The top-end players at wide receiver weren't viewed as favorably as in other recent years. A year ago, for example, six wide receivers were selected in the top 18 picks, with three going at 10-11-12. Last night the first wideout, Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba (pictured), barely snuck into the top 20.
That kicked off a run of four straight wide receiver picks, at least, giving us a similar number of round 1 wideouts to previous years (5-6 in each of the last three drafts). As for the landing spots, I think it's kind of a mixed bag. At least one looks kind of poor initially, as I feared, while another isn't quite as awful.
With Smith-Njigba, he goes to one of the five teams that already had a pair of 1,000-yard wideouts a year ago, Seattle (with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett). Geno Smith had a great season, but it's difficult to imagine him leading an offense with three fantasy-viable pass catchers. And indeed, a year ago Seattle had one of the lower-producing 3rd-best wide receivers in the league. Only 10 teams got fewer catches from that player than the Seahawks, with Marquise Goodwin.
| 3RD-BEST WIDE RECEIVERS, 2022 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | No | Yds | TD |
| Keenan Allen | LAC | 66 | 752 | 4 |
| K.J. Osborn | Min. | 60 | 650 | 5 |
| Tyler Boyd | Cin. | 58 | 762 | 5 |
| Greg Dortch | Ari. | 52 | 467 | 2 |
| Russell Gage | T.B. | 51 | 426 | 5 |
| Marvin Jones | Jac. | 46 | 529 | 3 |
| Romeo Doubs | G.B. | 42 | 425 | 3 |
| Isaiah McKenzie | Buf. | 42 | 423 | 4 |
| Alec Pierce | Ind. | 41 | 593 | 2 |
| Michael Gallup | Dall. | 39 | 424 | 4 |
| Nico Collins | Hou. | 37 | 481 | 2 |
| Elijah Moore | NYJ | 37 | 446 | 1 |
| Hunter Renfrow | L.V. | 36 | 330 | 2 |
| Jahan Dotson | Was. | 35 | 523 | 7 |
| Kendrick Bourne | N.E. | 35 | 434 | 1 |
| Jauan Jennings | S.F. | 35 | 416 | 1 |
| Quez Watkins | Phil. | 33 | 354 | 3 |
| Isaiah Hodgins | NYG | 33 | 351 | 4 |
| Chase Claypool | Pitt. | 32 | 311 | 1 |
| DJ Chark | Det. | 30 | 502 | 3 |
| Trent Sherfield | Mia. | 30 | 417 | 2 |
| Marquise Goodwin | Sea. | 27 | 387 | 4 |
| Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | Ten. | 25 | 397 | 3 |
| Van Jefferson | LAR | 24 | 369 | 3 |
| Kendall Hinton | Den. | 24 | 311 | 0 |
| David Bell | Clev. | 24 | 214 | 0 |
| Shi Smith | Car. | 22 | 296 | 2 |
| Tre'Quan Smith | N.O. | 19 | 278 | 1 |
| Dante Pettis | Chi. | 19 | 245 | 3 |
| Justin Watson | K.C. | 15 | 315 | 2 |
| Rashod Bateman | Balt. | 15 | 285 | 2 |
| Damiere Byrd | Atl. | 13 | 268 | 2 |
Lockett, at least, turns 31 in September; might not be too far off from being slid into a lesser role. But neither he nor DK Metcalf have missed many games -- a combined 3 in their careers, often suiting up through injuries -- so it's hard to be really thrilled about Smith-Njigba, at least this season. He's well used to producing even with two other great receivers around him (two years ago he outproduced both Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave), but Seattle's not going to have that kind of passing game. He'll play in the slot and have some viable PPR games, but there would have been better spots for him to be one of the top 2 receivers. Kind of a downer.
I initially felt similarly about Quentin Johnston, since he goes to a Chargers team that already has two No. 1 type wideouts in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. He's similar to those guys, a big target, and again, it might be hard for him to move past either of those players as a rookie.
But Allen and Williams have more checkered injury histories than the Seattle wideout, and the Chargers have a better passing game. Note from the same table that Allen (due to missing time to injury last year) was the Chargers' 3rd-best wideout a year ago, behind Williams and Josh Palmer, but he was the league's most productive of those No. 3s, catching 66 passes. The Chargers put three wideouts over 60 receptions last season, so no reason why they can't do it again. And that's assuming Allen and Williams can stay healthy.
As a player, though, Johnston worries me. Those big body types have been hit or miss lately (Josh Doctson and Kevin White, anyone?). He opted not to run at the combine, not a promising sign for his speed. And Palmer is still there.
Ultimately, it's the next two first-round wideouts who might make the best rookie impact -- Zay Flowers to the Ravens, and Jordan Addison to the Vikings.
Flowers reminds me a little of a former Raven star, Steve Smith. It's an easy comparison (small, competitive, some big-play ability), but I think it works -- and I love the landing spot. Baltimore has a pair of veterans coming back from injury, Rashod Bateman and Odell Beckham. The latter has no more experience working with newly signed Lamar Jackson than Flowers, the former has relatively little. Flowers can push to be one of the top 2 options right away (more so than Smith-Njigba or Johnston, certainly).
Addison, meanwhile, has the least of these guys' competition to start right away. K.J. Osborn and Jalen Nailor; OK. Addison is small (5-11, 173) but quick, and no one is holding DeVonta Smith or Jaylen Waddle's size against him these days. If you're looking for a Week 1 (or let's say Week 3, like Justin Jefferson as a rookie) starter among these first-round wideouts, Addison might be the best bet.
There will be more wideouts coming off the board tonight, but these are the most highly regarded players in this class. The second two drafted look best in the short term.
--Andy Richardson