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Taywan Taylor impressing for Titans

Can he outproduce more heralded Corey Davis?

I liked the look of Taywan Taylor against Carolina. He caught a 20-yard pass on the first play of the game, and he later converted a third-and-11 with an 18-yard grab, before he got popped. He also had a 42-yard catch against the Jets – passes the eyeball test.

It got we wondering. What are the chances of this player outproducing Corey Davis? Davis is supposed to be good; he was the 5th pick of the draft. We haven’t seen him yet because he’s been hurt, sitting out both of the first two exhibition games.

Way too early to draw any conclusions, of course. Let’s see Davis on the field.

But Taylor looks like he can play. The Titans must really have liked him – why else would they have used a third-round pick to address a position that seemed to already be handled?

It will not shock me if five years from now, we look back and agree that Taylor is a better pro.

It’s happened before in this kind of situation. Anquan Boldin and Allen Robinson were both selected after their teams had already drafted other wide receivers.

Since 2000, in fact, 18 teams have chosen multiple wide receivers in the first three rounds of the draft. In six of those situations (a third) the second wide receiver has finished with better numbers in the first three years of their career. (On the chart below, you’re seeing the three-year totals for each player, and I’m assuming standard scoring).

TWO WIDE RECEIVERS IN FIRST THREE ROUNDS
TeamYearFirst WRRec-Yds-TDSecond WRRec-Yds-TD
Ind.1998Jerome Pathon114-1320-4E.G. Green54-665-2
Chi.1999• D’Wayne Bates15-221-1Marty Booker166-1780-13
Cin.2000Peter Warrick174-1865-14Ron Dugans89-797-3
Clev.2000Dennis Northcutt95-1234-8JaJuan Dawson52-664-2
Ariz.2003• Bryant Johnson124-1407-3Anquan Boldin259-3402-16
S.F.2004Rashaun Woods7-160-1Derrick Hamilton0-0-0
Tenn.2005• Courtney Roby21-289-1Brandon Jones71-931-8
Pitt.2006Santonio Holmes156-2587-16Willie Reid4-54-0
Cin.2008• Jerome Simpson21-279-3Andre Caldwell87-855-3
Wash.2008Devin Thomas40-445-4Malcolm Kelly28-365-0
Clev.2009• Brian Robiskie39-441-3Mohamed Massaquoi101-1491-7
NYG2009Hakeem Nicks202-3034-24Ramses Barden15-174-0
Den.2010Demaryius Thomas148-2268-16Eric Decker135-1782-22
Buff.2013Robert Woods152-1838-11Marquise Goodwin20-349-3
St.L.2013Tavon Austin123-1133-19Stedman Bailey59-843-3
Jac.2014• Marqise Lee115-1464-5Allen Robinson201-2831-22
Phil.2014Jordan Matthews225-2673-19Josh Huff51-523-5
Hou.2016Will Fuller47-635-3Braxton Miller15-99-1
Tenn.2017Corey Davis?-?-?Taywan Taylor?-?-?

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index