Receivers Aplenty In NFL Draft
Wide receivers never get enough respect when it comes to the NFL Draft. Conventional NFL war-room wisdom says that you can get a receiver anywhere -- second round, second day, a week or two before training camp opens.
Bum Phillips once signed a free-agent wide receiver who was driving an ice cream truck at the time.
But consider this: Of the 15 NFL wide receivers with 1,000-yard seasons in 1998, more than half were drafted in the first two rounds. And six of those eight were former first-rounders -- Randy Moss ('98), Keyshawn Johnson ('96), Eric Moulds ('96), O.J. McDuffie ('93), Michael Irvin ('88) and Jerry Rice ('85).
Among the other 1,000-yard receivers in the league last season, Jimmy Smith and Frank Sanders were second-rounders, and Antonio Freeman, Terrell Owens and Ed McCaffrey, third-rounders.
At the other end of the spectrum -- further fueling the belief that receivers fall off trees -- are these four 1,000-yard receivers in '98:
- Tony Martin, a former fifth-round pick;
- Terance Mathis, a former sixth-round pick;
- Rod Smith and Wayne Chrebet, both of whom entered the league as free agents.
The '99 class of receivers is a deep one, although there is not a Top 5 pick among them.
Still, North Carolina State's Torry Holt and Ohio State's David Boston, in that order, are well-deserving of their Top 10 projections. The Arizona Cardinals, at No. 8, are looking hard at Boston to join Rob Moore and Sanders.
Holt reportedly scored low on his Wonderlic test during the NFL combine in February, but nobody will be asking him to do math equations if he can blow past cornerbacks on Sundays.
In terms of style and size (just under 6-foot-1, 190 pounds), Holt has been compared to Jerry Rice.
At North Carolina State, Holt had 191 career catches for 3,379 yards and 31 TDs. He also doubled as a punt and kickoff returner.
Some NFL scouts think the 6-3, 205-pound Boston, only a junior, would have been wise to follow Holt's lead and stay in school for his senior year. Although there were few receivers in college football over the past two seasons who made big plays as effortlessly as Boston for the Buckeyes.
Byron Boston, David's father, will show him the ropes in the pros. The elder Boston is an NFL line judge.
Other top receivers in this draft include Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards, Syracuse's Kevin Johnson, Northwestern's D'Wayne Bates and Tennessee's Peerless Price.
Both Johnson and Bates were recruited as quarterbacks.
Johnson lost out on the QB job at Syracuse four years ago to a guy named Donovan McNabb. Johnson and McNabb finished their college careers together, hooking up for 60 pass completions for 894 yards and nine TDs as seniors last season.
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