The media mock draft machines are in hyper drive connecting the Los Angeles Rams to pass catchers early in next month\u2019s NFL Draft. From Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, and Carnell Tate to Kenyon Sadiq, the Rams are in store to have no shortage of options when the clock starts ticking on the thirteenth overall selection.<\/p>\n
What is the recent history of first round receivers? There are certainly busts each year; however, Los Angeles may be well-placed to avoid such a folly.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at every first round receiver since 2020 and draw some high level conclusions.<\/p>\n
Henry Ruggs (Raiders); 12th<\/p>\n
Jerry Jeudy (Broncos); 15th<\/p>\n
CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys); 17th<\/p>\n
Jalen Reagor (Eagles); 21st<\/p>\n
Justin Jefferson (Vikings); 22nd<\/p>\n
Brandon Aiyuk (49ers); 25th<\/p>\n
Ruggs was a unique case and his legal troubles ran him out of the NFL. Jalen Reagor fizzled out quickly in Philly. Brandon Aiyuk will be released by the 49ers at some point this offseason; however, prior to his injury he was a great player for San Francisco.<\/p>\n
This class was more good than bad, though Reagor was really the only straightforward bust.<\/p>\n
Ja\u2019Marr Chase (Bengals); 5th<\/p>\n
Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins); 6th<\/p>\n
DeVonta Smith (Eagles); 10th<\/p>\n
Kadarius Toney (Giants); 20th<\/p>\n
Rashod Bateman (Ravens); 27th<\/p>\n
Toney and Bateman should be considered the misses relative to the rest of the group. Bateman is someone who gets hyped up every offseason and we are still awaiting his big breakout.<\/p>\n
Drake London (Falcons); 8th<\/p>\n
Garrett Wilson (Jets); 10th<\/p>\n
Chris Olave (Saints); 11th<\/p>\n
Jameson Williams (Lions); 12th<\/p>\n
Jahan Dotson (Commanders); 16th<\/p>\n
Treylon Burks (Titans); 18th<\/p>\n
There is a clear line after Williams in terms of separating the wheat from the chaff. Dotson was quickly traded to the Eagles and Burks never really made a splash in the NFL. The rest of the group are keepers.<\/p>\n
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks); 20th<\/p>\n
Quentin Johnston (Chargers); 21st<\/p>\n
Zay Flowers (Ravens); 22nd<\/p>\n
Jordan Addison (Vikings); 23rd<\/p>\n
The early returns on Johnston would indicate that he was a miss for the other LA team. Year three showed signs of a turnaround and the jury should still be out for now.<\/p>\n
Marvin Harrison, Jr. (Cardinals); 4th<\/p>\n
Malik Nabers (Giants); 6th<\/p>\n
Brian Thomas (Jaguars); 23rd<\/p>\n
Xavier Worthy (Chiefs); 28th<\/p>\n
Ricky Pearsall (49ers); 31st<\/p>\n
Xavier Legette (Panthers); 32nd<\/p>\n
The last two to three receivers in this group are still out to prove themselves at the professional level. Worthy is useful but he was taken in the late first because he fills a niche role. There is a lot riding on Pearsall to lead a lackluster 49ers receiving corps this season.<\/p>\n
Travis Hunter (Jaguars); 2nd<\/p>\n
Tetairoa McMillan (Panthers); 8th<\/p>\n
Emeka Egbuka (Buccaneers); 19th<\/p>\n
Matthew Golden (Packers); 23rd<\/p>\n
Hunter and Golden seem to be the most suspect picks of this group. Hunter can return to health and prove me wrong.<\/p>\n
The silver lining for Rams<\/p>\n
The Rams are picking much earlier than they are accustomed to with the thirteenth overall selection. It\u2019s the best draft pick they\u2019ve had in years.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, when we comb through the list of recent first round receivers it seems you are most likely to miss your target later on day one of the draft. LA will likely be in the market for a pass catcher. As long as they don\u2019t trade back (I maintain it\u2019s more likely they instead trade up), history favors their chances of landing an impact player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The media mock draft machines are in hyper drive connecting the Los Angeles Rams to pass catchers early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,1014,58,2619,2444,2611,6,424],"class_list":{"0":"post-842109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-los-angeles","10":"tag-los-angeles-rams","11":"tag-los-angeles-rams-draft","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangelesrams","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-rams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116315672081497449","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}