Pass-happy schemes. Offense-friendly rule changes. Up-tempo college offenses. The 17-game season. Plenty of reasons, but the result is that rookie wide receivers are putting up bigger numbers than ever before.
Justin Jefferson set the rookie receiving record in 2020. JaMarr Chase (pictured) broke it a year later. If he'd had better quarterbacking, maybe Garrett Wilson would have broken it this season. The way things are going, maybe one of this year's top rookies will break it again -- perhaps Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Probably not, but let's see where he gets drafted.
The league went to a 16-game season in 1978, so 45 years ago. Since that time, 52 first-year wideouts have put up at least 850 receiving yards; a little over one per season, on average.
But the trend upward has been dramatic. Just under half (25) of those 52 seasons have come in the last 10 years. Fifteen of them -- almost 30 percent -- have come in the last four years. That includes 10 of the top 16 seasons. Smith-Njigba, or one of the other top incoming rookies (Tennessee's Jalin Hyatt, North Carolina's Josh Downs, Boston College's Zay Flowers); two or three of those players will probably put up significant numbers right away.
The 53 rookie wide receivers who have put up at least 850 yards since 1978 are shown below. Rookies who have done it in the last decade are in bold.
ROOKIE WIDEOUTS, 850-PLUS YARDS, 1978-PRESENT | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Rd | Pk | Player | No | Yds | TD |
2021 | 1 | 5 | JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 81 | 1455 | 13 |
2020 | 1 | 22 | Justin Jefferson, Minn. | 88 | 1400 | 7 |
2003 | 2 | 54 | Anquan Boldin, Ariz. | 101 | 1377 | 8 |
1998 | 1 | 21 | Randy Moss, Minn. | 68 | 1313 | 17 |
2014 | 1 | 12 | Odell Beckham Jr., NYG | 91 | 1305 | 12 |
2004 | 1 | 15 | Michael Clayton, T.B. | 80 | 1193 | 7 |
2016 | 2 | 47 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 92 | 1137 | 9 |
1996 | 1 | 7 | Terry Glenn, N.E. | 90 | 1132 | 6 |
2022 | 1 | 10 | Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 83 | 1103 | 4 |
2015 | 1 | 4 | Amari Cooper, Oak. | 72 | 1070 | 6 |
1986 | 2 | 34 | Ernest Givins, Hou. | 61 | 1062 | 4 |
2011 | 1 | 4 | A.J. Green, Cin. | 65 | 1057 | 7 |
2019 | 2 | 51 | A.J. Brown, Tenn. | 52 | 1051 | 9 |
2014 | 1 | 7 | Mike Evans, T.B. | 68 | 1051 | 12 |
2013 | 3 | 76 | Keenan Allen, S.D. | 71 | 1046 | 8 |
2022 | 1 | 11 | Chris Olave, N.O. | 72 | 1042 | 4 |
1995 | 1 | 8 | Joey Galloway, Sea. | 67 | 1039 | 9 |
2006 | 7 | 252 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 70 | 1038 | 8 |
2021 | 1 | 6 | Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 104 | 1015 | 7 |
1981 | 2 | 37 | Cris Collinsworth, Cin. | 67 | 1009 | 8 |
2014 | 1 | 28 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 73 | 1008 | 9 |
1978 | 1 | 14 | John Jefferson, S.D. | 56 | 1001 | 13 |
2007 | 1 | 23 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 70 | 995 | 5 |
1999 | 2 | 32 | Kevin Johnson, Clev. | 66 | 986 | 8 |
2014 | 1 | 4 | Sammy Watkins, Buff. | 65 | 982 | 6 |
2008 | 2 | 42 | Eddie Royal, Den. | 91 | 980 | 5 |
2003 | 1 | 3 | Andre Johnson, Hou. | 66 | 976 | 4 |
2010 | 4 | 101 | Mike Williams, T.B. | 65 | 964 | 11 |
2011 | 1 | 6 | Julio Jones, Atl. | 54 | 959 | 8 |
1985 | 1 | 13 | Eddie Brown, Cin. | 53 | 942 | 8 |
2020 | 1 | 17 | CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 74 | 935 | 7 |
1985 | 1 | 16 | Jerry Rice, S.F. | 49 | 927 | 4 |
1996 | 1 | 18 | Eddie Kennison, St.L. | 54 | 924 | 11 |
2019 | 3 | 76 | Terry McLaurin, Wash. | 58 | 919 | 7 |
2017 | 2 | 62 | JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pitt. | 58 | 917 | 8 |
2021 | 1 | 10 | DeVonta Smith, Phil. | 64 | 916 | 5 |
2021 | 4 | 112 | Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 90 | 912 | 6 |
2008 | 2 | 49 | DeSean Jackson, Phil. | 62 | 912 | 4 |
2020 | 2 | 33 | Tee Higgins, Cin. | 67 | 908 | 6 |
2019 | 2 | 64 | DK Metcalf, Sea. | 58 | 900 | 7 |
2001 | 2 | 52 | Chris Chambers, Mia. | 48 | 883 | 7 |
1995 | 2 | 47 | Frank Sanders, Ariz. | 52 | 883 | 2 |
2020 | 2 | 49 | Chase Claypool, Pitt. | 62 | 873 | 11 |
2014 | 2 | 42 | Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 67 | 872 | 8 |
2017 | 3 | 69 | Cooper Kupp, LAR | 62 | 869 | 5 |
2022 | 1 | 8 | Drake London, Atl. | 72 | 866 | 4 |
1994 | 2 | 30 | Darnay Scott, Cin. | 46 | 866 | 5 |
2012 | 1 | 5 | Justin Blackmon, Jac. | 64 | 865 | 5 |
1989 | 1 | 27 | Shawn Collins, Atl. | 58 | 862 | 3 |
2012 | 3 | 92 | T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 50 | 861 | 7 |
1984 | 1 | 23 | Louis Lipps, Pitt. | 45 | 860 | 11 |
2020 | 1 | 15 | Jerry Jeudy, Den. | 52 | 856 | 3 |
--Andy Richardson