Todd McShay on why Jameson Williams is the highest-value pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft

The 2022 NFL Draft is only a few short months away and that can mean only one thing: mock draft season is upon us. On Wednesday, ESPN’s Todd McShay recently launched his Mock Draft 2.0 for the 2022 NFL Draft on SportsCenter. He spoke in-depth about the prospect he believes is the best wide receiver in the class, Alabama’s Jameson Williams.

“But here’s the deal. When you’re looking at Jameson Williams, you’re looking at or figuring, we don’t know what we’re going to get for the first year. But you’re betting on the four years after that. Because it’s a first-round pick, you get the fifth-year option,” McShay said.

“And Jameson, he’s got different speed. It’s different when you watch his tape compared to everybody else in this class. SEC defenders—he makes it look easy. The ball is in the air, he’s three yards in front of the defensive back and then he’s three years behind them in that one second span. And also, after the catch what he does. So, when healthy, he’s the best receiver in this class.”

McShay then talked a bit about the obvious reason why Williams’ draft stock slipped a little bit.

“He only falls because of that injury and the timing of it — coming in the national championship game,” he said. “Who knows what you’re going to get out of him as a rookie. Maybe he plays in the last six, seven, eight games. We don’t know. But you’re betting on those final four years.”

In his latest Mock Draft 2.0, McShay currently has Jameson Williams as the 27th selection in the first round, falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It makes complete sense that McShay would label him as the best value pick in the first round because as he noted, when healthy, Williams is the best receiver prospect in the draft class.

Jameson Williams college football career

For the first two seasons of his college football career, Williams didn’t find the field often enough with the Ohio State Buckeyes. During his Ohio State career, the star wide receiver only caught 15 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns. However, his story was been completely rewritten since joining the Crimson Tide.

In his lone season with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Williams caught 75 passes for 1,507 yards — adding 15 touchdowns. The speedster has gone from an afterthought to a future NFL Draft first-round selection.

During the season, his 1,507 receiving yards ranked fifth in the country. His 15 touchdown catches ranked second in the country. Last but not least, here’s a stat that demonstrates his highly explosive nature: Williams had more touchdowns of 70 yards, 60 yards, 50 yards, 40 yards, 30 yards, and 20 yards, than any other receiver in the FBS.

On3’s Stephen Samra also contributed to this report.