The best value in the 2026 receiver class did not go in the first round. It went on the third day, when the Los Angeles Chargers grabbed Brenen Thompson at No. 105 and the Baltimore Ravens took Elijah Sarratt 10 picks later at No. 115.
On PFSN’s Football Debate Club, NFL draft analysts Ian Cummings and Alec Elijah each picked a Day 3 receiver to outrun his draft slot. They went different directions, but the logic rhymes. Both players landed in places that fit exactly what they do.
Why Brenen Thompson Is the Better Bet in the Chargers’ Offense
Cummings reached for the schematic match, and he leaned on the new play-caller to make his case.
“Brenen Thompson is a perfect stylistic schematic fit for [Mike] McDaniel,” Cummings said. “Four-to-six speed, but also a natural stem artist and separator to multiple ranges of the field.”
Thompson ran a 4.26 40-yard dash, the fastest time among offensive players at the combine, and he led the SEC with 1,054 receiving yards at Mississippi State in 2025. McDaniel, the former Dolphins head coach now running the Chargers’ offense under Jim Harbaugh, built his name turning vertical speed into easy yards, the Tyreek Hill blueprint. Thompson is that archetype on a rookie deal.
The opportunity is there too. Justin Herbert has Ladd McConkey locked in, but the rest of the room is unsettled. Cummings pointed to that uncertainty as the opening.
“If you look at that receiving corps, outside of Ladd McConkey, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Cummings said.
Speed alone does not guarantee snaps, and Thompson’s route tree still needs to expand. But few rookies match a scheme this cleanly.
Elijah Sarratt and the Ravens’ Bet on Production
Elijah took the production angle, landing on Sarratt to the Ravens at No. 115.
“If he can get the right looks from Lamar [Jackson], which is a huge if, this is going to be a receiver who can have a serious impact alongside Zay Flowers and fellow rookie Ja’Kobi Lane,” Elijah said.
The résumé backs it. Sarratt caught 15 touchdowns for the national champion Hoosiers in 2025, the most receiving scores in the FBS, and he profiles as a 6-foot-2 contested-catch winner with a career contested-catch rate above 60 percent. He is not a burner, but he wins where Baltimore’s offense lacked juice last season, in the red zone and on the boundary.
The hurdle is the depth chart and the quarterback. Lamar Jackson’s target tree runs through Zay Flowers, and Baltimore spent its previous pick on USC’s Ja’Kobi Lane, another big-bodied rookie. Sarratt will have to earn snaps in a crowded room.
That is the difference between the two bets. Thompson’s path is about scheme and a wide-open depth chart. Sarratt’s is about red-zone production and whether Jackson trusts him early. Both slipped further than their film deserved, and both should make their teams look smart. The question worth tracking into the summer is which one carves out a role first, the speed merchant in a tailor-made offense, or the touchdown machine trying to crack a crowded Baltimore rotation.
