Past History of Drafting a WR in the 1st Round

[wcsf123]

A popular discussion these days on our board , should we go with O lineman , or do we need a WR. I thought it would be intresting to see how past years Wr's turned out.

WR's taken in round 1 (Last 5 years)




Lets take a look how they turned out so far.


2007- it's to early to judge most of the WR's , so I decided to start from 06.

2006 ( 1 WR Taken)

Santonio Holmes - So far holmes has looked good , especially in 07 he started to get comfortable with the steelers offense , intresting to see how he progress in 08.

Result= Good Pick

2005 ( 6 WR's Taken)

Braylon Edwards - Turned into a # 1 WR

Result = Good Pick

Troy Williamson - Released never reached potential.

Result = Bad Pick

Mike Williams- Same as Williamson

Result = Bad Pick

Matt Jones - Was highly touted coming in as a WR , he has not been as bad as Williams , and Williamson , but he really isn't a number 1 and he does not have the stats to be a number 2. He isn't bad he does have 13 TD's in 3 years which is a pretty decent number for a WR , but at the end of the day he is looking like a player who got selected too high.

Result = Bad Pick

Mark Clayton - Had a good 06 campain with 5 td's but other then that he has been a dissapointment with 7 TD's in 3 years , maybe it has to do with the horrible O of the ravens , but at any rate so far he has been a bust.

Result= Bad Pick

Roddy White- Didn't do much in his first 2 years , but this year had a solid year with 83 receptions and 6 td's that pretty impressive considering he plays for the falcons , and his QB for majority of the season was Harrington. I think White showed a lot of potential , despite not playing with a good QB.

Result= Undetermined( can't call him a good pick or a bad pick yet , he had a good season last year , so he showing signs of improvement)

2004 ( 6 WR's Taken)

Larry Fitzgerald,Roy Williams, Lee Evans - Turned out to be good.

Result = Good Picks

Micheal Clayton - Clayton looked like he was going to be really good , he had a good rookie season with 7 TD's and 80 receptions. The next 3 season's 87 receptions 1 TD.

Result = Bad Pick

Micheal Jenkins - Has 11 td's in his last 2 season , but really is not a true possesion WR , he's at best a # 3 WR , never had more then 53 receptions.

Result = Bad Pick

Rashaun Woods - Niner fans need no explaining

Result = Bad Pick

2003 ( 3 WR's Taken)

Charlie Rodgers - Big time bust

Result = Bad Pick

Andre Johnson - Became a # 1 for Houston

Result = Good Pick

Bryant Johnson - Never had a good year in his 5 year tenure with the Cards , has always been a # 3 , it will be intresting to see what he does with Martz.

Result = Bad Pick

2002 ( 3 WR'S Taken)

Donte Stalworth - has bounced around lately , but throught out his career he has put up decent numbers , and is a good # 2 , but for where he was selected in the draft (#13) he has not lived up to his potential.

Result = Bad Pick

Ashlie Lelie - Bust , enough said.

Result = Bad Pick

Javon Walker - Has 30 TD's in his career , I think he had great potential before his knee injury , in the 03 and 04 season he had a combined 21 TD's , but after his injury he has not been the same , he had one year with the Broncos which he scored 8 TD's.

Result = He might not have turned into a consistant # 1 ,but I think it was a good pick if not for his ACL tear I think he would have stayed with the Packers and have some more nice stats with Farve at the Helm.

Overall Results from 2002-2006

Good Picks- 7 (38%) of picks
Bad Picks - 11 (61%) of picks
Undetermined - 1

Based on the way I look at it , drafting a WR isn't the smartest thing to do for the Niners based on past 1st round selections , but for every Charlie Rodgers and Ashlie Lelie there is atlest one Fitzgerald. Well let the debate continue I guess.

Anyways some might disagree with the way I labeled some players feel free to voice your opinion.

[nikkayeah]

ashley lelie a bust? charles rogers was an injury bust. if he had been healthy he probably would be a top 10 receiver in the league today

[wcsf123]

ashley lelie a bust? charles rogers was an injury bust. if he had been healthy he probably would be a top 10 receiver in the league today

You don't think Lelie was a bust?

[bakersfield49er]

No, he did what they drafted him to do and that is catch the deep ball and he provided even more, I don't think its his fault he didn't get played this season

[wcsf123]

The guy had one good year (7td's) out of 6 years , never had more then 2 TD's in any other year.

[nikkayeah]

he is one of the league's top deep threats

[wcsf123]

This is a joke right? Lelie might occasionally catch a deep ball , but to say he is one of leagues best deep threats is ludicrous.

[nikkayeah]

i'm not saying he's great, but he is FAR from a bust. here's a thread about him if you haven't seen it already:
http://forums.49ers.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=48343

[wcsf123]

I don't think Lelie is a bad WR , but he is a bust based on the position he was taken in the Draft , and based on the expectations the Broncos had for him.

[wcsf123]

Roddy White had
REC - 83
YDS- 1,202
AVG- 14.5
TDS- 6

last season
with basically no QB, I would say that was definitely a "good pick"

Yah I like white , I was kind of leaning towards him being a good pick , but didn't want to base it off one year. Thats why I was kind of undetermined.

[flohtingPoint]

The draft is a crapshoot for all intents and purposes. You win some, you lose some. The only difference in round is salary you have to fork out.

[Mac9er]

I don't think Lelie is a bad WR , but he is a bust based on the position he was taken in the Draft , and based on the expectations the Broncos had for him.

Who's fault is it for drafting him at that spot, not Lelies...

This is the problem I have with people that label players a bust because of where a player is drafted. It is the professional coaching staff and talent evaluators that do a poor job of drafting and rating players. It's not the players fault he is picked higher than he should be or over better players that the scouting staff missed.

[Ness]

No, he did what they drafted him to do and that is catch the deep ball and he provided even more, I don't think its his fault he didn't get played this season

With Jake Plummer/Brian Greise at quarterback during the time? No, I think they drafted him to perhaps take over for Rod Smith in the long run, and do other things than just have deep threat capability. For the spot he was chosen at, and seeing where he is now, he's a bust in my opinion.

[49ersforlife5x]

ashley lelie a bust? charles rogers was an injury bust. if he had been healthy he probably would be a top 10 receiver in the league today

NO he wouldn't. No way, no how.

[wcsf123]

Who's fault is it for drafting him at that spot, not Lelies...

This is the problem I have with people that label players a bust because of where a player is drafted. It is the professional coaching staff and talent evaluators that do a poor job of drafting and rating players. It's not the players fault he is picked higher than he should be or over better players that the scouting staff missed.

All NBA,NFL,MLB Players come into the Draft with expectations , they all have a body of work that got them there , no regular joe can enter the draft and get drafted. Based off their career in college or High School they get paid millions , and they are expected to deliver , even though we know every player will not succeed at being top notch. You take the teams , money and respect and everything that comes with that , and you perform to the best of your abilities , if you fail and get cut , and never live up to expectations ,
YOU ARE A BUST ! Thats how it is in the Culture of sports.

[jackacid]

I think there's almost no chance we take a WR at 29.

We have enough guys to spread the ball around. We'll go DL or OT.

[nikkayeah]

NO he wouldn't. No way, no how.

what makes you say that?