Meet 'Prospect X' -- the mystery 2025 NFL draft hopeful - ESPN

SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA — «Ball!»

Prospect X faces one sideline and then flips his hips a sharp 180 degrees to make a back shoulder catch. He repeats that twice on each side, catching each ball his college quarterback sends his way. Then he jogs to the line of scrimmage and quickly takes up a ready stance. It's sunny and 70 degrees — a beautiful spring afternoon at his home stadium, and his cheeks are already pink from the work.

«Take your time,» the NFL coach says, his voice echoing through the empty stadium. «You're the only one out here.»

X relaxes a bit, and asks the coach if he'd ever been to this part of the country before.

Two weeks ahead of the draft, this NFL coach has come nearly 1,500 miles for a 30-minute workout with Prospect X. And that's because X didn't play much slot receiver in college. His body type demands an adjustment in the eyes of NFL evaluators, so his role will be changing as he enters the NFL, and this coach's team needs to get a better understanding of exactly how they could use this versatile speedster.

«What's my landmark?» X asks. «Do you want a certain depth?»

X is full of detailed questions for the coach as he explains each route. X's advisor within his challenging major says that he was never satisfied with just being told an answer in class. «Under what situations is that assumption valid?» X would ask him. «There's a difference between understanding something and knowing something,» the advisor says, «and he really wanted to understand it.»

Because X hasn't trained much as a slot receiver, this is even more important to him. X completes a speed cut on a 10-yard out route and then takes four steps back inside, exactly as instructed, to catch the ball.

The coach claps enthusiastically.