We’ve got another exciting matchup for you today in our Rookie Draft Prospect Faceoff series, this time covering Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor vs. Texas WR Isaiah Bond. Both prospects are early declares and are projected to be Round 2 selections in the 2025 NFL Draft, according to NFL Mock Draft Database. It’s time to review each prospect’s profile to determine which player we should prefer for our Dynasty rosters.
Isaiah Bond
Isaiah Bond is an interesting prospect for me, as he appears like he could become an NFL star if you watch his film, but analytically, he never put it all together in college. Bond started his career at Alabama, playing for the Crimson Tide for his first two seasons before transferring to Texas in 2024. In his three seasons, he never once hit 50 receptions or 700 yards. Bond was projected by many to be the WR1 in a loaded Texas WR room but was ultimately outproduced by WR Matthew Golden and TE Gunnar Helm, who are both entering the 2025 NFL Draft.
Bond was deployed primarily as an X receiver at Texas but saw a lot of slot work at Alabama as well, so the versatility is there. He finished his career with just six drops on 106 catchable passes, good for a drop rate of under 6%. Bond finished his 2024 campaign with a target rate (TPRR) of 18.5% and 1.78 yards per route run (YPPR). Both these marks are near the bottom of the class and mediocre at best for a WR prospect. His season-bests in these categories came in 2023 at Alabama, with a TPRR of 22.5% and a YPRR of 2.02. These numbers are better but far from great.
From a film perspective, there’s a lot for us to be excited about with Bond. He boats elite burst and acceleration off the line and has incredible short-area quickness and long speed. Bond can be very manipulative and shifty in his route running when he needs to be to create separation from his defenders. He won’t be breaking a bunch of arm tackles at the next level but is elusive in open space and has some YAC ability. He saw a fair amount of manufactured touches in college, but more so at Alabama. Bond was utilized in a lot of end-arounds due to his elite speed. Two areas of concern here are Bond’s size (5’11”, 180lbs) and his tendency to body catch. He has several highlight plays where he displays some impressive hands, but I saw plenty of instances where he would rely on trapping the football against his body when he didn’t need to. Overall, I really like what I’ve seen from Bond’s tape, but his lack of production over the years is a major red flag.
Elic Ayomanor
Elic Ayomanor was a prospect I was really excited about heading into the 2024 season, but a lackluster redshirt sophomore campaign has left me with some concerns. Elic broke out as a redshirt freshman in 2023, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards and reaching the endzone six times. He followed this up with just 831 yards and six touchdowns in 2024. The third-year man out of Stanford saw a drop in yards per reception, YAC/REC, and YPRR this season. This is not what we like to see from our prospects, but he clearly received some good news regarding his draft capital (as did Bond) and chose to declare early.
Elic is one of the more physical receivers in this draft class. He displays excellent ball skills, body control, and spatial awareness. Elic has a knack for high-pointing the football and bringing down difficult catches. He has above-average athleticism but is not overly explosive. At 6’2” and 210 lbs, Ayomanor has a more typical X-receiver build than Bond. Ayomanor really struggles to create separation, and his short-area quickness is lacking. I think he has an extra gear to outrun DBs in the second level, but it takes him a while to get to that top speed. It is worth noting that Elic dealt with some poor quarterback play in his two years at Stanford, which may have held him back a bit. While Elic played primarily as the X in college, I could see him transitioning into a slot role in the NFL, similar to someone like Chris Godwin or JuJu Smith-Schuster. I don’t see him winning deep in the NFL enough, but I could see him producing in the short-to-intermediate areas. He’s not a quick or twitchy athlete but could win with his size and physicality in the slot.
And the Winner is…
This one was a tight battle, but I have to go with the guy who has proved it more on the field from a production standpoint. Elic Ayomanor is my choice, despite Bond’s tape being clearly more impressive. Elic did play for a lesser program, and we have no way of knowing how Elic would’ve fared on Alabama or Texas, which is something to keep in the back of our minds. Bond is the more explosive and dynamic athlete of the two, but I’m hesitant to pull the trigger on someone who averaged less than 10 PPR points per game in their final season (Bond finished with 9.56 FPPG). Both prospects have their fair share of red flags, and I believe Elic will need to be utilized in the right way to find success. If he’s used solely as an X, he will struggle, at least early on.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
