With the evolution of the passing game in the NFL, that comes with always searching high and low for wide receiver talent. What better place to look than the great white north?
Hailing from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, Elic Ayomanor came to the United States for high school, first attending class in New Jersey before transferring to Deerfield Academy, a private high school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He earned varsity letters in both track (100 meter and 200 meter dash) and football. He was a three star recruit, and eventually decided on Stanford University.
2023 saw him haul in 62 passes for 1013 yards, being the first Stanford player to catch more than 1,000 yards since 2018 (JJ Arcega-Whiteside). This included a star making performance vs Colorado, which saw Ayomanor go for 294 yards and 3 touchdowns on 13 catches, including a 97 yard catch during this game as well.
Ayomanor took home some hardware for his performance, which included the Jon Cornish Trophy (awarded to the top Canadian player in the NCAA), a First Team Freshman All American by PFF, as well as being added to the Maxwell and Biletnikoff Watch lists for 2024.
Mind you, all of these statistics were compiled despite a challenging situation at Quarterback for Stanford. He also showed resilience by returning from a devastating knee injury that he suffered in 2022, causing him to miss the entire season.
Player Info
Name: Elic Ayomanor
Jersey: No. 13
Position: Wide Reciever
School: Stanford University
Class: Sophomore
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 210 lbs.
Elic Ayomanor’s Strengths
Elic has strong hands for a wide receiver, and shows an extremely competitive drive, willing to climb the ladder and high point catches as well as showing an excellent timing for these high points as well.
He shows crisp, precise route running, creating separation through quick cuts and stops and sudden changes of direction, with good stop/start ability. He also is effective in catch and run situations, as he has an innate ability to make defenders miss in the open space.
Those same strong hands that Elic has are also very reliable, as he makes every catch that’s expected of him. In addition, he also shows a willingness to make the gritty plays and go over the middle for his catches as well.
He shows physicality and competitiveness, especially as a downfield blocker in the run game for his running backs.
Elic Ayomanor’s Weaknesses
That same physicality that is a calling card for Elic is also one of his biggest weaknesses, as he often relies on brute force and physicality to win matchups rather than using technique.
He also seems to be very inconsistent versus top level defensive backs, often struggling to adjust versus elite coverage, which means that he often disappears versus premier talent.
You’d also like to see a more diverse route tree from Ayomanor, as slants and nine routes (where the Reciever sprints down the field as fast as possible) make up a majority of the routes he runs. He has the ability to separate on out breaking and in breaking routes, but doesn’t run them as frequently as he should.
Draft Projection
I currently have Elic Ayomanor as my WR3 on my big board, and planted firmly within the top 32 players in this class. He shows high end WR2 play ability as his floor, and a WR1 for a team that can take over a game as his ceiling.
The teams that I think Elic would fit best on in the 2025 NFL Draft:
- Baltimore Ravens (Giving Lamar another top talent at wide receiver who can break a game wide open would make this team even more dangerous than it already is.)
- Los Angeles Chargers (A physical receiver who has no problems blocking downfield in the run game, and can take advantage of his Quarterback’s strong arm by running deep routes? Perfect fit here.)
- Cleveland Browns (The physicality by blocking for Nick Chubb on the outside? Check. The ability to take a short pass the distance and make folks miss in space? Check. The competitive drive and the willingness to prove everyone wrong? Check. Elic should definitely be playing at Huntington Bank Field on Sundays if I were a GM.)
Ultimately, whichever team ends up selecting the star Wideout from Stanford will get an excellent wide receiver talent who will be adored by the fans for his gritty behavior for seasons to come, and could take over the league should he reach his ceiling in the right scenario.
