2014 NFL Draft: Receiver Retrospective

This seems to be a great year for rookie WR's. I am seeing a lot of them have immediate positive impacts on their teams, and have been wondering which of these guys were drafted after Paul Richardson. Turns out a fair amount of them were available.

I know Schneider and Carroll have typically done well in the draft, and even Golden Tate was a terrific WR pick when we chose him, but look at these rookie WR's selected after we chose Paul Richardson:

Davante Adams -- Green Bay
John Brown -- Arizona
Allen Robinson -- Jacksonville
Jordan Matthews -- Philly
Jarvis Landry -- Miami
Donte Moncrief -- Indy

They all have more receptions than Richardson. I've also seen most of them (except Robinson and Matthews) play on TV and they look good. Haven't been impressed with Richardson so far. Am expecting more from someone who is supposed to be as fast as he is.

And if we picked any of the other guys, they'd probably look the same on this offense.

-The Glove-":1eo1iu2a said:

And if we picked any of the other guys, they'd probably look the same on this offense.

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you may be right about that...

xgeoff":w8doqsu6 said:

This seems to be a great year for rookie WR's. I am seeing a lot of them have immediate positive impacts on their teams, and have been wondering which of these guys were drafted after Paul Richardson. Turns out a fair amount of them were available.

I know Schneider and Carroll have typically done well in the draft, and even Golden Tate was a terrific WR pick when we chose him, but look at these rookie WR's selected after we chose Paul Richardson:

Davante Adams -- Green Bay
John Brown -- Arizona
Allen Robinson -- Jacksonville
Jordan Matthews -- Philly
Jarvis Landry -- Miami
Donte Moncrief -- Indy

They all have more receptions than Richardson. I've also seen most of them (except Robinson and Matthews) play on TV and they look good. Haven't been impressed with Richardson so far. Am expecting more from someone who is supposed to be as fast as he is.

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Common thread with all of those teams....they throw quite a bit (either by design or because they're behind quite a bit).

I think Richardson and Norwood were fine choices. We need our QB and OL to play better.

I love Russ, but he not did play well today.

More and more, I'm starting to think that Russell Wilson doesn't trust his receivers unless they're five yards wide open.

MontanaHawk05":3p4t4y20 said:

More and more, I'm starting to think that Russell Wilson doesn't trust his receivers unless they're five yards wide open.

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Is that the explanation for the interceptions that he's thrown?
Willson even gives ME pause, and distrust in one of Wilsons Receivers, and you don't just throw it up for grabs, unless you're playing in panic mode.
That Offensive Line sucked ass today. (again)
Did ya notice how Wilson's pass got batted down when he passed from the pocket?, I sure did.
Wilson is playing with some insecurity, because he's getting smothered with almost every single snap, and I don't care who's up behind Center, that kind of pressure kills any kind of continuity that you might be trying to build on.

As others have said, the difference between Richardson and all those other receivers is that they are on teams that have actual passing offenses with QBs that are willing to take chances to make plays.

There are two more that I forgot:

Martavis Bryant -- Pittsburgh
Bruce Ellington -- San Fran

These guys may look better because they play in more creative offenses, but I don't buy that it is because they play in more pass-oriented offenses. I mean, the Jaguars? Blake Bortles? Please. We throw the ball enough that he (Richardson) could have an impact if he was up to the level of these other guys.

The biggest diffrence I see between the Hawks and the cards/cowboys, is OL. Ours is still below avg, and until it's addressed, we will have issues protecting Russ. That means all the stud WR in the world won't help us, if he doesn't have time to throw.

Top Five in Receiving Yards
1. Sammy Watkins WR, Buffalo Bills - 590, 5 TDs
2. Kelvin Benjamin WR, Carolina Panthers - 573, 5 TDs
3. Allen Robinson WR, Jacksonville Jaguars - 453, 2 TDs
4. Brandin Cooks WR, New Orleans Saints - 386, 2 TDs
5. Allen Hurns WR, Jacksonville Jaguars - 354, 5 TDs

Biggest surprise is obviously undrafted Allen Hurns. He had a big senior year at Miami, but his combine numbers were so underwhelming that it wasn't enough to get him drafted. Even though I thought of him as a Jarvis Landry type, he's actually had several explosive plays and is averaging over 16 yards per reception. I thought we might draft his teammate Marqise Lee, who hasn't done much yet (12 receptions, 128 yards, no TDs).

First Rounder Odell Beckham has only ten receptions (but three of those are TDs) due to missing a lot of time with a hamstring injury.

Second Rounder Cody Latimer, still recovering from a broken foot, hasn't even caught a pass yet.

I'm not surprised Josh Huff hasn't done much. He seems to lack explosiveness and hands are questionable. Seems like a reach by his former and now current coach Chip Kelly.

Both of the Jets' rookie receivers-- Jalen Saunders and Shaq Evans-- haven't had a catch.

Martavis Bryant has five TDs.

Donte Moncrief had a big game last week for the Colts-- 7 receptions for 113 yards and a TD.

Bryant and Moncrief were two guys I really wanted for the Seahawks.

hawknation2014":1kyk2cdl said:

Biggest surprise is obviously undrafted Allen Hurns. He had a big senior year at Miami, but his combine numbers were so underwhelming that it wasn't enough to get him drafted. Even though I thought of him as a Jarvis Landry type, he's actually had several explosive plays and is averaging over 16 yards per reception. I thought we might draft his teammate Marqise Lee, who hasn't done much yet (12 receptions, 128 yards, no TDs).

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A big reason for Hurns' early success is the fact that the offensive coordinator in JAX was his college coach for 2 years in Miami, so he had a lot of familiarity with the scheme compared to the two other rookie WRs JAX drafted (Lee and A. Robinson).

I agree with an earlier post though, any of these other WR's numbers wouldn't look much better than Richardson's in our system, so don't look into the numbers too much. Seattle just doesn't have the downfield passing game to produce numbers like these for rookie WRs, or even WRs in general. That list of top 5 rookies in receiving yards have better lines than Doug Baldwin does this year. Here's hoping getting some starting offensive lineman back will help bring stability back to the offense.