.38 in) was just .38 inches, less than half an inch. Compare that to Rodney Smith (10.38 in) and Stedman Bailey (9.88). These guys are physical freaks. I like Patterson 6'2", Hunter 6'4" and Smith 6'5" because they also bring great size to the equation. My personal favorite is Stedman Bailey. At 5'10" he is not a huge guy, but in this 3 receiver set heavy NFL, every team is looking for that Wes Welker/Victor Cruz like guy to fill the slot. Bailey will fill that role perfectly on the right team. He could come in on day one as a #1 slot and be very productive. Look at the numbers the current best slot guys are putting up. If Stedman Bailey puts up half of Welker's numbers he will have somewhere in the neighborhood of 69 catches, 3 TDs and over 650 yds receiving. Not bad for a rookie and I expect it to be better than that.
      Drafting a rookie receiver in fantasy football is a tough thing to count on. The good thing is if these guys land on the perfect team for them, they will still not be a high draft pick (with the exception of Patterson, possibly a mid rd pick). Pick these guys up in the later rds and stash them on your bench. They will help you win a championship later in the season when they establish themselves.