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Cooper, White and Agholor / College receiving

First-rounders college numbers promising for future

Three different first-round wideouts in last month's draft went over 1,300 receiving yards in their final years of college. Amari Cooper, Kevin White and Nelson Agholor. Based on the last 20 years of such players, it's a promising indicator of their NFL futures.

Over the last 20 years, there have been 21 other first-round wideouts who put up at least 1,200 yards their final seasons of college. At this point, only six of those players -- so just over a quarter -- can be considered out-and-out busts.

I took the 21 players and deemed them hits or misses based on the fairly generous determination as to whether they had at least one very good NFL season. The ones who did got a "Yes," the ones who didn't got a "No." There's some subjectivity here; Kendall Wright got a Yes. Feel free to point out where you think I've over- or underestimated certain players.

Some recent first-rounders and 2015 players (in bold) got question marks; too soon to say on those players. The receivers, sorted by receiving yards that final season, are presented below.

FIRST-ROUND WIDEOUTS, 1995-PRESENT (1,300 YDS IN COLLEGE)
PlayerTeamYearPickNoYardsTDHit?
Troy EdwardsSteelers199913140199631No
Brandin CooksSaints201420128173018?
Amari CooperRaiders20154124172716?
Ashley LelieBroncos20021984171319No
Larry FitzgeraldCardinals2004392167222Yes
Kendall WrightTitans201220108166314Yes
Randy MossVikings19982190164725Yes
Torry HoltRams1999688160413Yes
Lee EvansBills2004137515459Yes
Justin BlackmonJaguars20125121152218Yes
Sammy WatkinsBills20144101146412?
Roddy WhiteFalcons20052771145214Yes
Kevin WhiteBears20157109144710?
DeAndre HopkinsTexans20132782140518Yes
Mike EvansBuccaneers2014769139412Yes
Kenny Britt Titans2009308713717Yes
Rashaun Woods49ers20043177136715No
Charles RogersLions2003268135113No
Braylon EdwardsBrowns2005397133015Yes
David BostonCardinals1999874133014Yes
Terry GlennPatriots1996757131617Yes
Mike WilliamsLions20051095131416No
Freddie MitchellEagles2001256813148No
Nelson AgholorEagles201520104131312?

--Andy Richardson

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