[OC] Analysing First Round Picks (Part1)
This is the first in a two part series analysing the statistics of 1st round WRs and CBs.Statistics were obtained from Pro Football Reference.
The aim is to get a gauge on what we might reasonably expect from Justin Jefferson and Jeff Gladney.
We'll start with the WRs taken in the 1st round of the past 11 drafts,this gives a reasonable sample size of 40 players.
As the table below shows,the average number of games started is 7.2 and the average number of TDs is 3.7 while the yards per game is 41.
Many fans expect Jefferson to be able to produce at a high level right off the bat and pick up Stefon Diggs production level,however this is probably unrealistic.In his final season with the Vikings,Diggs scored 6 TDs to be equal first with Adam Theilen and Kyle Rudolph while averaging 75.3 yards per game.
Jefferson would have to perform at well above the average of 1st round selections over the past 10 years.Indeed,only 1 player has exceeded 75 yards per game in their rookie year and only 7 players have exceeded 6 TDs.
Given the issues of Covid 19 and the disruption to OTA's,it would be astounding if Jefferson in his rookie year was able to contribute the numbers Diggs produced. If Jefferson were able to produce league average numbers,I think this would be a solid rookie year and a good foundation to build on.
The aim is to get a gauge on what we might reasonably expect from Justin Jefferson and Jeff Gladney.
We'll start with the WRs taken in the 1st round of the past 11 drafts,this gives a reasonable sample size of 40 players.
As the table below shows,the average number of games started is 7.2 and the average number of TDs is 3.7 while the yards per game is 41.
Many fans expect Jefferson to be able to produce at a high level right off the bat and pick up Stefon Diggs production level,however this is probably unrealistic.In his final season with the Vikings,Diggs scored 6 TDs to be equal first with Adam Theilen and Kyle Rudolph while averaging 75.3 yards per game.
Jefferson would have to perform at well above the average of 1st round selections over the past 10 years.Indeed,only 1 player has exceeded 75 yards per game in their rookie year and only 7 players have exceeded 6 TDs.
Given the issues of Covid 19 and the disruption to OTA's,it would be astounding if Jefferson in his rookie year was able to contribute the numbers Diggs produced. If Jefferson were able to produce league average numbers,I think this would be a solid rookie year and a good foundation to build on.
YEAR/ PICK# | PLAYER | AGE | TEAM | GMS | GMS START | TGT | REC | YDS | YDS/ REC | TD | 1ST/ DWN | LONG | REC/ GM | YDS/ GM | YDS/ TGT |
2009 #7 | Darrius Heywood-Bey | 22 | OAK | 11 | 11 | 40 | 9 | 124 | 13.8 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 0.8 | 11.3 | 3.1 |
2009 #10 | Michael Crabtree | 21 | SF | 11 | 11 | 86 | 48 | 625 | 13.0 | 2 | 28 | 50 | 4.4 | 56.8 | 7.3 |
2009 #19 | Jeremy Maclin | 21 | PHI | 15 | 13 | 91 | 56 | 773 | 13.8 | 4 | 31 | 56 | 3.7 | 51.5 | 8.5 |
2009 #22 | Percy Harvin | 21 | MIN | 15 | 8 | 91 | 60 | 790 | 13.2 | 6 | 43 | 51 | 4.0 | 52.7 | 8.7 |
2009 #29 | Hakeem Nicks | 21 | NYG | 14 | 6 | 74 | 47 | 790 | 16.8 | 6 | 32 | 68 | 3.4 | 56.4 | 10.7 |
2009 #30 | Kenny Britt | 20 | TEN | 16 | 6 | 75 | 42 | 701 | 16.7 | 3 | 34 | 57 | 2.6 | 43.8 | 9.3 |
2010 #22 | Demarius Thomas | 22 | DEN | 10 | 2 | 39 | 22 | 283 | 12.9 | 2 | 15 | 31 | 2.2 | 28.3 | 7.3 |
2010 #24 | Dez Bryant | 21 | DAL | 12 | 2 | 73 | 45 | 561 | 12.5 | 6 | 23 | 46 | 3.8 | 46.8 | 7.7 |
