Junior Sherrill

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Off the Charts

There's an All-American defender not listed on any of the draft boards. He was the best CB I saw in 2025. He did a tremendous job slowing down and sometimes even completely shutting down some of the best WRs in the nation. His name is Injury Bug.

If you've read every profile I've written about 2027 prospects, you've seen Injury Bug play a critical role over and over. I think Brandon Inniss is a better WR than experts think, but he appeared to be hampered by injury last season. I think TJ Moore has the potential to be a 1st round prospect but appeared to be limited by injury and played more like a Day 3 plck in 2025. I think Jaden Bray could have been a Day 2 prospect but he has suffered through an injury plagued college career and almost certainly will become an UDFA. Bryant Wesco Jr. is one of my favorite WR prospects, but he suffered a serious season-ending injury. I love Emmett Mosley, but he and Injury Bug might as well be roommates. Omarion Miller is a common 1st round projection by experts but he had a serious leg injury earlier in his career. Ian Strong was injured for almost all of last season. When I was watching Vanderbilt WR, Junior Sherrill, it occurred to me that one of the reasons LaNorris Sellers might not have played as well in 2025 as he did in 2024 is because he suffered an injury against Vanderbilt. I knew about this injury when I wrote about him, but I didn't appreciate how much that injury might have impacted his performance in subsequent games.

I think that Sam Teets creates some of the best NFL draft out there. So, when he says that Junior Sherrill is one of his favorite WRs in the draft, with an early 2nd round projection, it grabs my full attention. Teets's grade is jarring, because multiple draft boards have Sherrill as an UDFA. Technically, they might not even have him as an UDFA, because his name isn't listed at all, so he might be ranked so low that they don't think he'll even get signed as an UDFA. Why is Teets so high on this player?

After watching several games on Sherrill, I was about to vote with the low-end group. I thought he looked like a late round to UDFA player. My pro comparison for him would have been Konata Mumpfield, who the Rams drafted late in the 7th round in 2025. I changed my mind after watching his first and last games from last season.

Sherrill got injured in the very first game of the 2025 season. He ran faster in 2023 and 2024 than he did for much of the 2025 season. At first, I thought that this was because he had gotten more muscular and maybe had traded strength for quickness. Now, I'm pretty sure the real reason is because he was limited by injury. By the end of the season, he had regained his speed and was more explosive, but then he suffered another injury in the final game of the season. Injury Bug is a clutch performer in big games.

The medical chart portion of draft evaluations can be just as important as the talent evaluation. Injury Bug derails the draft hopes of many players every single year. There was a talented offensive lineman named Prince Tega Wanogho, who was widely regarded as a Day 2 prospect. I had a 2nd round grade on him if we ignored the medicals and just ranked him based on talent. He might have become the next Rodger Saffold. Wanogho had a big medical red flag in the draft process, including going all the way back to a serious injury that he suffered in high school. He wasn't drafted until the end of the 6th round. He's been mostly a PS player and in his entire NFL career has only appeared in approximately one game's worth of offensive snaps. Injury Bug can turn a potential Pro Bowler into someone who doesn't make the roster.

Ultimately, I decided that Sherrill isn't equivalent to Mumpfield. Is Teets correct in his evaluation? Is Sherrill really one of the best WRs in the draft?

 

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Part 1: Background

Name, Age: Maureice "Junior" Sherrill. Turns 22 in June of 2027. True senior, Vanderbilt.

Size, estimated speed: Listed as 5'11'' tall, 200 pounds. Draftbuzz 4.45 seconds in 40. Draftscout 4.47 seconds in 40.

3-star recruit from Nashville, TN. Trent Dilfer was his HS coach. Had 94-1,362-24 receiving as SR in HS.

Was gadget guy and deep ball WR early in his career at Vandy. Played both slot and outside WR in 2024, then to make room for Tre Richardson to play in the slot, moved mostly to outside WR in 2025. Ranked 90th in the country in PFN WR impact score of 77.9 in 2025 and his 5.8 YAC/catch ranked 118th in nation.

Grounded and level-headed in interviews, religious, more of a reserved personality and not a natural vocal leader, gives appropriate answers to questions.

Undisclosed injury in 1st game of 2025 season. Injury in 2025 bowl game.

2023 (11 games) 20-293-3 receiving, 4-29 rushing
2024 (13 games, 12 starts) 29-411-3 receiving, 7-16 rushing, 15-427-1 kick returns (26.7 average), 2 fumbles
2025 (13 games, 11 starts) 54-784-7 receiving, 4-16-1 rushing, 1 fumble

In 2024, he had about the same receiving stats as Quincy Skinner Jr, a 2025 UDFA who recently signed with the Jets. With Diego Pavia, Tre Richardson and Eli Stowers all gone from the 2025 team, more of the workload is expected to be on Sherrill's shoulders for 2026. Pavia was a very good running QB, but he wasn't an accomplished passer. Tre Richardson was the team's primary returner in 2025. Vanderbilt has two players that wear Sherrill's jersey number, so it was confusing to me whether he played ST in 2025 or whether it was the other guy.

