Few teams have a greater need for breakout wide receivers than the Cleveland Browns, so not surprising they drafted two of them in the top 40 picks in April. Offseason hype doesn't often mean much, but it beats the alternative. Denzel Boston has been getting some love thus far.
Cleveland drafted KC Concepcion in the first round and Boston in the second. I saw an encouraging story yesterday about Concepcion "catching everything thrown his way" on his first day of practice.
But there have been multiple stories on Boston, selected just 15 picks later, being one of the standouts this summer. These are feel-good stories and it's too early to draw any conclusions, but it had me wondering how often the wide receiver drafted second turns out to be the better NFL player.
Teams selecting multiple wide receivers early in the same draft (I defined "early" as in the first three rounds) doesn't happen very often. Since 2000, it's happened 25 times -- almost exactly once per year. It happened twice this year: Cleveland, with Concepcion and Boston, and Miami, with Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell.
How often has the player drafted second turned out better? Not very. Not as rookies, and not in their career. Maybe teams are really good at scouting, or maybe the player selected earlier gets more opportunities and benefit of the doubt. Or some combination.
Of those 25 previous pairings, the wide receiver drafted second had the better rookie season just five times. And only twice did that player go on to have the superior career.
Table shows all instances of a team drafting two wide receivers in the first three rounds since 2000. When the player drafted later had the better rookie season, he's listed in bold.
| TEAMS DRAFTING MULTIPLE WRS (RD 1-3), 2000-PRESENT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rd | Pk | Year | Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 1 | 24 | 2026 | KC Concepcion, Cle. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2 | 39 | 2026 | Denzel Boston, Cle. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3 | 75 | 2026 | Caleb Douglas, Mia. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3 | 94 | 2026 | Chris Bell, Mia. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 1 | 23 | 2025 | Matthew Golden, G.B. | 29 | 361 | 0 | 89 |
| 3 | 87 | 2025 | Savion Williams, G.B. | 10 | 78 | 1 | 143 |
| 2 | 34 | 2025 | Jayden Higgins, Hou. | 41 | 525 | 6 | 47 |
| 3 | 79 | 2025 | Jaylin Noel, Hou. | 26 | 292 | 2 | 92 |
| 1 | 15 | 2020 | Jerry Jeudy, Den. | 52 | 856 | 3 | 45 |
| 2 | 46 | 2020 | KJ Hamler, Den. | 30 | 381 | 3 | 88 |
| 1 | 12 | 2020 | Henry Ruggs, L.V. | 26 | 452 | 2 | 89 |
| 3 | 81 | 2020 | Bryan Edwards, L.V. | 11 | 193 | 1 | 134 |
| 1 | 25 | 2019 | Hollywood Brown, Balt. | 46 | 584 | 7 | 46 |
| 3 | 93 | 2019 | Miles Boykin, Balt. | 13 | 198 | 3 | 107 |
| 2 | 36 | 2019 | Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 57 | 802 | 6 | 31 |
| 3 | 67 | 2019 | Jalen Hurd, S.F. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 999 |
| 1 | 5 | 2017 | Corey Davis, Ten. | 34 | 375 | 0 | 85 |
| 3 | 72 | 2017 | Taywan Taylor, Ten. | 16 | 231 | 1 | 110 |
| 1 | 21 | 2016 | Will Fuller, Hou. | 47 | 635 | 3 | 61 |
