It’s a good time to be a receiver.
There’s a land rush to get receivers, which was very evident in the first two days of the NFL draft. Star recipients get huge second deals, leading some teams to take trades they don’t want to take. To pay a receiver $25 million a year, many teams hope to pick you up in the draft.
Or teams looked at the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals, who took Ja’Marr Chase fifth overall when they already had two good receivers, and realized that there aren’t too many receivers in the modern NFL.
It was already an unprecedented draft for receivers, with four rounds on Saturday.
Thursday night’s first 18 picks hit six receivers, a new record for the NFL draft. Then Friday began with the Green Bay Packers trading for the second pick of the second round and taking North Dakota State’s Christian Watson. A large receiver run followed shortly thereafter. Seven of them advanced to the second round, bringing the total to 13 over two rounds. According to ESPNwhich set a 2020 record for most recipients progressing through the first two rounds of the draft.
Fittingly, the third round ended with the San Francisco 49ers selecting SMU receiver Danny Gray. He was the 17th receiver in the first three rounds, setting a record for the combined NFL draft era.
When Skyy Moore went to the Kansas City Chiefs with the 54th pick, nearly one in four drafted players was a receiver. The 13 recipients were drafted from 13 different teams. Thursday saw two notable trades in receivers (AJ Brown to the Eagles, Marquise Brown to the Cardinals) and two trades in picks and receivers from the first round prior to Thursday (Davante Adams to the Raiders, Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins). That meant more than half of the NFL — 17 of 32 teams — invested a top-54 draft pick in a receiver this offseason.
There is a debate as to which position other than quarterback is the most valuable. Edge rushers, left tackles, and cornerbacks are always mentioned. The recipient quickly moves up the list. Based on that draft and the contracts awarded to star receivers, it may have taken the spot just behind QB.
The story goes on
Receiver was one of the positions that was undeniably deep in this draft class. That’s one of the reasons they fell off the board. But it’s also a sign: the receiver revolution is underway.
Georgia Bulldogs WR George Pickens (1) was one of 13 receivers hit in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Here are the other winners and losers from day two of the NFL Draft.
WINNER
The Pittsburgh Steelers Passing Game: It was a bit funny when Chase Claypool announced the Steelers’ second-round pick for Georgia receiver George Pickens. If reports of the Steelers’ dissatisfaction with Claypool are true, it’s possible Pickens will eventually replace Claypool on offense.
Pickens is a talented player who should pair very well with quarterback Kenny Pickett, the Steelers’ first-round pick. Pickens has the skills to be a very good NFL receiver, and Pittsburgh, which puts him 52nd overall, could end up being a great value. Pickett may not jump into the starting lineup right away, but if he does, he’ll have a potentially explosive receiver in Pickens to throw at, along with receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Pat Freiermuth (and maybe Claypool, too).
The Steelers have good defense and an exciting young running back in Najee Harris. Perhaps Pickett and Pickens’ tips will pay off in the passing game, and sooner than expected.
Every shaky QB outside of Mitchell Trubisky: If a team draws a quarterback in the first round, they’ll start sometime soon. If they take one in the second round, he could play early. Anything after that, no guarantee.
There are many quarterbacks who breathe easier after the first two days of the draft. Mitchell Trubisky, signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, felt his job threatened when the Steelers took Kenny Pickett in the first round. But Pickett isn’t considered a day one starter either. