Last year’s wide receiver class was a tad underwhelming and it showed, as no receiver was selected in the first round—the first time since 1990 that’s happened. Then the levee broke and Round Two was almost one-third wideouts, with 10 going off the board between picks 33 and 58.
Receivers—and their agents—needn’t worry about a repeat this season, as thanks to an influx of underclassmen there are several talented pass-catchers expected to crack the opening stanza. Not that the senior class is woeful, as there are at least a handful of upperclassmen in the group of wideouts who should hear their name before Saturday’s two rounds have completed. After all, every team needs a playmaker in the passing game.
Day One Candidates
Even casual fans of the college game were aware of Michael Crabtree heading into this season, and the Texas Tech redshirt sophomore did not disappoint. You may remember him from such catches as the game-winner against Texas, just one of 231 grabs (and 41 touchdowns) in his two Biletnikoff Award-winning seasons with the Red Raiders. But Crabtree’s productive isn’t simply a product of Tech’s high-octane offense; at 6-3, 214 he’s plenty big and while he won’t run at the Combine due to an ankle injury he has plenty of speed and is working with former Olympian Michael Johnson to improve in that area as well.
It would be a mild upset if Crabtree isn’t the first wideout off the board in the 2009 draft—and if he’s not, it will most likely be Jeremy Maclin stealing that honor. Another redshirt sophomore, Maclin recovered from a serious knee injury to rack up two of the six best all-purpose yardage totals in NCAA history in two seasons at Missouri—a total of 5,609 all-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns split between receiving, rushing, kickoff returns, and punt returns. There’s no question about his productivity, and if Maclin—who lists at 6-0 and 200 pounds and claims a 40 in the 4.3 range—lives up to those measurables at the Combine he could leapfrog the idle Crabtree on some draft boards.
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