NFL Draft - It used to be rare for a rookie wide receiver to make a big impact, but that paradigm is clearly changing. A rookie wide receiver with 1,000 receiving yards may now be a perennial occurrence. Every NFL season since 2019 has had a rookie wide receiver hit the 1,000-yard mark, and the 2022 season had two (although that may partially be a function of the NFL moving to a 17-game schedule). Wide receivers are no longer just a long-term investment—they can make an immediate impact on a team's passing game.
Playmaker Score, Football Outsiders' metric for projecting top wide receiver prospects, expects that kind of immediate impact from a couple of this year's top prospects, including Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jordan Addison.