Who's the Best WR by Round in NFL Draft History?

[Music] receivers it's one of the most notable positions in NFL history and whether these coveted individuals are built like the compact Steve Smith or the physical specimen Calvin Johnson the truth is when a game comes down to a single play there might not be a more critical player on the field [Applause] yo I'm going to be taking you on a deep dive into NFL draft history going round by round scouring Decades of data to find the greatest and most accomplished receivers the league has ever seen but here's the deal you could have four Calvin Johnson's lined up on offense and this wouldn't help you at all if your o-line didn't protect your quarterback kind of like browsing the internet at home without the use of a VPN and at that point why not go with the fastest VPN on the planet and today's sponsor nordvpn so a common cyber security threat is password attacks typically most people are happy to use the same simple password for multiple accounts essentially you're running the same play 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receivers in terms of yards just about half are former first rounders and when you take a look at first rounders by themselves the top 10 all had over 1 000 yards last season now to get a broader view of how first rounders have done historically I gather data on every single receiver drafted from 1985 to 2015 via pro football reference and in that 30-year sample 114 were drafted in the first round and from that we have 87 multi-year starters 39 pro bowlers 21st Team all pros and so far six inducted hall of famers there has been so many notable first round receivers that I'm not going to name them all the standard is higher for these dudes so I'll simply take all the Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers and place them on the screen in three tiers there's about a dozen or so names in tier 3 that all had or are continuing to have spectacular careers there's also some young blossoming stars in the current NFL that have a chance to make it on this list one day then to take it to the next level of legendary from their freakish combination of size speed and ball skills moss and Johnson are both considered the greatest talents of their eras each holding amazing single season records there was nothing quite like watching them be unstoppable no matter how many dudes they had covering them but standing on his own on top of a mountain of all time receiving talents Jerry Rice you could describe Rice's greatness in plenty of ways but what truly separates him is his longevity [Applause] at the age of 40 rice managed to make the Pro Bowl with 1200 yards and seven touchdowns just to give perspective no other receiver in NFL history has even made a roster at that age and only two receivers in 2022 over the age of 30 reached a thousand yards and they just barely turned 30. this unprecedented longevity continues to preserve Rice's career receiving records which seem unbreakable he leads by such a vast amount that the difference between rice and second place could hold up a very respectable career on its own of course I can't forget to mention the fact that he made 10 First Team all pros and his two all-decade teams all while being the greatest performing receiver in Super Bowl history as one of the most graceful and consistent talents we've ever witnessed Jerry Rice is not only the first round goad but the goat of all receivers period as expected the second round is slightly less productive than the first round using that same 30-year data set that I previously brought up you'll notice a small dip in percentages across the board but the most staggering difference between the two rounds is the huge drop off in First Team all Pros or in other words guys who became the best or second best receiver in the league in any given year now as far as the go argument is concerned seven guys Rise Above the Rest with six of those in tier two these receivers are guys who did not or have not made the Hall of Fame of course a guy like Devonte Adams seems like a Surefire bet to make it if his career continues the way it's going but as of now the goat of second round receivers and the only one drafted in the Super Bowl era to make the Hall of Fame is Isaac Bruce hey wait a minute is that the same guy as that dude in the corner while making this video I did a Double Take and had to confirm to make sure that this wasn't the same guy turns out these are two different receivers so I decided to look more into this and upon further inspection I was shocked at the information I found out about these two so Henry LR was drafted by the Rams in the second round of 1983 and he went on to have an amazing career with them by 1993 Ellard had become the greatest receiver in Ram's history earning three Pro Bowl nods and setting many team records then as his production began to slip and the team fell to irrelevancy the two parties decided to split in the following NFL draft the Rams selected second round receiver Isaac Bruce to replace him and Bruce decided to wear number 80. considering that the best receiver in franchise history wore that number this was a bold decision but amazingly Bruce did that decision Justice Isaac Bruce went on to become the all-time leader in receiving yards among second rounder and who did he have to pass to take over the number one spot Henry Ellard and just one