2011 #4 | AJ Green | 23 | CIN | 15 | 15 | 115 | 65 | 1057 | 16.3 | 7 | 40 | 48 | 4.3 | 70.5 | 9.2 |
2011 #6 | Julio Jones | 22 | ATL | 13 | 13 | 95 | 54 | 959 | 17.8 | 8 | 36 | 80 | 4.2 | 73.8 | 10.1 |
2011 #26 | Jonathan Baldwin | 22 | KAN | 11 | 3 | 52 | 21 | 254 | 12.1 | 1 | 13 | 39 | 1.9 | 23.1 | 4.9 |
2012 #5 | Justin Blackmon | 22 | JAX | 16 | 14 | 132 | 64 | 865 | 13.5 | 5 | 41 | 81 | 4.0 | 54.1 | 6.6 |
2012 #13 | Michael Floyd | 22 | ARZ | 16 | 3 | 86 | 45 | 562 | 12.5 | 2 | 26 | 53 | 2.8 | 35.1 | 6.5 |
2012 #20 | Kendall Wright | 22 | TEN | 15 | 5 | 104 | 64 | 626 | 9.8 | 4 | 38 | 38 | 4.3 | 41.7 | 6.0 |
2012 #30 | AJ Jenkins | 22 | SF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 #8 | Tavon Austin | 23 | STL | 13 | 3 | 69 | 40 | 418 | 10.5 | 4 | 17 | 81 | 3.1 | 32.2 | 6.1 |
2013 #27 | DeAndre Hopkins | 21 | HOU | 16 | 16 | 91 | 52 | 802 | 15.4 | 2 | 38 | 66 | 3.3 | 50.1 | 8.8 |
2013 #29 | Cordarrelle Patterson | 22 | MIN | 16 | 6 | 77 | 45 | 469 | 10.4 | 4 | 19 | 79 | 2.8 | 29.3 | 6.1 |
2014 #4 | Sammy Watkins | 21 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 128 | 65 | 982 | 15.1 | 6 | 48 | 84 | 4.1 | 61.4 | 7.7 |
2014 #7 | Mike Evans | 21 | TB | 15 | 15 | 122 | 68 | 1051 | 15.5 | 12 | 46 | 56 | 4.5 | 70.1 | 8.6 |
2014 #12 | Odell Beckham | 21 | NYG | 12 | 11 | 130 | 91 | 1305 | 14.3 | 12 | 58 | 80 | 7.6 | 108.8 | 10.0 |
2014 #20 | Brandin Cooks | 20 | NO | 10 | 7 | 69 | 53 | 550 | 10.4 | 3 | 25 | 50 | 5.3 | 55.0 | 8.0 |
2014 #28 | Kelvin Benjamin | 23 | CAR | 16 | 15 | 145 | 73 | 1008 | 13.8 | 9 | 52 | 51 | 4.6 | 63.0 | 7.0 |
2015 #4 | Amari Cooper | 21 | OAK | 16 | 15 | 130 | 72 | 1070 | 14.9 | 6 | 47 | 68 | 4.5 | 66.9 | 8.2 |
2015 #7 | Kevin White | 23 | CHI | 4 | 4 | 36 | 19 | 187 | 9.8 | 0 | 8 | 32 | 4.8 | 46.8 | 5.2 |
2015 #14 | DeVante Parker | 22 | MIA | 14 | 4 | 50 | 26 | 494 | 19.0 | 3 | 20 | 49 | 1.9 | 35.3 | 9.9 |
2015 #20 | Nelson Agholor | 22 | PHI | 13 | 12 | 44 | 23 | 283 | 12.3 | 1 | 11 | 53 | 1.8 | 21.8 | 6.4 |
2015 #26 | Breshad Perriman | 21 | BAL | 16 | 1 | 66 | 33 | 499 | 15.1 | 3 | 19 | 53 | 2.1 | 31.2 | 7.6 |
2015 #29 | Phillip Dorsett | 22 | IND | 11 | 0 | 39 | 18 | 225 | 12.5 | 1 | 10 | 35 | 1.6 | 20.5 | 5.8 |
2016 #15 | Corey Coleman | 22 | CLE | 10 | 10 | 73 | 33 | 413 | 12.5 | 3 | 18 | 58 | 3.3 | 41.3 | 5.7 |
2016 #21 | Will Fuller | 22 | HOU | 14 | 13 | 92 | 47 | 635 | 13.5 | 2 | 31 | 53 | 3.4 | 45.4 | 6.9 |
2016 #22 | Josh Doctson | 23 | WAS | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 66 | 33.0 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 1.0 | 33.0 | 11.0 |
2016 #23 | Laquon Treadwell | 21 | MIN | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 5.0 |
2017 #5 | Corey Davis | 22 | TEN | 11 | 9 | 65 | 34 | 375 | 11.0 | 0 | 17 | 37 | 3.1 | 34.1 | 5.8 |
2017 #7 | Mike Williams | 22 | LAC | 10 | 1 | 23 | 11 | 95 | 8.6 | 0 | 7 | 20 | 1.1 | 9.5 | 4.1 |
2017 #9 | John Ross | 22 | CIN | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
2018 #24 | DJ Moore | 21 | CAR | 16 | 10 | 82 | 55 | 788 | 14.3 | 2 | 33 | 82 | 3.4 | 49.3 | 9.6 |
2018 #26 | Calvin Ridley | 23 | ATL | 16 | 5 | 92 | 64 | 821 | 12.8 | 10 | 39 | 75 | 4.0 | 51.3 | 8.9 |
2019 #25 | Marquise Brown | 22 | BAL | 14 | 11 | 71 | 46 | 584 | 12.7 | 7 | 24 | 83 | 3.3 | 41.7 | 8.2 |
2019 #32 | N'Keal Harry | 21 | NE | 7 | 5 | 24 | 12 | 105 | 8.8 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 1.7 | 15.0 | 4.4 |
XXXX | AVERAGES | XXX | XXXX | 12.3 | 7.2 | 72.0 | 40.6 | 555.2 | 13.0 | 3.7 | 25.1 | 51.4 | 3.0 | 41.0 | 7.0 |