Rookie Spotlight: Johnny Wilson, Florida State
Height: 6-6
Weight: 237
Hands: 9 1/4″
Arm: 35 1/4″
40 yard dash: 4.6 (projected)
2024 Age: 23 (4/3/01)
NFL Comparison: Auden Tate, Allen Lazard, Kelvin Benjamin
Breakout Age: 21 (JR)
Offensive Market Share Metrics (Final Season)

Receptions: 16%
Receiving Yards: 18%
Receiving TDs: 8%
Total Production Percentage: 14%

As a high school prospect: Class of 2020; 4-star

Pros
Massive catch radius
Prototypical X receiver size
Fast for his size
Deceptively agile
Adjusts to the ball; great body control
Size scares defenders off the press
Hard to bring down

Cons
Too many unforced drops
Inconsistent blocker
Lacks separation skills
Limited route tree

Scouting Notes:
Take one look at Wilson, and you can see why he’s an intriguing prospect. At 6’7’’, Wilson would already be the tallest WR in the NFL, but throw in his deceptive speed and agility and you have a visual feast on the field. For all of Wilson’s massive range and catch radius, he’s able to play small. He’s nimble in tight spaces and can maneuver his monstrous frame with ease. He’s able to adjust to the ball and can make some magnificent grabs, but this is also where Wilson’s size can work against him, as he gets targets that most QBs wouldn’t risk with smaller receivers – He misses his fair share of these (12.8 drop rate) partially because he shouldn’t have been thrown the ball in the first place. Wilson played sparingly at Arizona State for two years before moving on to Florida State, where he had two relatively productive seasons(43/897/5; 41/617/2) – I would expect a player of his physical stature to prove more fruitful in scoring situations, and that’s an ongoing concern. Wilson was used to stretch the field on occasion, but he was used as more of an outside possession receiver by the Seminoles, playing out of the slot at rare times (8.7% of 2023 snaps). When he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, Wilson is an inconsistent blocker – He flattens some defenders but will get stymied by smaller corners at times. Wilson has exceptional athletic ability, but he’s still not a complete prospect – He could sharpen his routes and improve his blocking, in addition to shoring up his drops. That being said, Wilson could be a major force to be reckoned with in the hands of a team that can properly develop him.

Fantasy Outlook:
Wilson’s size alone will entice some team with stars in their eyes to take a chance on him. If he runs a decent forty, which some expect he will, his odds of finding an NFL home relatively early increase drastically. Either way, he’s not likely to fall past round 2 if he tests well and shows out at the Senior Bowl, though he’s honestly more of a 3rd or 4th round prospect at this point. Once he’s on the field, I envision a couple of trajectories for Wilson: He either develops into a decent chain mover with some upside as a red-zone target, a la Allen Lazard, or he continues to struggle with passes and falters, like Quentin Johnston. The receiver depth on whatever team he lands on will play a big role in whether he becomes a consistent fantasy asset. He could be one team’s everything or another team’s side hustle. Given his size, he could obviously be a candidate to eventually move to TE.