In this breakdown, Joe DeLeone and Ryan Roberts dive into the Calvin Russell highlights that have everyone talking. From jaw-dropping routes to clutch plays, we analyze why Calvin Russell is one of the most exciting WR prospects in the 2026 class.
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00:00this five-star wide receiver plays like he's on the hardwood
00:03calvin russell's film shows rare moves that the college football world isn't ready for
00:12five-star wide receiver calvin russell is an enormous target for quarterbacks to throw to
00:17he justifiably is one of the best receivers in this class ryan what stands out to you about him
00:22i mean six five 195 is the first thing that pops right like you don't typically see wide receivers
00:26especially rising seniors of like that size and that stature just a very unique player joe because
00:32for his school obviously he's playing out wide he's playing in the slot at times he's doing a lot
00:37of stuff to the middle of the field like the the body type just overall is the first thing that
00:42pops and obviously he's a very smooth athlete for his size as well so you just don't see
00:46a lot of six foot five guys man like it's it's why the comps are always so interesting with these
00:51types of players because there's just not a lot of big body guys to this stature like six four six
00:55five playing dominating college football and playing in the nfl which is why russell is just
01:00such a unique wide receiver potentially on the next level of course the cliche when we talk about these
01:05six foot five guys is that they're a power forward they're playing like a basketball player well calvin
01:11russell can actually point to that and say that he has that in his bag because he's got offers to play
01:17division one basketball at high levels michigan illinois lsu arizona state penn state fau and tulane
01:24have reportedly offered him per 247 sports to play basketball now i i don't know it doesn't seem
01:31like it's the case that he is going to consider doing this but he is a pretty good hooper 21 points
01:36per game seven rebounds per game 3.4 assists per game with that play style for his build
01:44really starts to create a lot of optimism for what he could become and then also seeing former
01:50quarterback really smooth athlete dynamic at creating for himself after the catch there's just
01:56an overall smoothness to him as a player that i think ultimately becomes translatable for an offense
02:01that's looking for that contested catch dominator that is hard to come by as you said well it might
02:08be a cliche of like the power forward thing he's probably actually a small forward at least that's
02:13probably what he's being recruited as but regardless the the basketball background i think plays to his
02:18best strengths on the football field like this is a big bodied contested catch boundary type dude who
02:25also has pretty good feet in short areas right like i don't think his long speed is great but i do think
02:30that his foot quickness is relatively good because he's been a guy that has had to went off the dribble
02:35and a guy that has got had to be able to make quick movements and play defense like i think all that
02:39stuff does translate to the short area ability and obviously the ability to play above the rim i mean they
02:46obviously had the comparison to t higgins on the 247 site and i think that one makes the most sense
02:51right like this is a big body kid who does some short area stuff that's a little bit uncommon maybe
02:56he doesn't have the greatest long speed of all time but he wins at the catch point with his size the
03:01ability to box guys out at the catch point like he's that style of player potentially on the uh college
03:07level to dig into his background where he stands in the 2026 class he is the number three wide receiver
03:15as i mentioned a five-star number two player in the state of florida and number 21 player nationally
03:20he also has a background in track and field two-time regional qualifier in the high jump so he does it
03:28all he is not just a great football player he does everything outside of football well and it's it all
03:36comes back to the best strengths of calvin russell's game you just mentioned high jump you mentioned
03:42basketball like this is a kid who is going to win because he is taller than every defensive back that
03:48he's going against and he's able to outreach every defensive back that he's able to go against in the
03:53air outside of his frame snatching the football and i will say this joe i do think the background that
03:59we talked about a little bit beforehand and during this video briefly that he was a former quarterback i
04:04do think does play into his favor as far as developmental upside this is not a kid that has been playing wide
04:10receiver for very long so getting better at the finer points of playing the wide receiver position
04:14on top of using that size to his advantage i do think that offers a lot of upside for development
04:19as well moving forward folks hit that like button and subscribe and also comment below
04:25what you think of russell we'll be back with more