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 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Year | First WR | Rec-Yds-TD | Second WR | Rec-Yds-TD |
Ind. | 1998 | Jerome Pathon | 114-1320-4 | E.G. Green | 54-665-2 |
Chi. | 1999 | • D’Wayne Bates | 15-221-1 | Marty Booker | 166-1780-13 |
Cin. | 2000 | Peter Warrick | 174-1865-14 | Ron Dugans | 89-797-3 |
Clev. | 2000 | Dennis Northcutt | 95-1234-8 | JaJuan Dawson | 52-664-2 |
Ariz. | 2003 | • Bryant Johnson | 124-1407-3 | Anquan Boldin | 259-3402-16 |
S.F. | 2004 | Rashaun Woods | 7-160-1 | Derrick Hamilton | 0-0-0 |
Tenn. | 2005 | • Courtney Roby | 21-289-1 | Brandon Jones | 71-931-8 |
Pitt. | 2006 | Santonio Holmes | 156-2587-16 | Willie Reid | 4-54-0 |
Cin. | 2008 | • Jerome Simpson | 21-279-3 | Andre Caldwell | 87-855-3 |
Wash. | 2008 | Devin Thomas | 40-445-4 | Malcolm Kelly | 28-365-0 |
Clev. | 2009 | • Brian Robiskie | 39-441-3 | Mohamed Massaquoi | 101-1491-7 |
NYG | 2009 | Hakeem Nicks | 202-3034-24 | Ramses Barden | 15-174-0 |
Den. | 2010 | Demaryius Thomas | 148-2268-16 | Eric Decker | 135-1782-22 |
Buff. | 2013 | Robert Woods | 152-1838-11 | Marquise Goodwin | 20-349-3 |
St.L. | 2013 | Tavon Austin | 123-1133-19 | Stedman Bailey | 59-843-3 |
Jac. | 2014 | • Marqise Lee | 115-1464-5 | Allen Robinson | 201-2831-22 |
Phil. | 2014 | Jordan Matthews | 225-2673-19 | Josh Huff | 51-523-5 |
Hou. | 2016 | Will Fuller | 47-635-3 | Braxton Miller | 15-99-1 |
Tenn. | 2017 | Corey Davis | ?-?-? | Taywan Taylor | ?-?-? |
—Ian Allan