Sam Teets: Early 2nd round projection. Z receiver in NFL. Antonio Williams (3rd round 2026) is his pro comp. (+) One of my favorite WRs in the draft. KR experience, explodes off LOS, excellent top speed, twitchy releases, fakes, master at hesitations, lightning quick footwork, smooth mover, separates all 3 levels, uncovers for QB, adjusts to off-target throws, good hands, makes defenders miss, capable blocker. High floor and should feast at intermediate level of the field in NFL. (-) 5 penalties in 2025, limited experience in slot, small for an outside WR, high hips, playing through contact, simplistic route tree, contact balance, whiffs on blocks. Played mostly Z and X receiver for Vandy, not in slot.
PFN 58, 8th WR. Middle round prospect with early-round upside. A motion Z receiver. (+) One of the more well-rounded 3-level threats in draft, 11% catch rate over expectation, compact build, stacks DBs, explosive and twitchy, relatively fluid in short and intermediate range. (-) 6.3% drop rate, average size, prone to upfield drift both in and out of breaks, playing through contact.
PFSN sim 70
PFF not ranked in top 75 on big board
Ian Cummings mock draft late 3rd round, 95
Drafttek 98
Travis May not selected in 3-round mock
Tankathon's big board has 15 WRs and 101 players and he's not included which would make him a Day 3 prospect.
NFLMDD sim 121
DraftBuzz 6th round, 202, 27th WR. (+) Productive slot WR, reliable underneath, sure hands, RAC juice. (-) Slight frame at 5'11'' and 172 pounds, out-muscled by CBs, contested catches, a pure slot WR, narrow route tree, not a deep threat, only a rotational backup and ST player.
Draftscout UDFA
Shane Hallam not selected in 7-round mock, UDFA
FirstandTen has 51 WRs and 388 total players on their big board and Sherrill isn't included, UDFA. Their draft simulator uses their big board, so if you use their sim you have no option of drafting him.

 

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Part 2: Strengths

Sherrill is a very challenging prospect to evaluate. I think the more useful tape to watch is from his 2024 season, because you can see his athleticism when healthy, but he only had about 400 receiving yards that year and wasn't as experienced. In 2025, you can watch a WR who was more productive and stronger but for much of the year wasn't as electric. The 2026 season likely will give us a much better picture of who he is and his NFL potential but obviously that season hasn't happened yet. Write his draft grade in pencil, because it could change considerably after the upcoming season.

He has experience in a pro-style offense. You might think that he's just a spread system WR, because Vandy uses spread formations and concepts for their passing attack, but if you go all the way back to 2023, Vandy had a pro-style system with NFL formations. Sherrill was just a backup that year as a true freshman, but he did get some playing time and learned the playbook.

Well suited to be a swing-backup WR, because he's played all over the place for Vandy, both inside and outside. He's been a versatile, do-everything guy and his role has been different every year of his career. Deserves credit for adapting and embracing his job for the good of the team. Not a selfish diva. The TE, Eli Stowers, was probably their best weapon and the very fast Tre Richardson was most dangerous WR. Sherrill got a healthy share of the targets, but the way he blocked and did the small things is consistent with a player who understood that the other guys needed to eat to make the team more successful. On the year, Stowers had 62 catches, Sherrill had 54 and Richardson had 46.

I find it interesting that he's even playing for Vandy in 2006. All the other key guys are gone, so it would have been very easy for him to enter the transfer portal to look for a better team. It isn't clear who the starting QB will be in 2026. One of the QBs in the competition is a 5-star FR, so if he wins the job, Sherrill will be playing with a QB with zero prior college experience. The other QB was the backup last year and he has almost no playing experience either. Maybe Sherrill is betting on himself and thinks he can have a big year as the unquestioned WR1 or maybe he's staying out of loyalty to the school, especially since he's a hometown kid from Nashville. Still, I bet most players in his situation would have looked for greener pastures to play for a team with a more established QB. If things don't go well and Vandy has a bad year, it could hurt Sherrill's draft stock. In today's mercenary NIL environment where everything revolves around money and trying to go to the NFL, I think it is kind of refreshing to see him stay at the same school.

Some of his traits remind me of Jarvis Landry, a late 2nd round pick in 2014, pick 63, by the Miami Dolphins, out of LSU.

