Who Is the 2015 NFL Draft's Best Wide Receiver?

With a talented class of wide receivers that includes Alabama’s Amari Cooper, West Virginia’s Kevin White and Louisville’s DeVante Parker, teams looking for a pass-catcher in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft will have plenty of options.

While much of the world spent last week debating whether #TheDress was black and blue or white and gold, NFL draft analysts debated whether Cooper, White or Parker—in the aftermath of an NFL Scouting Combine where all three had impressive performances—is the best wide receiver in this year’s draft class.

There are other wide receivers who could be brought into the argument too. Arizona State’s Jaelen Strong, who had a great combine performance of his own, is solidly in the mix to be a first-round pick. Some analysts argue that Dorial Green-Beckham, in spite of not playing a single snap last season after being dismissed from Missouri, is the most talented pass-catcher in the draft.

Ultimately, though, the decision for a team looking for a wideout near the top of the draft should come between Cooper, White and Parker.

It’s likely that all of them will be productive from the get-go and future No. 1 targets for NFL offenses. All of them should come off the board within the draft’s first 15 selections. Truly, there might not end up being a wrong decision between the three.

Still, one team will have to pick a standout from the trio. And while there are cases to be made for each player being the best, the decision could end up coming down to each team’s individual preference. So before making a determination of which receiver should come off the board first, one must consider where each receiver has an advantage over his counterparts, as we do in the following sections.

Size

White and Parker have identical heights (6’2 5/8”) and hand sizes (9 1/4”). White weighed in heavier at the combine, at 215 pounds compared to Parker’s 209 pounds, but Parker has longer arms (33 1/4”) than White (32 5/8”).

Cooper, at 6’0 7/8” with 31 1/2” arms, has less height and length than White and Parker, and therefore a smaller catch radius. But he still has good size nonetheless, at 211 pounds, and terrific hand size (10”).

Cooper has comparable measurables to the top receiver selected in last year’s draft, Sammy Watkins, while White and Parker certainly meet the size thresholds that NFL teams look for in outside receivers. There is no difference distinct enough between the three, however, that size should be a reason for drafting any of the three wideouts over the others.

If a team is truly looking for a massive target—like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers found with Mike Evans and the Carolina Panthers landed with Kelvin Benjamin in last year’s draft—it will look beyond these three. Only three receivers—Green-Beckham, Michigan’s Devin Funchess and Georgia Tech’s Darren Waller—measured in above 6’4” and 230 pounds at this year’s combine.

Speed

One of the most jaw-dropping moments of this year’s combine happened when White, a player known more for traits other than his speed, ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.

White’s time tied for third-fastest among all wide receivers and ignited the already-happening discussion about whether he should be ranked as the top pass-catcher in this year’s class.

But it’s not as if Cooper and Parker are slow. Cooper, at 4.42 seconds, and Parker, at 4.45 seconds, also ran 40-yard-dash times fitting of top prospects. So too did Strong, at 4.42 seconds, and Green-Beckham, with a time of 4.49 that is impressive for a receiver of his size.

The numbers suggest that White does have a size/speed advantage over Cooper and Parker, and that could very well make him the No. 1 wideout off the board, but there’s no huge gap between the three.

Production

Cooper, who won the 2014 Biletnikoff Award as college football’s best wide receiver, brings home the bacon in this category. He led the entire Football Bowl Subdivision with 124 receptions this past season, while he finished second to Colorado State’s Rashard Higgins (a draft-ineligible sophomore) with 1,727 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.

In total, Cooper compiled 228 receptions for 3,463 yards and 31 scores over the course of his three-year Alabama career.

White also had a terrific 2014 season, in which he caught 109 passes for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns. His first of two seasons at West Virginia paled in comparison, as he had just 35 receptions for 507 yards and five touchdowns.

Parker’s senior season was abbreviated by a foot injury, but his production upon returning to the lineup was just as outstanding. Despite playing in just six games, Parker caught 43 passes for 855 yards and five touchdowns. In his four-year career, Parker had 155 receptions for 2,775 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Like White in the previous category, Cooper gets the points in this area, but not by a vast margin.

Route Running

Running crisp, clean routes is what Cooper does best. He has tremendous quickness, and by wasting no motion in his breaks, he is consistently able to gain separation on a wide variety of patterns.

The following example from Alabama’s game against West Virginia this past season was a prime example of Cooper’s route-running efficiency:

White and Parker are not as consistently sharp in their route running, although both made significant strides in that capacity in their senior seasons. It’s a bigger area of concern at this point for Parker, who has a tendency to tip defensive backs off to the route he is running, as noted by Bolts from the Blue’s Kyle Posey and others.

