I see that Charles Johnson is running ahead of Laquon Treadwell at Minnesota’s training camp, and I wonder if Treadwell will join the long list of heralded rookie wide receivers who don’t do much in their first season.
Treadwell is a big receiver, but he’s painfully slow. Separation will be a problem for him, and he needs to show he can come up with contested catchers against the NFL backs.
Many teams, recall, weren’t sold on Treadwell as a draft prospect. That’s why he lasted until 23rd overall.
Of the last 30 wide receivers who were first-round picks but who weren’t selected in the top 20 overall, only five went over 800 receiving yards in their first year. Only five scored more than 6 TDs.
Vikings fans, at least, can optimistically point out that three of the top 5 scorers of this group are players who were selected by Minnesota. Randy Moss, Percy Harvin and Cordarrelle Patterson.
WIDE RECEIVERS: LATE IN FIRST ROUND | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yards | TD |
1998 | Randy Moss, Minn. | 68 | 1,313 | 17 |
2014 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 73 | 1,008 | 9 |
2007 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 70 | 995 | 5 |
2009 | Percy Harvin, Minn. | 60 | 790 | 8 |
2009 | Hakeem Nicks, NYG | 47 | 790 | 6 |
2010 | Dez Bryant, Dall. | 45 | 561 | 8 |
2013 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Minn. | 45 | 469 | 9 |
2006 | Santonio Holmes, Pitt. | 49 | 824 | 3 |
2013 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 52 | 802 | 2 |
2009 | Kenny Britt, Tenn. | 42 | 701 | 3 |
2000 | Sylvester Morris, K.C. | 48 | 678 | 3 |
1997 | Rae Carruth, Car. | 44 | 545 | 4 |
2007 | Anthony Gonzalez, Ind. | 37 | 576 | 3 |
2005 | Matt Jones, Jac. | 36 | 432 | 5 |
2005 | Mark Clayton, Balt. | 44 | 471 | 3 |
2005 | Roddy White, Atl. | 29 | 446 | 3 |
1996 | Eric Moulds, Buff. | 20 | 279 | 3 |
2010 | Demaryius Thomas, Den. | 22 | 283 | 2 |
2001 | Reggie Wayne, Ind. | 27 | 345 | 0 |
2001 | Freddie Mitchell, Phil. | 21 | 283 | 1 |
2011 | Jon Baldwin, K.C. | 21 | 254 | 1 |
2015 | Phillip Dorsett, Ind. | 18 | 225 | 1 |
2007 | Craig Davis, S.D. | 20 | 188 | 1 |
2004 | Rashaun Woods, S.F. | 7 | 160 | 1 |
2000 | R. Jay Soward, Jac. | 14 | 154 | 1 |
2004 | Michael Jenkins, Atl. | 7 | 119 | 0 |
1998 | Marcus Nash, Den. | 4 | 76 | 0 |
2015 | Breshad Perriman, Balt. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2007 | Robert Meachem, N.O. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | A.J. Jenkins, S.F. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
—Ian Allan