[The Athletic] Shedeur Sanders, Matthew Golden and every team’s best value pick from the 2025 NFL Draft
I'm not a math guy, but technically I believe that's a 58% improvement from his Soph to Sr years which is pretty impressive work on his part. I divided 3.4 by 8.1 which is about 42% and then subtracted that from a 100 to get that 58%. Someone with better skills can verify or correct this please.
I would disagree. Ladd coming out of UGA was known for his dynamic route tree and having absolute precision - just technically refined. Very similar to Tyler Lockett/Emanuel Sanders. Noel has the short area burst and athleticism, which is the only comparison I can see to Ladd. But when you watch Noel's tape, he doesn't have that same level of route discipline or precision that made McConkey special. Ladd would manipulate DBs with subtle tempo changes and had that ability to freeze defenders at the top of his routes before snapping them off with almost no wasted motion. Noel certainly has impressive burst and can create separation, but his routes lack that craftiness and technical polish that scouts raved about with Ladd. It's why Ladd was considered one of the most pro-ready receivers despite his lack of elite measurables. He understood leverage, had a plan for every route and could win against both man and zone coverage with his technique. The Chargers drafted Ladd because they needed someone who could get open consistently with route savvy rather than just athletic traits. That's why the Lockett/Sanders comp was so fitting - those guys weren't the biggest or fastest, but they were technicians. Noel is a good prospect, but his game is built differently.
Yep but Noel’s game is more reliant on speed whereas Lockett/Sanders/Ladd have really refined route trees. Thats the difference.
We'll last year Ladd was pick 34 and people were wondering why he wasn't picked in the 1st round. This years 34 pick is another WR named Jayden Higgins. Hopefully people are wondering the same thing next year
Higgins is prototype production reciever. But Noel is that twitchy speedy "funner to watch" type. His scout reports says he lacks creativity that should get more tackle breaking and YAC yards. But he doesnt need to be the Dante Hall joystick. His 1-cut start & stop burst is high level enough Caserio's drafting actually has me decently confident in the Noel pick. Noel doesnt seem like a Devier Posey, Braxton Miller, weird 'Kahale Warring' type reach of previous GM's. (Even John Metchie can be counted as more extenuating circumstance than skill). Noel just feels he can contribute.
