Is it better to draft a wide receiver from a small school?
It seems like an inordinate number of small-school wideouts star in the NFL. This isn’t a new trend — six of the top 10 players who lead in all-time receiving yards are from non-BCS schools: Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State), Isaac Bruce (Memphis), Terrell Owens (Tennessee-Chattanooga), Henry Ellard (Fresno State), Randy Moss (Marshall) and Andre Reed (Kutztown Pennsylvania). Here’s a list of the top 30 fantasy receivers of 2008, the school they went to, and the round they were drafted by their NFL team. (I used point-per-reception fantasy stats because they give a nice overall view of a player’s total production — catches, yards and TDs.)
Andre Johnson (Miami) 1
Larry Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh) 1
Anquan Boldin (Florida State) 2
Brandon Marshall (Central Florida) 4
Roddy White (UAB) 1
Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) 1
Greg Jennings (Western Michigan) 2
Wes Welker (Texas Tech) U
Antonio Bryant (Pittsburgh) 2
Steve Smith (Utah) 3
Randy Moss (Marshall) 1
Reggie Wayne (Miami) 1
Terrell Owens (Tennessee-Chattanooga) 3
Santana Moss (Miami) 1
Hines Ward (Georgia) 3
Eddie Royal (Virginia Tech) 2
Dwayne Bowe (LSU) 1
Vincent Jackson (Northern Colorado) 2
T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Oregon State) 7
Derrick Mason (Michigan State) 4
Lance Moore (Toledo) U
Kevin Walter (Eastern Michigan) 7
Donald Driver (Alcorn State) 7
Isaac Bruce (Memphis) 2
Jerricho Cotchery (North Carolina State) 4
DeSean Jackson (California) 2
Laveranues Coles (Florida State) 3
Bernard Berrian (Fresno State) 3
Steve Breaston (Michigan) 5
Lee Evans (Wisconsin) 1
Notes:
- Eighteen players were from the so-called “power conferences” (BCS schools), while 12 were from non-BCS schools.
- There were nine 1st rounders, seven 2nd rounders, five 3rd rounders, three 4th rounders, one 5th rounder, zero 6th rounders, three 7th rounders and two undrafted players.
- Two players that most people would agree are amongst the top 30 WRs in the league — Marques Colston (Hofstra, 7th round) and Plaxico Burress (Michigan State, 1st round) — each missed half the season with injury.
So 40% of the top 30 fantasy wideouts are from non-BCS schools. Does this seem about right, or is it proportionately high when compared to other positions? If it’s the latter, is there something about the position that lends itself to players from small schools succeeding in the NFL?
Posted in: Fantasy Football, NFL, NFL Draft
Tags: NFL wideouts, NFL wideouts from small schools, NFL WRs, NFL WRs draft, WRs
Interesting topic.
I think running back and wideout are the two easiest positions to pick up coming out of college. Therefore teams don’t have to question whether or not a wideout faced enough top competition at the collegiate level to succeed in the pros, because as long as the prospect can run good routes (which most college players have to learn later on), can catch the ball and possess good speed, it doesn’t matter what college they play at.
Of course, that should be the line of thinking for all prospects. Can they play or not? If they can, it doesn’t matter what school they came out of. But many draft pundits like to factor in where the prospect went to school in order to determine whether or not he can perform on a big stage.