With all the talk of whether WR hit rate in the first round is good versus other positions, I decided to do a bit of a statistical deep dive into the position's recent draft history. I'm using the 2018-2022 drafts, because I wanted five drafts and didn't want to use the most recent (too early). This is for the purposes of finding a legit offensive starting WR. So guys that stick around but in ST or other capacities are devalued. I'm grouping the players into these categories:
-Home run (is or projects as a top 5ish WR in the league)
-WR1 (profiles as a WR1 but not a top of the league player)
-Starter (can contribute on an offense but not a bonafide WR1)
-Bust (anyone that doesn't produce at a legitimate WR level)
For each class I'll list the last names after the stats. You're free to squabble with some characterizations, but I'll do the best I can. I'll be dividing into 1st round, Day 2, and Day 3.
2022
First Round
-Home Run: 0/6
-WR1: 3/6 (Wilson, London, Olave)
-Starter: 3/6 (Williams, Dotson, Burks)
-Bust: 0/6
Day Two
-Home Run: 0/11
-WR1: 1/11 (Watson)
-Starter: 4/11 (Robinson, Pickens, Piece, Moore) [some of these are quite debatable]
-Bust: 6/11 (Metchie, Thorton, Jones, Tolbert, Bell, Gray)
Day Three
-Home Run: 0/11
-WR1: 0/11
-Starter: 2/11 (Doubs, Shakir)
-Bust: 9/11 (everyone else)
2021
First Round
-Home Run: 1/5 (Chase)
-WR1: 2/5 (Waddle, Smith)
-Starter: 1/5 (Bateman)
-Bust: 1/5 (Toney)
Day Two
-Home Run: 0/10
-WR1: 0/10
-Starter: 5/10 (Moore, Moore, Tutu, Palmer, Collins)
-Bust: 5/10 (Eskrdige, Marshall, Schwartz, Rodgers, Brown)
Day Three
-Home Run: 1/19 (ARSB)
-WR1: 0/19
-Starter: 0/19
-Bust: 0/19 (everyone else)
2020
First Round
-Home Run: 2/6 (Lamb, Jefferson)
-WR1: 1/6 (Aiyuk)
-Starter: 3/6 (Ruggs, Raegor, Jeudy) [I know Ruggs is a bust because of off he field, but on the field he was a middling starter
-Bust: 0/6
Day Two
-Home Run: 0/10
-WR1: 2/10 (Higgins, Pittman)
-Starter: 2/10 (Claypool, Jefferson,
-Bust: 6/10 (Shenault, Hamler, Bowden, Edwards, Duverany, Mims)
Day Three
-Home Run: 0/20
-WR1: 0/20
-Starter: 4/20 (Davis, DPJ, Osborn, Mooner)
-Bust: 16/20 (everyone else)
2019
First Round
-Home Run: 0/2
-WR1: 1/2 (Brown)
-Starter: 0/2
-Bust: 1/2 (Harry)
Day Two
-Home Run: 1/11 (AJ Brown)
-WR1: 3/11 (Deebo, McLaurin, Metcalf) (note that most of these were drafted very high second)
-Starter: 3/11 (Johnson, Campbell, Hardman)
-Bust: 4/11 (Whiteside, Isabella, Boykin, Hurd, )
Day Three
-Home Run: 0/16
-WR1: 0/16
-Starter: 2/16 (Renfrow, Slatron)
-Bust: 14/16 (everyone else)
2018
First Round
-Home Run: 0/2
-WR1: 2/2 (Ridley, Moore)
-Starter: 0/2
-Bust: 0/2
Day Two
-Home Run: 0/8
-WR1: 1/8 (Kirk)
-Starter: 3/8 (Sutton, Chark, Gallup)
-Bust: 4/8 (Washington, Miller, Petis, Smith)
Day Three
-Home Run: 0/23
-WR1: 0/23
-Starter: 3/23 (Berrior, Gage, MVS)
-Bust: 20/23 (everyone else)
SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL ADD UP TO?
Here's the likelihood of each outcome by round:
First Round
-Home Run: 3/21 (24%)
-WR1: 9/21 (43%)
-Starter: 7/21 (33%)
-Bust: 2/21 (10%)
Day Two
-Home Run: 1/50 (2%)
-WR1: 7/50 (14%)
-Starter: 17/50 (34%)
-Bust: 25/50 (50%)
Day Three
-Home Run: 1/79 (1%)
-WR1: 0/79 (0%)
-Starter: 11/79 (14%)
-Bust: 67/79 (85%)