Trey Palmer NFL Draft Overview
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6′-0″
Weight: 192 pounds
School: Nebraska
2023 NFL Draft: Trey Palmer Scouting Report
After spending one year with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Trey Palmer has decided to end his collegiate career on a high note and declare for the 2023 NFL Draft. The wide receiver is coming off of what is easily the best season of his career. Playing in 12 games, the wideout finished the 2022 campaign with 71 receptions for 1,043 yards and nine receiving touchdowns.
Trey Palmer entered the college ranks as one of the top recruits in the country. Signing with LSU, the Louisianna native had a slow start to his career, hauling in just one of his five targets for six yards. Things didn’t improve in 2020, as he caught just 10 passes for 108 yards in seven games. He started to earn a larger role in 2021, but even then he only caught 30 receptions for 344 yards and three touchdowns during his third year in the collegiate ranks.
Strengths
- Blazing fast speed – 4.33 40-yard dash time, and it shows up on tape;
- Shows the know-how to beat press coverage;
- Decent catch radius with the ability to adjust to off-target passes;
- Absolutely dominated Purdue to the tune of 237 yards – if that version of Palmer showed up every game, he’d be a first-round pick;
- Potential to be used on special teams as a returner;
- Physically gifted with the potential to become a well-rounded receiver.
Weaknesses
- Incredibly raw – will need a lot of coaching if he’s to find sustained NFL success;
- Straight-line threat only – not a good lateral mover;
- Only one season of good production;
- Terrible hands – 13.8% career drop rate, per PFF;
- Struggles to find the weakness in zone coverage;
- Lots of wasted motion in his routes allow defenders to catch up and undercut him.
NFL Comparison: John Ross
Teams With Need at Position: Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans
Projection: 5th Round
Bottom Line on Trey Palmer
Trey Palmer is a project for a team that doesn’t need an instant impact at wide receiver. It’s easy to see why a team could fall for Palmer, as there isn’t much that he’s physically incapable of doing. He has elite speed that you can’t coach, and his ability to get off against press coverage means that he does have the raw potential to turn into a pretty reliable deep threat. We saw this on display against Purdue, when he set a Nebraska school record for receiving yards in a game, so in theory, Palmer could find that form and turn into a solid deep threat.
Unfortunately, there is a big difference between what Palmer CAN do and what he actually does. The wide receiver is incredibly raw, as his route running and overall football IQ leave a lot to be desired. He is almost exclusively used as a gadget player and deep threat, and if you ask him to do anything other than those two very specific things, he’s not up for the task. Additionally, he wins by being more athletic than the competition, which works in college, but won’t work in the NFL. On top of all that, even when he does get open deep, there’s a decent chance he’ll drop it.
Trey Palmer’s physical gifts make him worthy of a late-round selection in the NFL Draft, but teams shouldn’t expect too much from him. Perhaps the right coaching staff can get the most out of him, but chances are he’ll just be a gadget player and will battle for return duties.
Main Photo: Kirby Lee – USA Today Sports
