Injuries to Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice revealed the Kansas City Chiefs’ limited depth in its receiving corps. The Chiefs must continue investing assets in targets for Patrick Mahomes. Fortunately, the 2025 NFL draft will feature a deep pool of pass-catching prospects.
Stanford Cardinal wideout Elic Ayomanor is a young prospect with an impressive 6 foot 2 inch, 210-pound frame. His background as a highly coveted high school track star shows up on vertical routes in a unique way. He lacks the traditional burst associated with former track athletes but uses his long strides to build up speed and stack cornerbacks downfield.
Ayomanor’s route tree is still developing, but he knows how to manipulate leverage and freeze cornerbacks with his route tempo. He stems slant and post routes outside to draw the cornerback toward the sideline before working into space over the middle of the field.
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Ayomanor’s ability to decelerate and reaccelerate quickly is surprising for a player with his size. This helps him stack corners on stutter-go routes or break off comeback routes at the top of the stem. His ability to create natural separation as a route runner is average, but this is only his second season as a college starter. He should continue developing for several years in the NFL before nearing his peak.
Ayomanor doesn’t maximize his frame at the catch point consistently. His large catch radius and ball tracking on downfield plays stand out, but he’s not aggressive enough at the catch point to ward off defensive backs. He fights the football sometimes, causing uncontested drops. Ayomanor projects as a second or third-round selection.
Stanford goes on the road to face No. 11 Notre Dame on Oct. 12 at 2:30 p.m. CST. Stanford’s last game against a ranked opponent was a 40-14 loss to Clemson. Notre Dame defeated a ranked Louisville team 31-24 last week.
