Los Angeles Chargers fans have been on the draft-a-wide-receiver train even before the team moved on from Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. But according to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, drafting a wide receiver in the first round is far from a guaranteed offensive star.
Fitzgerald’s analysis looks at wide receivers drafted between 2011 and 2019 and compares their value and production after their first contract.
Should the Los Angeles Chargers Draft A Wide Receiver Given the Risk?
First Round Wide Receivers, 2011-2019:
- 2019: Marquise Brown (Pick 25), N’Keal Harry (Pick 32)
- 2018: DJ Moore (24), Calvin Ridley (26)
- 2017: Corey Davis (5), Mike Williams (7), John Ross (9)
- 2016: Corey Coleman (15), Will Fuller (21), Josh Doctson (22), Laquon Treadwell (23)
- 2015: Amari Cooper (4), Kevin White (7), DeVante Parker (14), Nelson Agholor (20), Breshad Perriman (26), Phillip Dorsett (29)
- 2014: Sammy Watkins (4), Mike Evans (7), Odell Beckham (12), Brandin Cooks (20), Kelvin Benjamin (28)
- 2013: Tavon Austin (8), DeAndre Hopkins (27), Cordarrelle Patterson (29)
- 2012: Julian Blackmon (5), Michael Floyd (13), Kendall Wright (20), AJ Jenkins (30)
- 2011: AJ Green (4), Julio Jones (6), Jonathan Baldwin (26)
The list runs the gamut of stars to flops and includes Jim Harbaugh’s only offensive player he selected with a first-round pick in four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, AJ Jenkins. But the larger point, Fitzgerald makes with his analysis is, in the rare instances when wide receivers do pan out, their second contracts have outsized their production.
Fitzgerald also contrasted this to interior defensive linemen, calling them the safest first-round picks and lauding their positional value.
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