Should Philadelphia Draft Wide Receiver in Round 1?

Jan 8

Should Philadelphia Draft Wide Receiver in Round 1?

The Philadelphia Eagles seem to be a team that many expect to draft a Wide Receiver in the first round. The question I am asking is… Would that be the right choice?

To answer this question we must first look into the past. I will give each Round 1 Wide Receiver class since 2010-2016 (the set who are getting extensions and have had time) a percentage grade of the hits on picks.

2010: 100%

22. Demaryus Thomas

24. Dez Bryant

2011: 67%

4. AJ Green

6. Julio Jones

26. Jonathan Baldwin

2012: 12.5%

5. Justin Blackmon

13. Michael Floyd

20. Kendall Wright

30. AJ Jenkins

2013: 38%

8. Tavon Austin

27. DeAndre Hopkins

29. Cordarrelle Patterson

2014: 64%

4. Sammy Watkins

7. Mike Evans

12. Odell Beckham

20. Brandin Cooks

28. Kelvin Benjamin

2015: 35%

4. Amari Cooper

7. Kevin White

14. Devante Parker

20. Nelson Agholor

26. Breshad Perriman

29. Phillip Dorsett

2016: 12.5%

15. Corey Coleman

21. Will Fuller

22. Josh Doctson

23. Laquon Treadwell

What Do These Mean?

Since 2012 the 2014 class (64%) is the only to score higher than a hit score of 38% in 2013 and that was only as high as it was because Hopkins was at 100% and I gave Patterson and Austin slight credit for being great in special teams and gadget players.

The correlation I noticed was that more than likely when you draft a Wide Receiver they will bust no matter when you draft them. But the truth of it is number 1 wide receivers seem to show up late in drafts year after year and it is more about what team will have the scouting and the luck to pluck that Michael Thomas in the 2nd round or Tyler Lockett in the 3rd round.

In 2019 N’Keal Harry and Marquise Brown were the only Wide receivers selected in the first round and each spent nearly the entire year injured combining to play in only 35% of the possible offensive snaps. While AJ Brown(2nd), DK Metcalf(2nd), Terry McLaurin(3rd), and Darius Slayton(5th) all showed the ability or potential to be number 1 Wide Receivers.

While Marvin McNutt is an awesome name in 2012 you have to go all the way back to 2009 when the Eagles drafted Jeremy Maclin to find the last time they drafted a true hit at WR and 2008 with DeSean Jackson to find the last number 1 Wide Receiver drafted by Philadelphia.

The Answer?

There is no true yes or no answer. The draft is a mysterious beast that nobody will ever be able to predict. You could end up taking DeAndre Hopkins at 27 or Justin Blackmon at 5. The Eagles have more positions to fill and there are FA bridge options if you don't feel comfortable with who is available to draft such as AJ Green. Outside of Special teams, there isn’t a position in the NFL I can definitively say should not be drafted in the first round. But there should be caution exercised.

-By: Austin Bronstad