Trey Palmer left LSU as a player who had the potential to make it to the NFL, but he arrived at Nebraska without yet having proven himself worthy of becoming a pro.
One season with the Huskers changed that.
Now, after a historic and record-breaking season in Lincoln, Palmer is officially on his way to the next level.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have selected Palmer in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, taking the speedy and electric receiver with the No. 191 overall pick and 14th pick of the sixth round on Saturday. Palmer's selection follows the Los Angeles Rams drafting former Husker teammate Ochaun Mathis two picks earlier at No. 189 overall.
Palmer is the 21st Husker receiver to be selected in the draft in the program's history. He was projected to get selected in the third or fourth round by most reputable draft analysts. But in terms of his self-confidence, it didn't matter in what round, or by what team, he was taken.
“Trey Palmer, number three. That’s what to watch for. I’m just gonna be a dog. When I’m on that field, I’m gonna be that dog," Palmer said during his NFL Combine media interview in March. "I’ll (go to any) team. I just need the ball in my hand, and I’ll do what I do."
Palmer's selection gives the Huskers two straight years with a receiver taken in the draft. He follows in the footsteps of Samori Toure, who was selected by the Green Packers with the 258th overall pick in the seventh round in 2022. Toure also spent just one season with the Huskers and, like Palmer, was very productive in that one campaign (46 receptions, 898 yards receiving and five touchdowns after four years at FCS program Montana).
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Palmer, who officially measured in at 6-0, 192 pounds at the Combine, certainly did a lot with the ball in his hand at Nebraska.
He spent his first three seasons at LSU, where he finished with 41 receptions for 458 yards and three touchdowns. But he obliterated those totals during his one year in the Big Ten by finishing with 71 receptions for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns.
Palmer, who is the Huskers' 21st receiver to get drafted since 1970, set the program's single-season record for most receiving yards, and his 71 receptions were the most ever by a wide receiver – and second-most overall – in a single season at Nebraska. His nine touchdown receptions ranks fifth in program history.
Those marks helped Palmer get on the Biletnikoff Award watch list midway through the season. Inclusion on that list came after Palmer exploded for seven catches, 237 yards receiving and two touchdowns and also added a 60-yard run against Purdue. That receiving yards mark was the most in single game in Nebraska history and just the third time a Husker player has hit the 200-yard mark.
He capped his brilliant one-year stop in Lincoln by hauling in nine receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Huskers' win over Iowa in the season finale. The victory was jump-started by Palmer's 87-yard touchdown catch, which was the the fifth-longest passing play in Nebraska history and was the Huskers' longest play from scrimmage since 2014.
Palmer, a five-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class, was named an All-Big Ten player (second team by media; third team by the coaches) after he finished fourth in receptions, third in receiving yards and tied for second in touchdown receptions.
Analysis
Palmer wound up being a one-year rental for the Huskers after spending three years at LSU. He finished with 41 receptions for 458 yards and three touchdowns in those three seasons, but he obliterated those totals in his lone season in Lincoln.
Palmer, who officially measured in at 6-0 and 192 pounds at the NFL Combine in March, broke the Nebraska program record for yards in a single season (1,043), finished second all-time in single-season receptions (71) and fifth all-time in single-season touchdown receptions (nine).
So, the production was there, though one knock on him was that he only proved himself for one season at the college level.
Speed and explosiveness were at the heart of Palmer's big numbers.
Palmer, a five-star prospect and the No. 2-ranked athlete in the 2019 recruiting class, was a four-time high school state champion in the 200-meter dash and won a state title in the 100-meter dash as a senior at Kentwood (La.) High School. He ran a 10.42 in that 100m and set the state record with a time of 21.11 in that 200m race.
He utilized those wheels throughout his four-year college career, and then he ran the fastest 40-yard dash (4.33 seconds) of any receiver at last month's NFL Combine. That time was the fourth-best among all positions, and it tied him for the 14th-best 40-yard dash time at the Combine since 2013.
