Xavier Restrepo's 3 Best NFL Draft Fits

In this day in age where analytics and long-term projection hold a large amount of weight toward player evaluation, at times, it’s good to just sit back and enjoy fundamentally elite football players—even if they don’t fit ideal molds or shatter certain testing thresholds at their position. 

That couldn't be more true for Miami WR Xavier Restrepo, a player who is elite fundamentally and enters the draft as Miami’s all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards. However, he ran a 4.8 40 at his pro day, which has soured some to the idea of drafting him in the early rounds.

Considering team and scheme fits, Restrepo’s skill set could be particularly beneficial to the following clubs.

Carolina Panthers

Bryce Young took steps forward in year two. Big ones. Now, it’s about continuing to improve the talent around him as the Panthers look to work back to relevance in the NFC South. 

Xavier Legette is a piece, and Jalen Coker was an excellent find as a UDFA, but a player like Restrepo could take the offense to the next level. He can dominate the short to intermediate areas and will also be a dynamic red zone threat due to his spatial awareness and ability to create throwing windows. 

Dallas Cowboys 

Dallas has tried to make it work with lesser-known wideouts in Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks, and even Brandin Cooks in years past, but a wideout with a high floor to complement CeeDee Lamb looks like a necessity at this point. While the Cowboys could very easily make Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan their new 1B to Lamb with the No. 12 overall selection, waiting to add an inside-out pass-catcher like Restrepo, who would become a target hog immediately for Dak Prescott, would be good process. 

The early portions of the draft are all about finding and adding fundamentally good ball players that can compete immediately, and Restrepo would find his comfort zone quickly. He doesn’t project as an elite top-two weapon, but he’s a player I expect to have a long and fruitful career for more than a decade due to his football IQ, elite hands, awareness, route-running, and the acute understanding of how to execute the ‘little things’ at the position. Those types of players are worthy of high capital in my book.

Denver Broncos

I really do like the starting three that Denver has currently in Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele, and Marvin Mims Jr. Those are three varying skill sets that are expected to only see their production uptick with Bo Nix heading into his second season under center. However, adding another weapon never hurts, and adding competition creates a culture where every single target is earned, never given. 

Restrepo is as tough as they come, willing to do it all, and would become, at minimum, an elite safety valve in the intermediate areas on high leverage downs for head coach Sean Payton. The 40 time doesn’t scare me one bit as he has reps of running away from Virginia Tech DB Dorian Strong on tape, who can really run.