That’s a nice start for Rashee Rice. He caught a touchdown, and he looks like a player who’s going to be an NFL starter for a bunch of years. He belongs.
That’s more than can be said for Skyy Moore. Moore was also a second-round pick, but here we are (entering his second season) and we haven’t yet seen a strong indication that he’s going to be getting over the hump. Moore had a key punt return late in the AFC Championship game and caught a routine touchdown in the Super Bowl, but he hasn’t popped yet.
Rice looked really good in the second quarter of that preseason game in Arizona. He looks better than Moore via the eyeball test. How long it takes him to clearly more ahead of Moore in this offense, we’ll see. Moore has the advantage of having been around for a year, working in the offense.
With Rice scoring a touchdown in that first game, that’s statistically promising. In the 32-team era, 27 wide receivers chosen in the first or second round have scored touchdowns in their first games. Eleven of those players at some point in their career posted top-10 numbers in PPR leagues. Another eight had at least one season in the top 32. (I was going to go with top 30, but I saw Sterling Shepard and Will Fuller at 32 and thought that they have had some NFL success.)
In the chart below, you’re seeing the initial game for these players, following by the receiving stats of the best season of their career. The final number (the rank) shows where they ranked in that best season using PPR scoring.
The players with the black dots, they never had a notable NFL season (at least so far).
| ROOKIES CATCHING TOUCHDOWNS IN THEIR FIRST GAME | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Receiver (Rd) | Opp | Tgt | Game | Best Yr | Rk |
| 2002 | Javon Walker, G.B. (1) | Atl. | W 37-34 | 4-56-1 | 89-1382-12 | 3 |
| 2002 | Deion Branch, N.E. (2) | Pitt. | W 30-14 | 6-83-1 | 78-998-5 | 22 |
| 2002 | Donte Stallworth, N.O. (1) | at T.B. | W 26-20 | 4-63-1 | 70-945-7 | 23 |
| 2002 | • Andre Davis, Cle. (2) | K.C. | L 39-40 | 3-14-1 | 40-576-5 | 46 |
| 2003 | Anquan Boldin, Ariz. (2) | at Det. | L 24-42 | 10-217-2 | 101-1377-8 | 3 |
| 2003 | • Tyrone Calico, Ten. (2) | Oak. | W 25-20 | 1-11-1 | 18-297-4 | 86 |
| 2003 | • Charles Rogers, Det. (1) | Ari. | W 42-24 | 4-38-2 | 22-243-3 | 88 |
| 2005 | • Mike Williams, Det. (1) | G.B. | W 17-3 | 1-3-1 | 65-751-2 | 41 |
| 2007 | Calvin Johnson, Det. (1) | at Oak. | W 36-21 | 4-70-1 | 122-1964-5 | 1 |
| 2008 | Eddie Royal, Den. (2) | at Oak. | W 41-14 | 9-146-1 | 91-980-5 | 14 |
| 2009 | Percy Harvin, Min. (1) | at Cle. | W 34-20 | 3-36-1 | 87-967-6 | 6 |
| 2011 | A.J. Green, Cin. (1) | at Cle. | W 27-17 | 1-41-1 | 98-1426-11 | 4 |
| 2011 | Randall Cobb, G.B. (2) | N.O. | W 42-34 | 2-35-1 | 91-1287-12 | 7 |
| 2012 | Alshon Jeffery, Chi. (2) | Ind. | W 41-21 | 3-80-1 | 89-1421-7 | 8 |
| 2012 | • Stephen Hill, NYJ (2) | Buff. | W 48-28 | 5-89-2 | 21-252-3 | 97 |
| 2013 | Robert Woods, Buff. (2) | N.E. | L 21-23 | 1-18-1 | 86-1219-6 | 11 |
| 2014 | Brandin Cooks, N.O. (1) | at Atl. | L 34-37 | 7-77-1 | 78-1173-8 | 10 |
| 2014 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. (1) | at T.B. | W 20-14 | 6-92-1 | 73-1008-9 | 16 |
| 2016 | Will Fuller, Hou. (1) | Chi. | W 23-14 | 5-107-1 | 53-879-8 | 32 |
| 2016 | Sterling Shepard, NYG (2) | at Dall. | W 20-19 | 3-43-1 | 66-872-4 | 32 |
| 2018 | • Dante Pettis, S.F. (2) | at Min. | L 16-24 | 2-61-1 | 27-467-5 | 71 |
| 2019 | Marquise Brown, Balt. (1) | at Mia. | W 59-10 | 4-147-2 | 91-1008-6 | 21 |
| 2020 | • Laviska Shenault, Jac. (2) | Ind. | W 27-20 | 3-37-1 | 58-600-5 | 46 |
| 2021 | JaMarr Chase, Cin. (1) | Min. | W 27-24 | 5-101-1 | 81-1455-13 | 5 |
| 2021 | Jaylen Waddle, Mia. (1) | at N.E. | W 17-16 | 4-61-1 | 75-1356-8 | 8 |
| 2021 | DeVonta Smith, Phil. (1) | at Atl. | W 32-6 | 6-71-1 | 95-1196-7 | 9 |
| 2022 | • Jahan Dotson, Was. (1) | Jac. | W 28-22 | 3-40-2 | 35-523-7 | 51 |
| 2023 | Rashee Rice, K.C. (2) | Det. | L 20-21 | 3-29-1 | ?-?-? | ? |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
As long as we’ve got the stats our, I will show you also the receivers who scored in their first games who were not selected in the first or second rounds. There are some notable names on the list, including Cooper Kupp and Tyreek Hill.
