Breaking Down North Carolina’s Devontez Walker and Rice’s Luke McCaffrey

Greg Gabriel is looking at a couple of receivers that could be had later down the draft board.

The 2024 NFL Draft is four weeks away, and the Chicago Bears still have several roster needs to fill for this season. With only four Draft picks at this time, all of these picks have to be used wisely.

The first pick will be used on USC quarterback Caleb Williams. After that, the Bears’ next selection in the first round will be the ninth overall pick, and that is where things will get interesting. The two most glaring needs are to add more depth to the wide receiver room and add an additional pass rusher, as the Bears only have one legitimate pass rusher at this time, Montez Sweat.

The Bears would be looking at one of the top three wide receivers: Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, or Rome Odunze. Saying no to picking one of these players would be difficult, but what if Alabama Edge Dallas Turner is still available? He would be an excellent choice, too. It would get down to who the Bears have rated higher on their board.

Another consideration would be the depth of this Draft Class at those two positions. The wide receiver class is deep, and there should be quality receivers into Day 3 while the edge group is light on talent, and getting a projected starter in the third round (Bears have no second-round pick) would be difficult.

If the Bears decide to select an edge at #9, that means they could more than likely be looking at a wide receiver in the third round. When we look at the average number of receivers selected over the last 10 Drafts, by the end of the second round there very well could be nine of ten off the board. That means when the Bears are on the clock in the third round, they could very well be looking at receivers 10, 11, or 12 on their board. Since we have no way of knowing how the Bears Board will line up, we can guess who some of those players will be. Today, I will look at two of them and, later in the week, a few more.

Luke McCaffrey – Rice

Luke is the younger brother of 49er running back Christian McCaffrey and the son of former NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. I am very familiar with the McCaskey family, as in 1991, when I was with the New York Giants, we drafted Ed in the third round. There is a common denominator with all the McCaffreys, and that is they are all very athletic and productive, and Luke is no different.

Luke began his college career at Nebraska, where he played quarterback. While he did start some games, he was beaten out and elected to transfer and ended up enrolling at Rice after two years at Nebraska. In his first year at Rice in 2021, he again played quarterback and again failed to become the starter. The following year, he switched to WR and it became apparent that he was a natural at the position. In two years as a receiver, he caught 126 passes for 1686 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Luke’s size, speed, and athleticism showed at the Combine last month. He measured 6015 – 198, ran a 4.46 in the 40, had a 36″ vertical jump, and ran a 6.70 3-cone. All are excellent numbers for a WR.

While McCaffrey doesn’t play to that 4.46 speed on tape, he easily pays at 4.50. He is a very good route runner who can consistently uncover versus man or zone. He has the body control to sink his hips and get out of a cuts quickly. Luke’s hands are excellent; he adjusts to the ball very well and has a large catch radius. He also shows his competitive nature by consistently winning in traffic for contested throws. After the catch, Luke shows good run skills. He is not ultra-elusive but can make the first man miss and get extra yards.

Overall, he has the talent and skill set to play inside or outside at the NFL level and should become a contributing rotational player as a rookie. While I don’t see him as a big home run type threat. He is better than a possession receiver and should always be able to move the chains. In my opinion, he would be the Bears’ number-3 wide receiver right from the start because of his toughness, consistency, route running ability, and reliability. If there is a receiver in this Draft that is similar to the Rams Puka Nakua last year, it’s McCaffrey.

DeVontez Walker – North Carolina

Walker has attended three different schools since he originally enrolled at North Carolina Central in 2020. Because 2020 was a COVID year, Walker did not play football while at North Carolina Central. Following the fall of 2020, he transferred to Kent State and played there for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

In 2021, he was a backup and only had five catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. In 2022, he had a breakout year, catching 58 passes for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns. Following the 2022 season, he transferred to North Carolina to play with quarterback Drake Maye.

Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images

After the transfer, Walker ran into some eligibility issues with the NCAA, who claimed he was a double transfer and had to sit out the 2023 season. Walker took it to court and eventually won, but he ended up missing four games while earning back his eligibility. Even with missing four games, he still finished the season with 41 catches for 699 yards and seven touchdowns.

Walker is a tall, long, lean receiver with outstanding speed and athleticism. At the Combine, he measured 6014 – 193, ran 4.36, and had a 40.5″ vertical jump and an 11’2″ standing long jump. These jumps are rare for a receiver.

Having played just two full seasons as a starting wide receiver, Walker is still a bit raw, but his upside is unlimited because of his incredible athleticism. Looking at the 2023 tape, he isn’t a precise route runner, but because of his speed and burst, he constantly gets open. He can do a good job avoiding or getting off a jam, and once he breaks through, he is very difficult to cover deep. On the deeper throws, he is a big play waiting to happen.

Walker shows he can adjust to the ball, has a fairly large catch radius, and can make some difficult receptions, but he will also have the occasional concentration drop. He will need to improve in that area to get significant playtime as a rookie.

After the catch, Walker excels. He uses his speed and shows elusiveness to make defenders miss. When he gets in the open, its a big gain and perhaps a TD.

Overall, with Walker, it’s all about the upside. He will contribute as a rookie but still needs to develop his route-running skills and learn an NFL route tree. The talent is there for him to become an excellent NFL receiver.

When comparing him to McCaffrey, Luke is more ready to play right away, but Walker has much more upside. It’s fair to say that McCaffrey will be a winning NFL wide receiver, and Walker has some hit or miss to him. If the club that Drafts him hits, he could become a Pro Bowl-type receiver, as few have his outright speed and explosiveness.