How good is this years NFL Draft WR clas

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How good is this years NFL Draft WR clas

After five wide receivers were taken in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the 2022 NFL Draft appears to be on track to match or exceed that number. This draft features as many as six viable first-round options at wide receiver, and a plethora of teams looking to fill out the position.The trades of Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill have stretched the wide receiver bubble to its popping point, as the Packers and Chiefs now face receiver as a glaring position of need at the back of the first round.Adding the 49ers to the mix with , you're now looking at three teams in win-now mode mi sing the key position of a reliable, star receiver.The question is: Can the receiver market keep up? How many players projected to go in the first round are actually first-round talents? And how many of them will bust? Teams looking to the draft for wide receivers is hardly a new trend. It's easy to get blinded by impre sive college performances, Scott Wilson Kids Jersey but receiver in particular seems to have an unusually high burnout rate. Whether it's due to the proliferation of targets or the talent jump in defenses in the NFL, many highly-drafted receivers just don't translate well to the NFL level.While it's too early to grade the 2021 cla s, the promising group of receivers consisted of Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Kadarius Toney, and Rashod Bateman. Chase, Waddle, and Smith were standouts whereas Kyle Okposo Jersey Toney and Bateman battled injuries.MORE:Here's a look at some of the other wide-receiver heavy draft cla ses since 2000.2004 NFL Draft receivers selected in first roundPlayerDraftedLarry FitzgeraldNo. 3 (Cardinals)Roy WilliamsNo. 7 (Lions)Reggie WilliamsNo. 9 (Jaguars)Lee EvansNo. 13 (Bills)Michael ClaytonNo. 15 (Buccaneers)Rashaun WoodsNo. 31 (49ers)While Fitzgerald put together a Hall of Fame career and Roy Williams and Lee Evans had flashes throughout their respective careers, Michael Clayton fizzled out after an impre sive rookie season and Reggie Williams never found his footing. Rashaun Woods was injured in his second year and ended up playing in the CFL after being bounced around in the league. This cla s's hit rate is anywhere between 33 and 50 percent, depending on your metric for succe s.2005 NFL Draft receivers selected in first roundPlayerDraftedBraylon EdwardsNo. 3 (Browns)Troy WilliamsonNo. 7 (Vikings)Mike WilliamsNo. 10 (Lions)Matt JonesNo. 21 (Jaguars)Mark ClaytonNo. 22 (Ravens)Roddy WhiteNo. 27 (Falcons)This draft is a mixture of unequivocal failures and undeniable succe ses. Edwards, Williamson, Williams, and Jones all struggled to find their way in the league, with Edwards being a particularly frustrating case of numbers that didn't quite pa s the eye test for one reason or another. Clayton was a similar case to Edwards. White is easily the best case in this draft, putting up quinte sentially Hall of Very Good numbers throughout his career with Atlanta. In any case, the 2005 receiver draft cla s was a particularly brutal case study in what happens when teams need receivers without there being talent to fill out the board.MORE:2007 NFL Draft receivers selected in first roundPlayerDraftedCalvin JohnsonNo. 2 (Lions)Ted GinnNo. 9 (Dolphins)Dwayne BoweNo. 23 (Chiefs)Robert MeachemNo. 27 (Saints)Craig DavisNo. 30 (Chargers)Anthony GonzalezNo. 32 (Colts)If you take a year off to recalibrate, good things happen. In Casey Mittelstadt Women Jersey 2006, Santonio Holmes was the only receiver taken in the first round. The next year, we saw four productive receivers go first. Johnson, Ginn, and Meachem, in particular,all had long, productive careers in the NFL.Bowe, however,struggled to achieve his potential despiteputting together some nice seasons. We saw diminishing returns at No. 5, as Craig Davis and Anthony Gonzalez didn't make it past their rookie contracts. This was one of the better big receiving cla ses, but it also sufferedone of the steepest dropoffs.2015 NFL Draft receivers selected in first roundPlayerDraftedAmari CooperNo. 4 (Raiders)Kevin WhiteNo. 7 (Bears)DaVante ParkerNo. 14 (Dolphins)Nelson AgholorNo. 20 (Eagles)Breshad PerrimanNo. 26 (Ravens)Phillip DorsettNo. 29 (Colts)This draft cla s's hype to production cratered fairly quickly. Amari Cooper and Kevin White were thought to be the surest things.But while the former produced, the latter never put it together. DaVante Parker has been good for the Dolphins throughout his career, but the emergence of Waddle made him expendable to Miami-- He'll be with the Patriots next season. He joins cla smate Nelson Agholor, who has put up decent but not eye-popping numbers. Perriman and Dorsett have become journeyman, but they're still kicking around the league.MORE:2020 NFL Draft receivers selected in first roundPlayerDraftedHenry RuggsNo. 12 (Raiders)Jerry JeudyNo. 15 (Broncos)CeeDee LambNo. 17 (Cowboys)Jalen ReagorNo. Pat Lafontaine Jersey 21 (Eagles)Justin JeffersonNo. 22 (Vikings)Brandon AiyukNo. 25 (49ers)Now we come to the draft that appears to be informing team moves more than any other. Omitting Ruggs from the conversation after ,Lamb, Jefferson, and Aiyuk have all been good, reliable targets for their respective teams. Jeudy's potential is often-talked about but yet to be realized, whereas Reagor is the odd one out for the time being. Teams point to Lamb and Jefferson in particular as incredible picks for where they were taken, and they're trying to emulate that. This is the million dollar question. Can teams like the Chiefs and Packers -- keeping in mind they have MVP quarterbacks -- replace the production of Hill and Adams in this year's draft? The short answer is, no, they can't. And they don't have to -- they just have to replace a fraction of it. Realistically, of the first-round talent in this draft, if six receivers are taken history suggests three to four of them will struggle and potentially bust.As of now, 2020 is an outlier.Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams, Christian Watson, and Treylon Burks are all highly-enticing players for a variety of reasons, each bringing unique Henri Jokiharju Jersey attributes to the table. The question is how well those reasons will translate to the NFL.While history doesn't dictate the future, it can lay out a road map. And that road map isn't promising for the teams who take a receiver as an afterthought.Nothing is set in stone, but the Packers, in particular, simply cannot get this wrong. They don't have Travis Kelce to fall back like the Chiefs do after trading away Tyreek Hill.MORE: This is a hard draft for the 49ers to not have a first round pick in. If they lose Samuel, wide receiver becomes an immediate problem for them. But, if the 49ers offload Samuel before the draft, they would likely end up with a first round pick.This is where it gets a bi
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