more fun fact to add on to that Ellard played for the Rams when they were in La which was just a three or four hour drive from where he grew up and playing college football Isaac Bruce on the other hand played for the Rams mostly in St Louis which was just four hours from where he went to college anyways to get back on track and to wrap up this section Isaac Bruce's longevity his legendary 1995 season and his huge performance in Super Bowl 34 are what make him the second round goat by the time we reach the third round the sheer volume of high performing players rapidly diminishes in 2022 only one third round receiver cracked the top 15 in terms of yards now In fairness Cooper cup and Keenan Allen both got injured last season so that most likely would have changed this outcome but even when you include them just seven third rounders were in the top 50 which is half the amount of second rounders the 30-year data set that I previously mentioned shows us that less than half of third rounders become multi-year starters and just 11 percent of them turn into pro bowlers now even though there's been more all Pros in the third round than the second this is due to the influence of special teams so when it comes to the argument of the best third round receiver ever three names rise to the top and third the former Super Bowl MVP Heinz Ward who amassed a thousand receptions over his career in second the five-time pro bowler who ranks 8th all time in career receiving nerds Steve Smith Senior and now coming in as the true goat of third round receivers the five-time first-team All-Pro Terrell Owens with a larger than life personality Owens was built for prime time this time [Applause] into the end zone and the 49ers win it in overtime thank you Terrell Owens was a Phenom and this was due to his unique combination of physical strength Elite top end speed surprising elusiveness for a guy his size and great hands he was also very durable and demonstrated insane toughness when he played in the Super Bowl with a leg fracture and torn ligament in his ankle not only did he play in that game but he played amazingly putting up nine catches for 122 yards all these factors led him to becoming third all-time in receiving touchdowns and perhaps one of the most underrated parts of Owen's career was that he was named first team All-Pro as a member of three different franchises of course his career does get overshadowed by his Antics and public feuds with teammates throughout his time in the NFL but overall he is definitely the greatest third round receiver of all time and he's the only third round receiver in the Super Bowl era to make the Hall of Fame [Music] arriving at day three in the NFL draft usually means one thing you're looking for role players on average the top 12 receivers in any given draft are off the board by now of the 123 drafted from 1985 to 2015 just six became pro bowlers even just finding a fourth round receiver who will make a noticeable impact is unlikely in 2022 just three guys cracked the top 50 with Amman Ross Saint Brown being the only one to reach 1 000 yards now even though the odds are stacked against them there's been a small amount of truly great fourth round receivers five of which rank in the top 30 all time in yards but the trugo debate comes down to Hall of Famers Steve Largent and Andre Reed both guys managed to reach Seven Pro bowls and finished top 20 all-time in-career receiving yards Andre Reed was an excellent route Runner with great hands but most of all he was praised for his ability to make yards after the catch he was a gazelle in the open field while Largent on the other hand despite being less physically talented is widely considered to have some of the best hands in NFL history and he played his entire career with no gloves if you played football you know how much of a difference this makes there's a reason you rarely see receivers nowadays with no gloves ultimately I can't find enough evidence to choose either way so the fourth round goad is a tie thank you I like to call the fifth round the Special Teams round because in terms of receivers more guys make an impact as a returner or Gunner than a pass catcher in fact even the data shows that the fifth round pro bowlers which is only six percent of them are special teamers the standards by the fifth round have changed so much that becoming a starter warrants notoriety and dudes like Marquez Valdez scantling Hunter Renfro and Darius Slayton are three of the top five fifth round receivers today but surprisingly there are three guys in the league today from the fifth round that are truly spectacular that is Stefan Diggs Tyree kill and Matthew Slater starting with Biggs this dude was a surprise rookie for the Rams back in 2015. two years later he would make one of the most iconic catches in recent NFL history my dick [Applause] are you kidding me with multiple Pro bowls to his name and earning first team All-Pro in 2020 Diggs is closing in on becoming the all-time leader and career receiving yards among fifth rounders but I do believe the fifth round goat in terms of receivers goes to Tyreke hill now I think it is worth noting that Hill dropped to the fifth round due to off the field issues even with that said Hill surprisingly burst under the scene as a rookie earning first team All-Pro honors as a kick returner and from there he only got more dominant Hill has become widely