The Detroit Lions don’t have a pressing need to add wide receivers in the 2026 NFL Draft, but when a depth class presents itself, there is an opportunity to find value late in the draft. With a plethora of talent working on on-field drills at the Combine, it can be difficult to sort through all the information quickly and accurately.
With this in mind, in our Wide Receiver Combine Overviewwe focused on potential replacements for the Lions’ WR4 role, with Kalif Raymond an unrestricted free agent. Even if the Lions re-sign Raymond, he will be 32 this season, and the Lions would do well to keep an eye on potential replacements.
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There were a handful of incredible speedsters at the Combine on Saturday, including Brenen Thompson (Mississippi State, 5-foot-9, 164 pounds, 4.26 seconds 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 neither ran any on-field drills, so we looked to the top five receivers we saw in measured testing. And performance on the field.
Kevin Coleman, Missouri (5-foot-10, 179)
Coleman made our Combine preview list, showcasing his fit with the Lions, then turned in a strong performance. He ran a 4.49 40-yard dash, jumped 38.5 inches vertically and 10 feet 6 inches in the long jump. On the field, he exploded off the line, ran clean routes, slowed down effectively on his cuts, then showed controlled feet and explosive burst on changes of speed. Coleman attacked the top 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 glove. He tracked the ball down the court well, showed strong hands, adjusted to poorly thrown passes and had advanced body control.
Kaden Wetjen, Iowa (5-foot-9, 193)
Wetjen will be drafted because of his elite returner skills and 4.48 40-yard dash, but he has shown he can perform on offense as well. A common theme with Wetjen was that when asked to drop down and make sharp cuts, he couldn’t maintain any speed, and NFL defensive backs would have no problem defending those routes. However, when allowed to transition on intermediate and deeper routes, he maintained his speed and did a very good job tracking the ball, even catching inaccurate throws. He has excellent body control and has shown more than once that he can elevate to catch a ball, secure the catch and land with both feet inbounds. Bottom line: Wetjen is an elite player 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 last edits in my preview watchlist, but his performance at the Combine made me question my exclusion. With an impressive 4.36 40-yard dash, 37-inch vertical and 10-foot-7 broad jump, he showed measurably good results, but on the field he was better. Rivers was very quick to the line and showed tremendous explosion in his cuts. His routes were crisp and he was able to maintain his speed no matter where the route took him. His glove was one of the best of the day. He handled his longer breaks well, showed excellent 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. Although not a traditionally explosive player, Thomas is brimming with speed. A recurring theme in his runs at the Combine was that Thomas maintained or increased his speed throughout each drill, and was quick in and out of his cuts smoothly. To maintain that speed, Thomas often rounded his routes, rather than cutting them off abruptly, but when you run that fast, teams deal 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 translated that speed into his routes. In the glove, he increased his acceleration between catches and was impeccable down the line. He showed the ability to quickly set up on cut routes and exploded out of his breaks, often selling the route one way, only to quickly come back down. Brown showed good balance and body control and, by the count, had to adjust to more poorly thrown passes than any other receiver on Saturday. Although he didn’t complete all of his passes, he managed to catch more than I expected, while also showing good skills tracking balls with more air under them. His ability to return punts will also work in his favor on draft day.
