With poll #15, we officially round out the front nine. With it, we will look at six rookie WRs, and with the six options, the odds of getting all polls correct goes up from about 1 in 100 million to 1 in 600 million. We're excluding 1st-rounders Justin Blackmon (who seems much more likely to be a clear-cut #1 target if he can avoid suspension) and A.J. Jenkins (who has a crowded set of competition in San Francisco on a run-first team), and 2nd-rounder Ryan Broyles (who isn't expect to play an overly significant role as he his off a torn ACL last year). Other than that though, we have the next six receivers selected this past April in the NFL Draft: 1.13 Michael Floyd, 1.20 Kendall Wright, 2.01 Brian Quick, 2.11 Stephen Hill, 2.13 Alshon Jeffrey and 2.31 Rueben Randle.
Early posts suggest Michael Floyd will open as Arizona's #4 WR. Still, Floyd was the 13th pick of the draft and its Andre Roberts and Early Doucet in his way we are talking about. Longer-term, heads up as Floyd has been arrested three times for alcohol-related offenses.
Next up, Kendall Wright - with Kenny Britt potentially facing suspension, Wright may suddenly be a little more busy this season. Built fairly similar in size to the Panthers' Steve Smith, Wright ended his career at Baylor with an absolute studly senior season with 1,663 receiving yards, although Wright then posted a brutal-low 4.61 forty-time at the 2012 Combine.
Brian Quick is our first 2nd-round receiver in the poll. A small-school entry into the NFL (Appalachian State), the Rams have compared Quick to Terrell Owens. Quick is a raw but has a huge frame at 6'4" and 220 pounds with a massive catch radius. Some draft pundits called Quick a reach with the 33rd pick of the draft but Quick was Mel Kiper’s #4 ranked rookie WR.
Stephen Hill had just 49 career receptions in college playing in a wishbone offense at Georgia Tech. To say he had a massive Combine is putting it mildly. Hill posted a blazing 4.36 forty-time, a 39.5 vertical, 11'1" broad jump, 6.88 3-cone, a 4.48 short shuttle time – oh yeah, Hill is nearly 6'5". He averaged 29.3 YPC last year! The Jets gave up their 5th-round pick and 7th-rounder to move up four spots to select Hill.
Prior to the 2011 season, Alshon Jeffery was in contention to be at the very top of the projected 2012 rookie WR list. However he fattened up in 2011, which mainly led to his drop to the 2nd round of the NFL Draft, and posted a disappointing 49-762-8 TD season last year, a low figure given expectations (he had 1500 receiving yards as a sophomore). There has been plenty of exceptional large WRs (Calvin Johnson and Vincent Jackson come to mind) but also some busts, including James Hardy, (former Lion / Seahawk) Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett and Ramses Barden.
Rueben Randle gets an immediate bump if Hakeem Nicks misses any time. Nicks broke a bone in his foot in May but he is expected to be back and ready to go by Week 1 (still, Nicks hasn't exactly been the picture of football health). Also, with Mario Manningham gone via agency there could be a significant role for Randle in the Giants' offense regardless. Randle averaged a healthy 17.3 YPC last year for LSU although he only had 97 receptions in three seasons in college.
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