regarded as the fastest dude in the NFL and beyond that he developed into such a reliable and explosive playmaker and even outside of Kansas City Tyreek Hill produced his fourth first team All-Pro season with Miami in 2022 in his seven NFL seasons so far he's made the Pro Bowl every single season now before moving on I did mention one more name about a minute ago that many of you may not even recognize and that was Matthew Slater if you don't know who this is that's because this guy doesn't play wide receiver so how could he be mentioned in this video well that's because after being drafted in the fifth round Slater became a standout on special teams and in the words of Bill Belichick they didn't say the same thing about Matt Slater in a kicking game um you know I mean I don't know if there's ever a band or ever going to be a better player than Matt Slater as an overall special teams player and the leadership that he's brought to the team to this point Matthew Slater has made an unprecedented 10 Pro Bowl appearances as a special teamer this is the most all time amazingly slider is gonna finish his career as the goat of special teams and his impact will most likely get him a spot in the Hall of Fame what's pretty cool about this guy is that his father Jackie Slater not only played in the league as well but he's in the Hall of Fame and crazy enough he was an offensive lineman the size difference between these two is crazy and the fact that they made such impacts in different ways is one of the coolest things that I've read in regards to the NFL the sixth round is a Barren Wasteland when it comes to notable starting receivers typically you're just hoping that these guys consistently make the final roster the guys who even get a second contract are among the notable ones and when it comes to making any sort of real impact currently Donovan people's Jones was the only one ranked in the top 50 in receiving yards in 2022 of the 141 six-round receivers drafted from 1985 to 2015 only two of them made a Pro Bowl as a receiver when it comes to the goat of six round receivers kind of like quarterbacks there's no debate because the Gap is so massive this honor goes to Antonio Brown after bursting onto the scene in 2011 this dude became virtually unguardable by 2014 you could make an argument that he was the best receiver in the game and this lasted about four to five years his mix of footwork route running quickness ball tracking and hands made him the perfect receiver of course this all has been overshadowed by his bizarre behavior over the last few years and ultimately his actions may have cost him a spot in the Hall of Fame so I'll turn it over to you guys do you think Antonio Brown deserves to be in the Hall of Fame despite his erratic Behavior let me know in the comments down below alright let's move on to the final round despite more receivers being drafted in round seven than any of the others it's almost entirely void of notable impact over 90 percent of them never become starters and the odds of them even making the team aren't in their favor in 2022 there wasn't a single seventh round receiver amongst the top 50 and as of now Richie James and Noah Brown are among the best throughout the entire league even if you combine their numbers they would still be outside the top 10. there hasn't been a pro bowl seventh round receiver since 2007 and only three since 1985 which means there are notable ones worth sharing on screen that didn't even make a pro bowl now In fairness Edelman and Colston are among some of the greatest players ever to not accomplish that feat when it comes to recent NFL history these are the best from this round but including all of NFL history the goat debate comes down to Harold Carmichael aka the tallest receiver ever and Bob Hayes the fastest player ever Carmichael was surprisingly graceful for being six foot eight and even though he did take advantage of his height on jump balls Carmichael sort of revolutionized to the quick screen it was one of the major factors as to how he made four Pro bowls Bob Hayes on the other hand revolutionized the game as well he was an Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter and a world record holder in a variety of Sprints at the time and his speed torched NFL defenses so bad that he's literally responsible for defense's creating Zone schemes and Corners playing bump and run overall these two guys both revolutionized the game in some way so it only makes sense that this debate results in a tie beyond the NFL draft there has been a few legendary undrafted free agent receivers who've made their Mark in the league but as of today there is only one undrafted receiver to make the Hall of Fame please welcome [Applause] I want to thank the eagle fans for allowing me to have a career in the NFL in the end zone caught for a touchdown Drew Pearson water as an undrafted free agent to be selected to make the Cowboys second round draft pick but he's going long down the near sideline for Drew Pearson Pearson makes the catch at the five touchdown and on behalf of the Jason Gary all the Cowboy players Baltimore [Applause] thank you [Music]

Channel: KTO

Views: 308,130

Keywords: best WR, by round, whos the, nfl, draft history, 1st round, jerry rice, randy moss, terrell owens, calvin johnson

Id: _XnyOFfMui8

Length: 19min 20sec (1160 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023