Both the Eagles, with Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff, and Jaguars, with Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson, selected two wide receivers in the first three rounds of last week's draft. How has that "doubling down" strategy panned out on previous occasions?
Since 2000, there have been 13 previous occasions where a team has selected not one but two wide receivers in the first three rounds of the draft. Based on the history, it looks pretty unlikely that the Eagles or Jaguars will hit on both players. Either team will have done well if it gets one successful wideout.
That's not to say it can't happen that both players hit, though. The Broncos did it just a few years back, selecting Demaryius Thomas in the first round and coming back with Eric Decker in the third. That worked out pretty well. The Cardinals got a star in Anquan Boldin, and a guy who had an OK career in Bryant Johnson (though they certainly wouldn't select him in the first round again).
There's some subjectivity here. I called Johnson and Jerome Simpson "hits," which is debatable. In general, I tried to be generous.
The hit-miss results when a team has selected two wideouts in the first three rounds are presented below. The jury is still out on the most recent players, but initial impressions aren't great. Players I deemed hits are in bold.
TWO WIDE RECEIVERS, FIRST THREE ROUNDS, 2000-PRESENT | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Rd | Player | Team | School | Result |
2000 | 1 | Peter Warrick | Bengals | Florida State | Miss |
2000 | 3 | Ron Dugans | Bengals | Florida State | Miss |
2000 | 2 | Dennis Northcutt | Browns | Arizona | Miss |
2000 | 3 | JaJuan Dawson | Browns | Tulane (La.) | Miss |
2003 | 1 | Bryant Johnson | Cardinals | Penn State | Hit |
2003 | 2 | Anquan Boldin | Cardinals | Florida State | Hit |
2004 | 1 | Rashaun Woods | 49ers | Oklahoma State | Miss |
2004 | 3 | Derrick Hamilton | 49ers | Clemson | Miss |
2005 | 3 | Brandon Jones | Titans | Oklahoma | Miss |
2005 | 3 | Courtney Roby | Titans | Indiana | Miss |
2006 | 1 | Santonio Holmes | Steelers | Ohio State | Hit |
2006 | 3 | Willie Reid | Steelers | Florida State | Miss |
2008 | 2 | Jerome Simpson | Bengals | Coastal Carolina | Hit |
2008 | 3 | Andre Caldwell | Bengals | Florida | Miss |
2008 | 2 | Malcolm Kelly | Washington | Oklahoma | Miss |
2008 | 2 | Devin Thomas | Washington | Michigan State | Miss |
2009 | 2 | Mohamed Massaquoi | Browns | Georgia | Miss |
2009 | 2 | Brian Robiskie | Browns | Ohio State | Miss |
2009 | 1 | Hakeem Nicks | Giants | North Carolina | Hit |
2009 | 3 | Ramses Barden | Giants | Cal Poly-S.L.O. | Miss |
2010 | 1 | Demaryius Thomas | Broncos | Georgia Tech | Hit |
2010 | 3 | Eric Decker | Broncos | Minnesota | Hit |
2013 | 2 | Robert Woods | Bills | Southern California | ??? |
2013 | 3 | Marquise Goodwin | Bills | Texas | ??? |
2013 | 1 | Tavon Austin | Rams | West Virginia | ??? |
2013 | 3 | Stedman Bailey | Rams | West Virginia | ??? |
2014 | 2 | Jordan Matthews | Eagles | Vanderbilt | ??? |
2014 | 3 | Josh Huff | Eagles | Oregon | ??? |
2014 | 2 | Marqise Lee | Jaguars | Southern California | ??? |
2014 | 2 | Allen Robinson | Jaguars | Penn State | ??? |
--Andy Richardson