The Detroit Lions don’t have a pressing need to add wide receivers through the 2026 NFL Draft, but when a deep class presents itself, there’s an opportunity to find value late in the draft. With a plethora of talent working through on-field drills at the Combine, it can be challenging to quickly and accurately sort through all the information.
With this in mind, in our wide receiver Combine preview, we focused on potential replacements for the Lions’ WR4 role, with Kalif Raymond being an unrestricted free agent. Even if the Lions re-sign Raymond, he will turn 32 this season, and the Lions would do well to keep an eye out for potential replacements.
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There were a handful of incredible speedsters running at the Combine on Saturday, including Brenen Thompson (Mississippi State, 5-foot-9, 164 pounds, 4.26-second 40-yard dash), Deion Burks (Oklahoma, 5-foot-10, 180, 4.30), Jeff Caldwell (Cincinnati, 6-foot-5, 216, 4.31), and Kendrick Law (Kentucky, 5-foot-11, 203, 4.46), but none did on-field drills, so we pivoted to the best five receivers we saw in measured testing and on-field performance.
Kevin Coleman, Missouri (5-foot-10, 179)
Coleman made it onto our Combine preview list, illustrating his fit with the Lions, and then put together a nice performance. He ran a 4.49 40-yard dash, jumped 38.5 inches in the vertical, and 10-foot6 in the broad jump. On the field, he exploded off the line, ran clean routes, throttled down efficiently in his cuts, then showed controlled feet and an explosive burst out of the shifts. Coleman attacked the peak of his routes, was at his best in the strike-and-whip route, but didn’t press the issue as much as I would have preferred in the gauntlet. He tracked the ball downfield nicely, showed solid hands, adjusted to poorly thrown passes, and advanced body control.
Kaden Wetjen, Iowa (5-foot-9, 193)
Wetjen will be drafted due to his elite returner skills and 4.48 40-yard-dash, but he showed that he can perform on offense as well. A common theme with Wetjen was that when asked to break down and make sharp cuts, he could not maintain any speed, and NFL defensive backs won’t have any issue defending these routes. However, when allowed to roll his transitions on intermediate and deeper routes, he maintained his speed and did a really nice job tracking the ball, even snagging inaccurate throws. He has terrific body control and showed more than once that he can elevate for a ball, secure the catch, and land with both feet in bounds. Bottom line: Wetjen is an elite returner with a path to the field, but he will be limited in his routes.
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Eric Rivers, Georgia Tech (5-foot-10, 196)
Rivers was one of my final cuts in my preview watchlist, but his performance at the Combine made me second-guess my exclusion. With an impressive 4.36 40-yard-dash, a 37-inch vertical, and a 10-foot-7 broad jump, he showed good measurables, but on-field he was better. Rivers was very quick off the line and showed tremendous explosion in his cuts. His routes were crisp, and he was able to maintain his speed regardless of where the route took him. His gauntlet was one of the best on the day. He got through his longer breaks well, showed great tracking skills, understood where he was on the field at all times, kept his feet in bounds on tough catches, and had very strong and reliable hands.
Zavion Thomas, LSU (5-foot-10 1/2, 190)
A part-time starter and gadget weapon at LSU, Thomas showed off his speed at the Combine, running a 4.28 40-yard-dash. While not a traditionally explosive player, Thomas overwhelms with speed. A consistent theme with his routes at the Combine was that Thomas maintained or increased his speed throughout every drill, and was quick in his cuts and smooth coming out of them. To keep that speed, Thomas often rounded his routes, rather than cutting them sharply, but when you run that fast, teams will live with it. He tracked the ball well in drills, showed strong hands, easy adjustments, and made the catches he should have.
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Barion Brown, LSU (5-foot-11, 177)
Brown, another LSU weapon, ran a solid 4.40 40-yard-dash and translates that speed into his routes. In the gauntlet, he increased his acceleration between catches and was clean down the line. He showed the ability to quickly settle his feet on cutting routes and exploded out of his breaks, often selling the route in one direction, only to come back downhill with speed. Brown demonstrated good balance and body control, and by count, had to adjust to more poorly thrown passes than any other receiver on Saturday. While he didn’t get to all his passes, he was able to snag more than I expected him to, while also showing good tracking skills on balls with more air under them. His ability to return punts will also work in his favor on draft day.