Was only 175 pounds coming out of HS and has really gotten stronger and more muscular over his career. He was skinny as a FR and now has a denser and thicker build. Strong for a slot WR under 6 feet tall.

Has become a more well-rounded player. He was a limited niche player as a FR, more of a jet-sweep WR but has steadily improved each season.

Tough minded and competitive. Very emotional on the field reacting to key good and bad plays, wants to win.

Long arms and legs relative to his torso. Flexible and light on his feet. Coordinated athlete with slashing cuts. Swivels his hips fluidly. Good leaper.

Uses his length well to push the CB off and create separation late in the route or at the top of the route. Uses hands well at the LOS to gain route leverage. Can fight off jams or swim over the DB.

When healthy, he had good route tempo, sudden and dynamic out of breaks. Sinks hips easily. Fluid head and shoulder juke on deep vertical route to get over the top of the CB.

Quiet and calm hands, good catching technique. Makes great adjustments to the ball with good focus on the ball. Impressive late adjustments to beat the CB to the catch point. Good ball tracking and natural feel for adjusting to the flight of the ball.

Body control after the catch. Solid run strength relative to his size. Not afraid of contact. Switches ball quickly to the correct hand.

Willing and competitive blocker. Very aggressive on some of his blocks, a dog. On a short-yardage run, blocking from the slot, I was impressed how physical he was against a safety who is projected to be a middle-round pick in next year's draft. Attentive to the blocking angle. Good awareness on TE screen to adjust his blocking assignment to the S instead of the CB. On swing pass to Richardson, he secured the critical block to spring Richardson to the corner for a TD, engaging with a wide base, good initial punch and good blocking angle. More consistent blocking than he was earlier in career. Good effort on downfield blocks.

 

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Part 3: Weaknesses

Wasn't very good when he was hurt. Not enough burst or speed. Not explosive out of breaks. On intermediate routes, insufficient route tempo. Didn't drive off the line. Not able to push vertically upfield. Average burst on jet sweeps. Not much of a YAC threat. No open field burst so he got closed down by the pursuit. Average COD. I thought he was a pretty marginal prospect in most of his games, maybe a late round pick. While it is fair to give him the benefit of the doubt and judge him based on his form when healthy, we also should acknowledge that injuries happen in football. I don't know the nature of his injury or whether he's at risk for suffering the same problem in the future. What if he gets hurt again in 2026? Durability can be a strong influence on what level of player you'd be getting, and the 2025 version of Sherrill wasn't a consistent high-level player.

A tweener. Too short to be an outside WR. Not a super electric slot WR. The Rams almost certainly drafted Puka Nacua to be a backup WR if you look at where we drafted him and how we drafted multiple players ahead of him in the 5th round in that draft. On paper, Sherrill is in this same mold, with the physical traits to be a reliable backup, but not an NFL starter. He's solid across the board, but he's not elite in any particular department. Like Puka, Sherrill can dig out low balls, it was one reason McVay wanted to draft Puka. Okay, that's fine, but it would be even better if Sherrill were 6'3'' tall or ran 4.3 seconds in the 40.

Not creative with his release moves. His initial angle coming off the line tends to tip off the route to the CB.

Has too much wasted and excessive movement in his release and in the middle of the route. Extra arm pumps and effort aren't deceptive and unnecessary.

Not an elite route runner. Lacks nuance in his routes if the CB is playing off coverage. Vandy's scheme had simplistic routes. If it is zone, doesn't have a great plan for how to unlock the zone and create a bigger window for the QB. Sloppy angle on comeback allowed the CB to drive on the catch point for a PBU. Drifted away from the LOS on spot route. Needs to be more detail oriented and precise.

Below average strength in the route stem if the CB is leaning on him or grabbing him. CBs can "acquire" him at the top of the route and stay attached. In press man, the CB can suffocate him coming off the line, though Sherrill does sometimes use his length to eventually separate later in the play. Not good at fighting through contact on backshoulder throws, though he does show strong hands catching the ball in contested situations. Got re-routed on shallow crosser.

Lack of height contributed to pass deflecting off his hands and up into the air for an INT.

Very limited run blocking duties in the team's scheme. It was a spread offense, so the WRs didn't have to block on most runs and if the team wanted to add more blocking they took WRs off the field and used heavy formations with multiple TEs.

Got blasted off his feet trying to block a safety. I forgot to mention that he made good adjustments in space to connect on blocks vs moving CBs.

Regularly too aggressive on blocks. Prone to blocking penalties. On catch by another WR for a big gain, Sherrill is making a downfield block and grabs and tugs the CB, risking a holding penalty. On magical QB scramble for TD, Sherrill unnecessarily grabs a CB from behind for a holding penalty. I appreciate his energy and effort, but his penalties don't happen at the POA, his block isn't critical, so he needed to show better judgment and awareness and know when to ease up and let go of the defender.

