A week ago, Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson announced on Instagram that he was declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft, forgoing his final season of eligibility. Tyson is projected to be a consensus first-round pick and is thought by many to be the clear WR1 of the class.
Initially a three-star prospect out of Allen HS (TX), Tyson had a slow start to his recruitment. In a talent-rich area of an extremely talent-rich state, Tyson only saw offers rolling in from the likes of Sam Houston State, Campbell, New Mexico, Tulsa, Texas State, and Colorado State. So, in the summer before his senior season, when Tyson took an official visit to Colorado and earned an offer over a month later, Tyson committed to the Buffaloes and then-head coach Karl Dorrell.
In one of Colorado’s worst seasons in program history, Dorrell was fired only five games into what would be a one-win season. When new head coach Deion Sanders arrived, prompting one of the largest mass replacements in college football history that saw 57 outgoing transfers replaced by 52 incoming student athletes, Tyson joined the crowd in searching for a new home. Luckily for the true freshman, Tyson’s last three games put up some pretty attractive film for the portal as he combined for 13 catches, 344 yards, and two touchdowns over that span.
Tyson found his way to Tempe in the transfer portal but was limited to only three games in 2023 due to injury and had to take a redshirt year as the Sun Devils struggled to a 3-9 season following the implosion of star freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada. Last year, Arizona State rebounded 11-3 with a berth in the College Football Playoff thanks to breakout campaigns from a redshirt sophomore Tyson and transfer running back Cam Skattebo. Recording a team-leading 75 catches for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns, Tyson delivered the first 1,000-yard receiving season for a Sun Devil since Brandon Aiyuk‘s 2019 campaign.
With Skattebo off to the NFL, all eyes were on Tyson to see what he might do in 2025 as the main event in Tempe. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury held him out of three-and-a-half games this season, but Tyson still dominated when on the field, leading Arizona State once again with 61 receptions for 711 yards and eight touchdowns. Following his declaration, Tyson’s expected to sit out his team’s New Year’s Eve bowl game, those numbers for 2025 should be final.
Bulking and growing into a 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame over his years as a Sun Devil, Tyson excites scouts with his pro potential. With strong top-end speed and elite route-running, Tyson is often an open target, but even more frustrating for defensive backs is that — even when he is blanketed by coverage — Tyson is one of the NCAA’s best when winning at the catch point and outmuscling the defense for 50-50 balls.
The draft’s potential WR1 isn’t perfect, though. An issue with drops (five as a true freshman in 2022) followed him from Boulder to Tempe as he logged seven drops in his first full season for the Sun Devils after redshirting. Scouts were hoping to see major improvement in that field this year, and Tyson delivered, only dropping one pass on 100 targets as he learned from one of the best in wide receivers coach Hines Ward.
The injury issues throughout his career may throw up a red flag, as well. After knee issues forced his redshirt in 2023, a collarbone injury forced him to miss Arizona State’s playoff push last year, so this year’s hamstring issue is only the latest challenge Tyson has worked through. The 21-year-old has shown enough, though, that his high ceiling may silence any concerns scouts may have about his durability.
So far in the pre-draft process, Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked Tyson as his WR1 and his eighth-best overall prospect in his midseason rankings, two slots above his WR2, Carnell Tate of Ohio State. A few weeks later, ESPN’s Matt Miller gave Tate WR1 respect as his No. 8 overall prospect with WR2 Tyson coming in at No. 14. Miller’s ESPN peer Mel Kiper Jr. sided with Brugler, though, as he gave the nod to Tyson as his seventh-best overall prospect with Tate slotting in at No. 9 overall.
The two have a few months to make their case to be the first pass-catcher whose name is called on that fateful Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Tyson will likely be working to get as healthy as possible in preparation to combat any questions on his health in the interviews to come. It’s one of the few things he can do as he’s already put some of the NCAA’s best football on film over the past two years.
