As we make our way through the NCAA’s bowl season, we continue to see a number of college players make their intentions for the future known. One such player is Stanford redshirt sophomore receiver Elic Ayomanor. After three years in school, the Canada-native announced on X that he would forgo his remaining eligibility and declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. 
Despite being born in Alberta, CAN, Ayomanor attended high school at The Peddie School (NJ) and Deerfield Academy (MA), ranking as the fourth-best recruit in Massachusetts, according to 247 Sports. He fielded a number of offers from several Ivy League schools and other schools from different conferences such as Tennessee, Arizona, Ole Miss, and Kentucky, but ultimately, he chose to cross the country in order to attend Stanford, a school with a mix of strong academics and athletics.
Not the most exciting recruit coming out of high school, Ayomanor redshirted with no appearances in 2022. He established himself as a contributor on the offense as a redshirt freshman, having his first strong performance against Sacramento State. Ayomanor exploded onto the scene four weeks later, when the Cardinal traveled to Boulder.
Against the 4-1 Buffaloes, Ayomanor embarrassed Travis Hunter and Co. (pictured above) to the tune of 13 receptions for 294 yards and three touchdowns. He had a couple other big performances last year in losses against Washington and Oregon State, and he ended the year as the team’s leading receiver with 62 catches for 1,013 yards and six touchdowns. In 2024, Ayomanor renewed his role as the Cardinal’s leading receiver with 63 receptions for 831 yards and six touchdowns, delivering big performances against TCU, Syracuse, Wake Forest, NC State, and San Jose State.
Ayomanor has shown that he can deliver in an underwhelming offense against some impressively tough competition. He’s clearly intelligent and has tools that will be desirable at the next level. That being said, he’s not likely to hear his name called on Day 1 of the draft. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Ayomanor ranked as the eighth-best wide receiver in the class, and Kiper’s colleagues tend to agree, excluding him from all of their top-five lists. Dane Brugler’s mid-November ranking seems to project him the highest as the third-best receiver (fourth if considering Hunter), but even Brugler has Ayomanor treading the line between the first and second round as the 28th-best overall prospect.
It’s curious to see Ayomanor declare for the draft following his redshirt sophomore season, especially with most draft rankings listing him as a Day 2 or 3 option. In these days of the ever-popular transfer portal, there are so many examples of such players transferring to greener pastures and having seasons that establish them as clear first-round options. Instead, Ayomanor will be satisfied with his current body of work and will hope that his combination of size, speed, and ball skills will shine in the leadup to the draft and help his draft stock peak.
Tennessee sent picks Nos. 141 and 178 to Baltimore and received Nos. 136 and 183. It’s a somewhat curious move by the Ravens’ front office, who moved back five picks in the fourth round and only moved up five picks in the sixth round.