Had a fumble where ball was ripped out of his hand.

Has never been the lead dog on his team as the number one receiving target. In 2024, he was only about as productive as Quincy Skinner Jr (an UDFA), which would be an odd thing if we were projecting Sherrill as a borderline 1st round prospect.

Was a kick returner in 2024 but hasn't been a punt returner in college.

Sherrill had nearly 800 receiving yards in 2025. Brandon Inniss from Ohio State had less than 300 yards. I suspect that like Sherrill, Inniss was limited by some type of injury last season. IMO, Inniss is at least as good a prospect as Sherrill despite his very limited career production. Assume for discussion that Teets and Ian Cummings are both correct and Sherrill will be a 2nd or 3rd round pick next year, while Inniss ends up as an UDFA. In terms of draft strategy for the Rams, why would I take Sherrill in the 2nd round if I could just sign Inniss as an UDFA? If Shane Hallam, Draftscout and FirstandTen are correct, then there's no decision to be made, you could sign both Sherrill and Inniss as UDFAs. Same deal with Emmett Mosley, yet another similar WR who could fill the same role as Sherrill and who also could end up being an UDFA.

I don't fundamentally disagree with Sam Teets that Sherrill has some skills, but there are other factors that need to be considered when analyzing the entire draft pool. We can't just look at Sherrill's individual draft grade in a vacuum. If there are 3 or 4 WRs who are all similar and you don't have a strong preference for one over the others, why force the pick to get one early? This is why I 100% disagree with the idea of drafting specific positions in the order of perceived team need. Even if WR ends up being the top need for the Rams in 2027, that doesn't mean we have to grab one with our 2nd round pick. On the consensus board, Sherrill is a mid-4th round prospect. Instead of "reaching" early for Sherrill in the 2nd, it seems to me the better draft strategy would be to see if he drops to the 5th round. If he doesn't, just take one of the other 4 guys from the pot. Snead and McVay had to discuss whether to take Puka at the bottom of the 5th round, which is very strange if they really knew what they were getting. If the Rams had a high grade on him, what's there to discuss? So, it seems to me that there must have been several WRs in play and I'd be curious to know who the other WRs were that the Rams considered to be on the same tier as Puka. It is like when the Patriots couldn't decide whether they wanted to draft Tom Brady or Tim Rattay. In the draft, scouting isn't always as important as you might think. Sometimes, it is 10% scouting and 90% blind luck.

The same concept applies to big X receivers for 2027, not just to slot WRs. On FirstandTen's board, Ian Strong is projected to be an UDFA. Jaden Bray isn't even listed on the board. Do the Rams need to draft say Omarion Miller in the 2nd round if they could get someone like Strong as an UDFA?

 

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Part 4: Draft Grade and Pro Comp

4th round grade. Marvin Mims Jr. (bottom of 2nd round 2023, pick 63, Denver Broncos, Oklahoma).

Mims is probably the best returner in the NFL, an All-Pro and Pro Bowler. Statistically, he's been the best punt returner in the league over the last 3 seasons. As a WR, he's only averaged about 400 yards per year. The Broncos have been inconsistent offensively, even though I think Bo Nix is a very good QB. Mims was 2nd on the team in receiving in 2024 and the 3rd leading WR that year was a 7th round pick that I loved, Devaughn Vele. Mims got shuffled down in the rotation as the Broncos drafted more WRs, but I feel this illustrates how many other NFL teams have better WR depth than the Rams. The Broncos aren't a prolific offense, but their 5th WR in 2025 was a pretty good player, Lil'Jordan Humphrey.

Humphrey was an UDFA in 2019, but IMO he's just as talented as some of the tall WRs in the 2027 class. Just think about that for a moment. If the Rams draft a big body, tall WR in the 2nd round in 2027, our rookie might be worse than the 5th WR for the Broncos in 2025. That's the possible state of our WR room next year. Just keeping it real.

What I like about Junior Sherrill is he's worked hard at becoming a complete WR. He works hard as a blocker, he catches the ball pretty well, he has speed to go vertically but also agility and flexibility to run shorter routes. He's versatile and can play multiple spots. What I don't understand is why Teets thinks that Sherrill is a special player. I project Sherrill to only be an average NFL receiver. He could be a solid backup or a marginal starter. I don't think he's going to be a core weapon that opponents will fear. I think he'd be a good ST player and can play multiple roles on ST, blocking, tackling or returning. I think he fits the Rams offensive system and is worth consideration, but I wouldn't make him a draft priority.

 

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I forgot another big injury. Nick Marsh had a nagging injury for almost the entire 2025 season. It is one factor in why I think he's a bit under the radar.