Last week we took a look at yards per carry in their final college season for first-round running backs over the last 20 years. Ultimately it didn't appear to be a good predictor of which runners would turn out to be top-quality NFL players.

What about yards per reception for wideouts? College receivers with a chance to go in the first round this year include Clemson's DeAndre Hopkins, Tennessee's Cordarelle Patterson, and West Virginia's Tavon Austin. Hopkins (17.1) and Patterson (16.9) had excellent yards per catch numbers; Austin not so much (11.3). What does that mean for their NFL futures?

Perhaps moreso than with running backs, that high yards per reception in the final year of college looks like a positive for NFL success. Demaryius Thomas, Terry Glenn, Andre Johnson, Roddy White, Marvin Harrison -- all those guys turned into pretty good pros. Clearly there are some notable misses (Charles Rogers, J.J. Stokes, Troy Williamson), but the percentages look more favorable than they did in the running backs factoid.

Listed below are the first-round wideouts from the last 20 years, sorted by yards per catch in their final year of college. Interesting to see that two of the worst averages in that span came from the first two wideouts selected last April: Justin Blackmon and Michael Floyd. Lot of NFL flops near the bottom of the list: R. Jay Soward, Ted Ginn Jr., Peter Warrick, Reggie Williams.

YPC, final college season, first-round WRs (1993-2012) YPC     No     Yds
25.1     46     1154     Demaryius Thomas
23.1     57     1316     Terry Glenn
21.0     52     1092     Andre Johnson
21.0     45      944     Javon Walker
20.7     54     1116     Rae Carruth
20.6     75     1545     Lee Evans
20.5     71     1452     Roddy White
20.4     84     1713     Ashley Lelie
20.2     56     1131     Marvin Harrison
20.0     41      821     Donte Stallworth
19.9     68     1351     Charles Rogers
19.4     26      505     J.J. Stokes
19.4     43      835     Troy Williamson
19.3     68     1314     Freddie Mitchell
19.1     47      900     Ike Hilliard
19.1     36      689     Michael Westbrook
19.1     48      917     Bryant Johnson
19.0     17      323     Dez Bryant
19.0     57     1082     Charles Johnson
18.7     51      956     Rod Gardner
18.6     69     1286     Sylvester Morris
18.4     53      977     Santonio Holmes
18.3     90     1647     Randy Moss
18.3     71     1298     Robert Meachem
18.2     88     1604     Torry Holt
18.2     92     1672     Larry Fitzgerald
18.1     53      957     Plaxico Burress
18.0     49      881     Thomas Lewis
18.0     74     1330     David Boston
18.0     68     1222     Hakeem Nicks
18.0     72     1293     Reidel Anthony
17.8     77     1367     Rashaun Woods
17.7     35      621     Derrick Alexander
17.6     78     1373     Johnnie Morton
17.6     43      755     Reggie Wayne
17.1     62     1061     Koren Robinson
16.6     45      748     Santana Moss
16.5     65     1070     Sean Dawkins
16.4     45      739     Eddie Kennison
16.1     40      644     Percy Harvin
15.9     42      669     Yatil Green
15.8     76     1202     Calvin Johnson
15.8     63      994     David Terrell
15.8     87     1371     Kenny Britt
15.6     49     764     Curtis Conway
15.5     53      822     Jon Baldwin
15.5     63      977     O.J. McDuffie
15.4     70     1079     Roy Williams
15.4   108     1663     Kendall Wright
15.4     76     1170     Marcus Nash
15.2     65     990     Dwayne Bowe
15.2     55     834     Michael Jenkins
14.9     56     836     Craig Davis
14.9     57     848     A.J. Green
14.5     36     523     Joey Galloway
14.5     78     1133     Julio Jones
14.5     42     609     Darrius Heyward-Bey
14.4     51     734     Anthony Gonzalez
14.3   140   1996     Troy Edwards
14.2     90     1276     A.J. Jenkins
13.8     78     1079     Michael Clayton
13.8     95     1314     Mike Williams
13.7     60     824     Kevin Dyson
13.7     97   1330     Braylon Edwards
13.6     34     463     Travis Taylor
13.5     90     1218     Keyshawn Johnson
13.3     66      876     Mark Clayton
13.2     59      781     Ted Ginn Jr.
13.2     71     934     Peter Warrick
12.6   121   1522     Justin Blackmon
12.6     62      779     Eric Moulds
12.5     89     1109     Reggie Williams
12.4    102     1260     Jeremy Maclin
12.0     97     1165     Michael Crabtree
11.9     55       655     R. Jay Soward
11.5     100     1147     Michael Floyd

--Andy Richardson