Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin all had huge rookie seasons last year. Jordan Matthews and Sammy Watkins weren’t bad either, as five of the top 25 wide receivers were rookies. Should we all, therefore, be looking to pick up guys like Amari Cooper, DeVante Parker and Kevin White in the middle rounds?
As well as those guys played last year, historically it tends to take longer for rookie receivers to get going.
In the previous 20 years, only two rookie receivers ranked in the top 10. And only 22 in those seasons ranked in the top 25 at their position.
Those are the kind of odds you’re fighting. With as many good receivers as there are in the league already, it doesn’t really make much sense to consider selecting any of these rookies before at least 20 other wide receivers have been drafted.
On the chart below, I’m using the fantasy scoring system of 6 points for touchdowns and 1 for every 10 yards. Three of the guys (tagged with asterisks) have kick returns blended into their TD totals. The final column is their rank – where they placed statistically in their rookie season.
ROOKIES AMONG THE TOP 25 WIDE RECEIVERS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Rk |
1995 | Joey Galloway, Sea.* | 67 | 1039 | 15.5 | 9 | (17) |
1995 | Chris Sanders, Hou. | 35 | 823 | 23.5 | 9 | (22) |
1996 | Eddie Kennison, St.L. | 54 | 924 | 17.1 | 11 | (13) |
1996 | Terry Glenn, N.E. | 90 | 1132 | 12.6 | 6 | (15) |
1996 | Keyshawn Johnson, NYJ | 63 | 844 | 13.4 | 8 | (21) |
1996 | Marvin Harrison, Ind. | 64 | 836 | 13.1 | 8 | (23) |
1998 | Randy Moss, Minn. | 68 | 1313 | 19.3 | 17 | (1) |
1999 | Kevin Johnson, Clev. | 66 | 986 | 14.9 | 8 | (16) |
2003 | Anquan Boldin, Ariz. | 101 | 1377 | 13.6 | 8 | (5) |
2003 | Andre Johnson, Hou. | 66 | 976 | 14.8 | 4 | (23) |
2004 | Michael Clayton, T.B. | 80 | 1193 | 14.9 | 7 | (15) |
2004 | Lee Evans, Buff. | 48 | 843 | 17.6 | 9 | (24) |
2006 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 70 | 1038 | 14.8 | 8 | (14) |
2007 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 70 | 995 | 14.2 | 5 | (25) |
2008 | Eddie Royal, Den. | 91 | 980 | 10.8 | 5 | (23) |
2009 | Percy Harvin, Minn.* | 60 | 790 | 13.2 | 8 | (25) |
2010 | Mike Williams, T.B. | 65 | 964 | 14.8 | 11 | (11) |
2011 | A.J. Green, Cin. | 65 | 1057 | 16.3 | 7 | (17) |
2011 | Julio Jones, Atl. | 54 | 959 | 17.8 | 8 | (20) |
2011 | Torrey Smith, Balt. | 50 | 841 | 16.8 | 7 | (25) |
2012 | T.Y. Hilton, Ind.* | 50 | 861 | 17.2 | 8 | (23) |
2013 | Keenan Allen, S.D. | 71 | 1046 | 14.7 | 8 | (17) |
2014 | Odell Beckham Jr., NYG | 91 | 1305 | 14.3 | 12 | (6) |
2014 | Mike Evans, T.B. | 68 | 1051 | 15.5 | 12 | (10) |
2014 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 73 | 1008 | 13.8 | 9 | (16) |
2014 | Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 67 | 872 | 13.0 | 8 | (24) |
2014 | Sammy Watkins, Buff. | 65 | 982 | 15.1 | 6 | (25) |
—Ian Allan