Everyone loves the underdog. From Rudy to The Replacements, Major League to Moneyball and Rod Smith to Ryan Grant, the unlikelier the hero the more we tend to root them on.
Of course, the attrition rate is pretty high. For every Priest Holmes, Antonio Gates or Kurt Warner there are a few thousand guys who spent a summer with an NFL team only to never be heard from again. But those long odds aren't stopping this latest cohort of no name hopefuls from trying, and three wide receivers in particular have shown well enough to be in the running for spots on a 53-man roster.
Undrafted out of the football powerhouse that is Yale, Mason Tipton has been among the most talked about players in Saints camp thus far. Despite somewhat spritely measurements at 5'10" and 179 pounds (and those Pro Day numbers can run a tad generous), there was nothing diminutive about his 2023 production: Tipton's 786 yards and 10 TDs look solid-but-unspectacular at first, until you realize the Ivy League has a 10-game schedule and he accounted for 41.5% of the team's passing yards.
Tipton has been making plays throughout camp, and the head coach has taken notice. He's got major catch radius limitations, but Tipton has sub-4.4 speed and a real shot to be the next UDFA Saints success story at wide receiver.
Like Tipton, Buffalo's Tyrell Shavers arrived in the NFL as an undrafted free agent; that's pretty much where the similarities end. After playing his high school ball in nearby Lewisville, the big Texan committed to the University of Alabama way back in 2017 as the 12th-ranked WR recruit in the nation. Unfortunately for him, that was the same recruit class that brought Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and Devonta Smith to Tuscaloosa. Shavers would toil in obscurity for the Crimson Tide for two seasons before transferring to Mississippi State, ultimately wrapping up his collegiate career with a couple nondescript seasons at San Diego State.
Shavers actually arrived with the Bills last year, even managing a preseason touchdown before disappearing on to the Bills practice squad for his rookie season. But with Stefon Diggs off to Houston it's been something of an open casting call at receiver in Bills camp, and Shavers has made the most of the opportunity. Rookie sensation Keon Coleman has rightfully sucked up most of the air here, but Shavers possesses size and agility similar to Coleman and veteran fliers Chase Claypool and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are trending toward the roster bubble.
Last but certainly not least is Jalen Coker (pictured above) out of Holy Cross, who was widely expected to be a Day 3 draft pick back in April. Boasting Scouting Combine measurables very similar to Brandon Aiyuk and Rashee Rice (including a gargantuan 42.5" vertical jump in Indy), Coker was a priority (and heartwarming) UDFA signing for the Panthers and brings contemporary Goldilocks athleticism, size (6'1", 208 lbs) and strong collegiate production to the table (1040 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior).
Those numbers did come against FCS competition, but one needn't watch Coker's tape for too long before they start to see possible NFL traits in his game. Coker missed a little time early in camp but has been making plays since returning to action. With four receivers locked into roster spots ahead of them, Coker appears to be battling Matt Rhule era holdover Terrace Marshall Jr. for one roster spot here. He should win that battle.
While these players are all longshots to achieve fantasy relevance at any point in their careers let alone in the next four months, we actually don't have to look too far back to find recent precedents. At the very least, they are intriguing new faces with the inside track for NFL roster spots next month.
—Luke Wilson