Elic Ayomanor Dynasty Value: Bet on Traits, Brace for Volatility

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Elic Ayomanor is one of the trickiest evaluations at WR this year. His breakout performance against Travis Hunter and Colorado in 2023 turned heads, but his 2024 was not nearly as impressive.

Ayomanor brings size, athleticism, and flashes of big-play upside. But inconsistent hands and separation concerns keep his draft stock — and dynasty value — cloudy.

Let’s dive into the measurables, production, and film to get a clearer picture of Ayomanor's outlook.

 

Elic Ayomanor Dynasty Values

 

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Elic Ayomanor Draft Profile

 

Elic Ayomanor Combine Results

From Canada to Stanford with Hardly Any Snaps

Ayomanor didn’t play much football before college. He was born in Medicine Hat, Canada and didn’t move to the U.S. until high school.

His 2020 high school season got canceled due to COVID, and he suffered a season-ending PCL tear early in the 2021 campaign.

Despite all that, Ayomanor earned a three-star rating from most recruiting services and received more than 20 scholarship offers, including from Stanford, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

Ayomanor enrolled at Stanford but took a medical redshirt in 2022 after going down with ACL, MCL, and meniscus tears in August.

Patience Pays Off with 2023 Breakout

Ayomanor finally hit the field in 2023 -- and quickly emerged as Stanford’s top option. He totaled 207 yards over the first five games of the season and then had his coming-out party against Colorado.

Ayomanor smoked the Buffaloes for 294 yards and 3 TDs on 13 catches. That set a Stanford single-game receiving record and marked the second-most yards in a game in Pac-12 history. A lot of Ayomanor’s damage in that game came against CB Travis Hunter.

Ayomanor topped 100 yards twice more over the final six games of the season and ended up easily leading his team in all major receiving categories. The market shares were big:

• 26.6% of the receptions
• 36.2% of the receiving yards
• 54.6% of the receiving TDs

Ayomanor’s 2.33 yards per route ranked 64th among 287 qualifying WRs – and looks more impressive when you consider Stanford’s other WRs combined to average 1.02 yards per route. This was a bad passing game that ranked 48th in yards per game, 100th in yards per attempt, and 118th in total TDs.

2024 Better Than It Appears

Ayomanor’s 2024 season looks disappointing at first glance. But he dealt with a coaching change, a brand new offense, and continued poor QB play. Last year’s Stanford team averaged even fewer passing yards per game and yards per attempt than in 2023.

While Ayomanor’s raw production was down, he again dominated the passing game with strong market shares:

• 28.1% of the receptions (16th among 49 Combine WRs)
• 36.2% of the receiving yards (ninth)
• 33.3% of the receiving TDs (19th)

The biggest knock on his 2024 campaign? His 1.90 yards per route run. That was down from 2023’s 2.33, despite Stanford’s other WRs improving slightly from 1.02 to 1.07.

Ayomanor’s Pro Football Focus receiving grade also regressed a bit from 75.9 to 74.3. Last year’s mark ranked 31st among 49 WRs at the Combine.

 

Elic Ayomanor Highlights

Games watched: Colorado (2023), Syracuse, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, San Jose State

How Ayomanor Dominated Travis Hunter

You can’t start a film breakdown on Ayomanor without highlighting his huge outing against Colorado and CB Travis Hunter – one of the most impressive single-game performances by any WR in this draft class.

Ayomanor flashed everything you want to see from a top WR prospect. His first big play was a 97-yard TD that featured an ankle-breaking route, tackle-breaking ability, and impressive long speed.

Then, in OT, Ayomanor skied over Hunter to make a circus TD grab -- a showcase of his tantalizing ball skills.

In between those two highlights, Ayomanor repeatedly beat Hunter on slants -- leaving the star corner visibly frustrated by game’s end.

It was a master class from Ayomanor. Unfortunately, his 2024 tape didn’t live up to that performance.

Hands Are a Major Problem

There were more flashes of high-end ball skills from Ayomanor in 2024, including this one-handed snag vs. Syracuse.

But the drops piled up, both from concentration lapses and an inability to hang on through contact. The latter is particularly concerning for a big, power-based WR that doesn’t create a ton of separation.

Ayomanor also had a bad habit of letting the ball get into his chest on contested catches, negating his size advantage over most DBs.

Ayomanor came down with only 48% of his contested opportunities over the last two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus.

Separation Anxiety

The ball skills are even more concerning given Ayomanor’s struggles to separate on short and intermediate routes. His technique against press coverage needs work, and tight hips limit his change-of-direction ability.

That resulted in 26.9% of Ayomanor’s career targets being contested, the third-highest rate among 49 WRs at the Combine.

Bad QB Play Limited Downfield Dominance

That said, Ayomanor consistently created separation on "go" routes. He caught 17 balls for 667 yards and 7 TDs on targets 20+ yards downfield over the last two seasons. 

He has enough power and burst to get on top of DBs and enough long speed to maintain separation down the field.

Stanford’s QBs likely cost Ayomanor hundreds of yards, routinely under- or over-throwing him when open. PFF charted just 42.9% of his targets 15+ yards downfield as catchable over the last two seasons. That was the lowest rate among all 49 WRs at this year’s Combine.

Blocking Could Be His Ticket To Early Snaps

A final note on Ayomanor: He’s among the most willing and capable blockers in this year’s WR class. He clearly enjoys the dirty work, routinely out-muscling DBs on run plays.

That should help him earn snaps early in the NFL.

 

Elic Ayomanor Team Fit: Buffalo Bills

There's a lot of Gabriel Davis in Ayomanor's game: A physical, downfield playmaker with separation limitations and unreliable hands. Davis, of course, had his best moments as a pro with QB Josh Allen and the Bills.

Allen's big arm and aggressive play style would accentuate Ayomanor's strengths. And the Bills wouldn't need him to play a ton of snaps right away.

Khalil Shakir is locked into the slot role, while Keon Coleman and Josh Palmer figure to open the season as the primary outside WRs.

But Coleman is coming off an uneven rookie year, and Palmer's contract includes guaranteed money only through 2026.

If Ayomanor can patch some of the holes in his game, he'd have an opportunity to earn a big role within his first couple of seasons.

       

Dynasty Value Conclusion: Long-Term Bet For Patient Dynasty Managers

Ayomanor is far from a polished prospect. The hands are shaky, the separation issues are real, and his route tree is limited outside of vertical concepts.

But there’s enough here to stay intrigued. Ayomanor posted strong market shares in both seasons at Stanford. There are flashes of downfield and contested-catch dominance on his tape.

And, perhaps most importantly, he's a 21-year-old who played relatively little football before college. That gives him more room for growth than most incoming rookies.

Don't count on Ayomanor making an immediate impact as a pro. And the bust risk is real. But patient dynasty managers could be paid off if Ayomanor lands in a vertical-based passing game that gives him time to develop.

  

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