The two main knocks on Palmer from draft experts line up with what we saw out of him at Nebraska. He has issues with drops, especially in traffic when he knows an impact collision is coming. And his route running, though it isn't poor, is not high level. Not catching balls entirely clean and some mostly unimpressive route running was on display in Indianapolis.
Another knock among pro scouts was Palmer not performing well against physical man coverage, and they likely dissected his game tape against Illinois star cornerback Devon Witherspoon – the Illini's consensus first-team All-American and Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year who just went No. 5 overall to the Seattle Seahawks.
Palmer was on a tear in the previous seven weeks en route to 47 catches, 781 yards and five touchdowns (6.7 catches per game and 16.6 yards per catch). Palmer, though, finished with just one catch for one yard as Witherspoon and the Illini shut him down. Nebraska starting quarterback Casey Thompson went down with an injury midway through the second quarter of that game. But that was still poor tape for Palmer and almost certainly was a significant factor in him falling in the draft despite the elite speed he possesses.
NFL coaches will be tasked with fine-tuning those things with Palmer, hoping that with better coaching at the next level they can improve those specific weaknesses and help him develop so that he can hit his ceiling as a weapon downfield and on the perimeter.
But pure speed can't be coached, and we have plenty of history to tell us that NFL organizations crave it. As an example, there were 19 other receivers who ran a 4.33 or faster in the 40 at the Combine since 2013, and 16 of those 19 were selected in the third round or higher (including six in the first and six in the second).
If a player has at least one elite trait, NFL teams are going to put serious consideration into drafting him. Palmer has that elite trait, and it's the best out of any receiver in this year's draft.
That's the No. 1 trait he will be banking on as he kicks off his pro career. In his early NFL years, he can be used as a speed guy who can at least stretch the defense and perhaps force them into two-high shells when he's on the field.
“It’s rare to see a 4.3 guy who’s 6-foot, 192, last this long in the draft," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said moments after Palmer was selected. "He has the speed to take the top off the defense. He has the acceleration to create immediate separation. He’s a dangerous returner.
"Why is he still here? He had some drops — he has to be more consistent and reliable, and he could be a more precise route runner. But when you’re 6 foot, over 190 pounds and you run 4.3, he did produce big play after big play, to get him this late in the draft is a rarity.”
ESPN's Louis Riddick added: “His route running isn’t good. He had a lot of blown-assignment production, meaning the defense helped him out a lot. For some reason, they (defenses) didn’t read the scouting report on this guy. You didn't see the fact that he was 4.31, so if you’re getting caught staring in the backfield of a play-action and letting this guy get behind you from the slot, you deserve what you’re going to get.
"But going down to Tampa Bay, they need some juice like this. Because Mike Evans can’t play forever. Chris Godwin never was a speed type of guy. This guy gives them a totally different profile — someone who, you say, ‘Take the top off,’ he takes the top off. So it’s a nice pick for them.”
What projects to be Palmer's main value in his first couple of seasons, especially his rookie season, will be the option to utilize him as a field position weapon in the return game. And maybe he could even break one and go the distance – like he did at LSU by returning both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, he will need to develop into a better route runner and cut down on the drops. If he does, Palmer has the potential to be an explosive downfield threat.
“I just want the ball in my hands. … I can make those game-changing plays in the NFL. That's what I do," Palmer said during his NFL Combine media interview. "I really wanna play for a team where I can just go anywhere on the offense and play different positions.
"I can go anywhere on the field. Wherever I go, I just wanna learn the playbook from the back to the front and just be me."
Palmer, who is not at all short on self-confidence, sees himself in the mold of San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel.
"He's the same type of player I am," Palmer said in March. “He’s versatile. He can play running back, slot, he can go anywhere on the field. He’s the same type of player I am. I’ll go anywhere on the field. … I can go anywhere on the field. Wherever I go, I just wanna learn the playbook from the back to the front and just be me.”
Palmer said that he was not concerned with his landing spot in the NFL. He said it's all about putting his head down and getting to work.
“It really doesn’t matter to me," Palmer said. "I just wanna go dominate the player in front of me. I really just wanna go out there, dominate, do the scheme for the week.”
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