| 3 | 85 | 2016 | Braxton Miller, Hou. | 15 | 99 | 1 | 133 |
| 2 | 61 | 2014 | Allen Robinson, Jac. | 48 | 548 | 2 | 65 |
| 2 | 39 | 2014 | Marqise Lee, Jac. | 37 | 422 | 1 | 88 |
| 2 | 42 | 2014 | Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 67 | 872 | 8 | 25 |
| 3 | 86 | 2014 | Josh Huff, Phil. | 8 | 98 | 1 | 131 |
| 2 | 41 | 2013 | Robert Woods, Buff. | 40 | 587 | 3 | 59 |
| 3 | 78 | 2013 | Marquise Goodwin, Buff. | 17 | 283 | 3 | 100 |
| 1 | 8 | 2013 | Tavon Austin, St.L. | 40 | 418 | 6 | 53 |
| 3 | 92 | 2013 | Stedman Bailey, St.L. | 17 | 226 | 1 | 113 |
| 3 | 78 | 2010 | Brandon LaFell, Car. | 38 | 468 | 1 | 76 |
| 3 | 89 | 2010 | Armanti Edwards, Car. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 183 |
| 1 | 22 | 2010 | Demaryius Thomas, Den. | 22 | 283 | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | 87 | 2010 | Eric Decker, Den. | 6 | 106 | 1 | 138 |
| 2 | 50 | 2009 | Mohamed Massaquoi, Cle. | 34 | 624 | 3 | 66 |
| 2 | 36 | 2009 | Brian Robiskie, Cle. | 7 | 106 | 0 | 129 |
| 1 | 29 | 2009 | Hakeem Nicks, NYG | 47 | 790 | 6 | 33 |
| 3 | 85 | 2009 | Ramses Barden, NYG | 1 | 16 | 0 | 161 |
| 3 | 97 | 2008 | Andre Caldwell, Cin. | 11 | 78 | 0 | 127 |
| 2 | 46 | 2008 | Jerome Simpson, Cin. | 1 | 2 | 0 | 177 |
| 2 | 34 | 2008 | Devin Thomas, Was. | 15 | 120 | 1 | 110 |
| 2 | 51 | 2008 | Malcolm Kelly, Was. | 3 | 18 | 0 | 163 |
| 1 | 25 | 2006 | Santonio Holmes, Pitt. | 49 | 824 | 3 | 38 |
| 3 | 95 | 2006 | Willie Reid, Pitt. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 999 |
| 3 | 96 | 2005 | Brandon Jones, Ten. | 23 | 299 | 2 | 94 |
| 3 | 68 | 2005 | Courtney Roby, Ten. | 21 | 289 | 1 | 97 |
| 1 | 31 | 2004 | Rashaun Woods, S.F. | 7 | 160 | 1 | 122 |
| 3 | 77 | 2004 | Derrick Hamilton, S.F. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 999 |
| 2 | 54 | 2003 | Anquan Boldin, Ari. | 101 | 1377 | 8 | 3 |
| 1 | 17 | 2003 | Bryant Johnson, Ari. | 35 | 438 | 1 | 82 |
| 2 | 41 | 2002 | Robert Ferguson, G.B. | 22 | 293 | 3 | 88 |
| 1 | 20 | 2002 | Javon Walker, G.B. | 23 | 319 | 1 | 95 |
| 1 | 4 | 2000 | Peter Warrick, Cin. | 51 | 592 | 7 | 30 |
| 3 | 66 | 2000 | Ron Dugans, Cin. | 14 | 125 | 1 | 108 |
| 2 | 32 | 2000 | Dennis Northcutt, Cle. | 39 | 422 | 0 | 70 |
| 3 | 79 | 2000 | JaJuan Dawson, Cle. | 9 | 97 | 1 | 117 |
The two instances where the receiver selected second had the better career are notable. Back in 2003, Anquan Boldin was drafted two rounds after Bryant Johnson and went on to have one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history, catching 101 passes for 1,377 yards, with 8 TDs. Eleven years later, Allen Robinson was drafted 22 picks after Marquise Lee, and while he was only slightly better as a rookie, he put a 1,400-yard campaign in his second season, with 14 TDs.
In my own rookie draft back in May, I selected Concepcion at 1.07, and Boston was drafted 4 picks later. In the magazine, you'll see them ranked 4th and 6th at the position in the rookie story -- not a lot of difference.
The Browns might not care much which one turns out better. Both hitting would be nice. As the table above makes clear, that doesn't happen very often, but you never know.
--Andy Richardson
