NFL Supplemental draft: Milton Wright film breakdown

The NFL is holding its first Supplemental Draft since 2019, giving the Las Vegas Raiders and the other 31 teams in the league another opportunity to add a young player to the roster. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, only two players are eligible for the event, one of them being former Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright.

Working with Las Vegas’ fourth-round pick, quarterback Aidan O’Connell, in 2021, Wright put together a strong campaign with 57 catches for 732 yards and seven touchdowns. According to The Draft Network, he was supposed to take over as the Boilermaker’s No. 1 receiver this past season, however, he was declared academically ineligible ahead of the campaign.

TDN also notes that “Wright is a big-bodied receiver that uses his frame effectively to box out defenders at the catch point. NFL decision-makers may want to revisit the tape from Wright’s 2021 performance against Northwestern, where he accounted for 213 receiving yards.”

So, let’s take a look at that contest and see what the wideout could potentially bring to Las Vegas, and determine if it would make sense to reunite the former college teammates.

Especially for his size, Wright has some impressive speed off the line of scrimmage. He faces press coverage here and does a great job of getting to square against the cornerback to give himself a two-way go and uses a foot-fire release to win at the line. From there, he shows a nice second gear and uses his hands to get past the corner and create some separation on the go route.

Finally, the wideout tracks the ball in the air and puts it in the end zone for a 53-yard score. This is an excellent press release and speed to create an explosive play down the field.

The next clip is more of what you’d expect to see from a big-bodied receiver as the Boilermakers are in the red zone and dial up a fade route for their 6’3” wideout.

Again, Wright attacks the press corner’s leverage to release to the outside and shows a good burst to get on top of the corner. When the ball is in the air, he has solid timing to adjust to the back-shoulder throw and goes up to get the ball in the air, taking advantage of his height and vertical.

Wright ends up capping off the play by securing the catch and getting two feet in bounds for good measure—and to make the NFL scouts happy—to put six points on the board. It’s also a nice contested catch as the corner is draped all over him while he hauls in the pass.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the Purdue product can be pretty dangerous on vertical routes and the play above serves as another example.

This time, Northwestern got tired of Wright beating their corners in press coverage so they back off the line of scrimmage by six yards. Purdue counters by having the wideout run a stop-and-go route, and he does an excellent job of turning his shoulders to the quarterback around the five-yard mark to sell the curl.

Then, he has the speed to win deep again and it’s another explosive play for the offense. Wright will have to expand his route tree if he’s going to make it in the pros, but he certainly can be a threat down the field.

How about one more for good measure?

These last two clips are basically carbon copies of each other so I’ll spare you some time on the breakdown, but watch the corner at the bottom of the screen. Wright’s route is so dirty, he breaks a pair of ankles as the defensive back slips and has to pick grass out of his facemask.

Worth the pick?

The Raiders do have an abundance of wide receivers currently on the roster, including 6’5” Cam Sims who could fill the big receiver role that Wright would play. However, it wouldn’t hurt to bring in some competition for Sims and give O’Connell a familiar face to develop with.

If Las Vegas does want to draft Wright next week, they’d have to give up a pick in next year’s draft of the same round that he was selected in. They currently have one fifth-round pick and three in the seventh for 2024, which is what the receiver could be worth, in my opinion. Maybe the fifth-rounder is a little rich but if it’s one of the later picks, I think it’d be worth taking a flier on Wright.