"Unpacking Garrett Wilson: The Rise of a College Football Star"

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Our perspective on 2022 newcomer Garrett Wilson.

Garrett Wilson, a 6-foot, 183 lb wide receiver out of Ohio State, ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, a 10'3" broad jump, a 36-inch vertical, and 9.88" hands.

"...one of the best route runners I've seen since we started these profiles last season."

The first thing I notice watching Wilson is his route running and shiftiness. He is definitely one of the best route runners I've seen since we started doing these profiles last season, and I think he could be an elite route technician at the next level. He possesses long arms and big hands relative to his frame making his catch radius quite large. Using these physical gifts and excellent body control, Garrett can catch just about anything thrown his way. He's also an excellent ball carrier in space and creates plenty of YAC. With his large hands, Wilson protects the ball well with 0 fumbles on 183 touches. Another thing we both liked was him being a multi-sport athlete. Wilson had several D-1 scholarship offers for basketball but chose to focus on football.

As for the knocks, they start with size. With his light frame, he had some trouble with longer corners and press coverage with his light frame. Garrett Wilson can be thrown off his routes at times by physical DBs. I noticed some unneeded movement, or "dancing," in his routes that won't go over well in the NFL, where timing is paramount. The only other thing is the thought that he may be stuck in the slot in the future. With his slight frame and shiftiness, it seems like a perfect spot for him, but you can take that as a positive or negative.

Scouting Report

There's a lot to like about Wilson as the second wide receiver off the board in rookie drafts: 4.38 speed, very shifty out of breaks, and YAC ability. He profiles as an excellent slot receiver in the pros. Most of his negatives are possibly fixed by bulking up a little. Obviously, we can't expect him to add 25 pounds, but 10 to 15 over the next couple of years is possible. I think he's probably one of the safer options at receiver in upcoming rookie drafts. You'll have to take Wilson early in the first if you want him.