There are some other wide receivers, notably Kansas State’s Tyler Lockett and Florida State’s Rashad Greene, who make a case for being the best route runner in the draft class. But there is no receiver in the draft who brings excellent route-running to a more complete package than Cooper.

Hands

One reason why Cooper, White and Parker can be considered top prospects is all of them catch the ball consistently. Teams have no reason to be concerned about the hand strength or concentration of any of the receivers in the trio.

Cooper might have the biggest and most natural hands of the bunch, regularly clapping in catches with extension away from his body, although he has been prone to some occasional focus drops.

Although drops are not an official statistic, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein has written that Parker dropped just three passes in his final three collegiate seasons, a span in which he had 138 receptions. White had eight drops on 116 catchable passes in his senior season, according to NFL.com’s Gil Brandt.

Ultimately, a team’s decision between these three wideouts should not be made on their hands, as all three are great in that area, but Parker’s consistency and ability to make spectacular grabs makes him the best of the bunch in this capacity.

Elusiveness

None of these receivers are true make-you-miss types in the open field, but Cooper stands out as the most dynamic runner in space. Possessing excellent agility, as evidenced by his 3.98-second 20-yard shuttle at the combine (best among all receivers in Indianapolis), Cooper can make acute, subtle cuts in stride to get away from defenders and extend plays.

Lateral agility will never be a strength for White or Parker, but they have shown some of the necessary movement skills to bounce between running lanes and extend plays. An asset they do have, both to a greater extent than Cooper, is the strength and size to run through contact in the open field.

All of these receivers are more dangerous with their downfield speed and ability to attack the ball than they are with the ball in their hands, but a team looking for open-field playmaking prowess should favor Cooper as the draft’s top wideout.

Body Control

The greatest calling card in Parker’s favor among the top receivers is his body control. The Louisville product regularly shows the ability to contort his frame in midair to adjust to passes and come down with tough catches against coverage and/or close to a boundary.

In the following clip from his game against Florida State this past season, Parker made one of those many tough grabs to secure a reception along the right sideline:

White also emerged in his senior season as a player who has a great ability to adjust to the ball in the air, though not as outstandingly as Parker can. Cooper shows the control and balance to make challenging grabs in tight quarters, but he tends to stay on the ground more than Parker and White and does not make as many spectacular plays.

Contested Catches

Before he shocked the world with his speed in Indianapolis, White’s emergence as a top prospect was driven by his ability to make the tough catches.

Although White did not consistently show the ability to separate against collegiate cornerbacks that one would expect from someone with sub-4.4 speed, that did not always matter. Time after time, White displayed that he could use his size, strength and ball skills to make challenging grabs even when he was covered.

Parker also shows regular ability to win against coverages, as he has the length to box out his opponents and high-points the ball naturally.

Cooper is competitive at the catch point, and his ability to effortlessly make catches above his frame undersells his ability to make tough grabs against coverage. This is not a strength of his game, however, when compared to White, Parker, Green-Beckham and Strong. It will be more imperative for Cooper to be able to separate and win by being open than it will be for those four.

Who Should Be No. 1?

Cooper is the most complete receiver in this year’s draft and the best choice for a team looking for an immediate go-to playmaker.

Highly productive at the collegiate level, Cooper has rare route-running polish for a draft prospect. The Heisman Trophy finalist combines that with open-field playmaking ability while having no significant weakness in his game. He is one of the safest picks in this year’s draft.

That said, it’s easy to understand why many draft analysts have come to favor White as the draft’s top wideout. White has arguably the best size/speed combination of any receiver in the draft, while coming off a senior season in which he made remarkable gains and no shortage of big plays.

It’s fair to say White has the most upside of any pass-catcher in this year’s draft. He is likely to have a head on Cooper on the boards of teams that prioritize size at the wide receiver position.

Parker is likely to slot in as the third wide receiver off the board on April 30, but there is a legitimate case to be made for him going No. 1 or No. 2 as well.

Thanks to his exceptional combination of hands and body control, Parker has an ability to make highlight-reel grabs that is unparalleled in this year’s draft class. He’s the most raw of the group as a route-runner and has the least long speed, but he has the best release off the line of scrimmage among the top trio.

Teams with top-15 picks that could be in the market to draft a wide receiver early could include the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.

The good news for all of those teams is there is no shortage of wideout options available this year, especially for those lucky enough to land one of the top three.

All measurables from the NFL Scouting Combine are courtesy of Mike Loyko’s combine results spreadsheet and NFL.com. All GIFs made via Gfycat using videos from Draft Breakdown.

Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL Draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow @Dan_Hope