There are 20 guys selected after the first two rounds. Five of them have had at least one top-10 season. Over half of them (tagged with black dots) never had a top-30 season.
| LATER PICKS CATCHING TOUCHDOWNS IN THEIR FIRST GAME | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Receiver (Rd) | Opp | Tgt | Game | Best Yr | Rk |
| 2002 | • Ron Johnson, Balt. (4) | at Car. | L 7-10 | 2-22-1 | 19-417-2 | 66 |
| 2004 | • Ernest Wilford, Jac. (4) | at Buff. | W 13-10 | 1-7-1 | 41-681-7 | 40 |
| 2006 | Marques Colston, N.O. (7) | at Cle. | W 19-14 | 4-49-1 | 98-1202-11 | 8 |
| 2007 | • John Broussard, Jac. (7) | Ten. | L 10-13 | 2-55-1 | 4-126-1 | 131 |
| 2009 | • Louis Murphy, Oak. (4) | S.D. | L 20-24 | 4-87-1 | 41-609-2 | 63 |
| 2010 | Mike Williams, T.B. (4) | Cle. | W 17-14 | 5-30-1 | 65-964-11 | 16 |
| 2011 | Doug Baldwin, Sea. (FA) | at S.F. | L 17-33 | 4-83-1 | 94-1128-7 | 8 |
| 2012 | • Rod Streater, Oak. (FA) | S.D. | L 14-22 | 4-27-1 | 60-888-4 | 33 |
| 2012 | • Aldrick Robinson, Was. (6) | at N.O. | W 40-32 | 4-52-1 | 17-231-5 | 96 |
| 2013 | • Marlon Brown, Balt. (FA) | at Den. | L 27-49 | 4-65-1 | 49-524-7 | 48 |
| 2014 | Allen Hurns, Jac. (FA) | at Phil. | L 17-34 | 4-110-2 | 64-1031-10 | 19 |
| 2014 | John Brown, Ariz. (3) | S.D. | W 18-17 | 2-29-1 | 72-1060-6 | 20 |
| 2015 | • Brandon Coleman, N.O. (FA) | at Ari. | L 19-31 | 4-41-1 | 23-364-3 | 81 |
| 2015 | • Rashad Greene, Jac. (5) | Car. | L 9-20 | 7-28-1 | 19-93-2 | 113 |
| 2016 | Tyreek Hill, K.C. (5) | S.D. | W 33-27 | 1-9-1 | 119-1710-7 | 2 |
| 2017 | Cooper Kupp, LAR (3) | Ind. | W 46-9 | 4-76-1 | 145-1947-16 | 1 |
| 2017 | Kenny Golladay, Det. (3) | Ari. | W 35-23 | 4-69-2 | 65-1190-11 | 9 |
| 2019 | Terry McLaurin, Was. (3) | at Phil. | L 27-32 | 5-125-1 | 77-1191-5 | 16 |
| 2019 | • Preston Williams, Mia. (FA) | Balt. | L 10-59 | 3-24-1 | 32-428-3 | 77 |
| 2019 | • Miles Boykin, Balt. (3) | at Mia. | W 59-10 | 1-5-1 | 19-266-4 | 100 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan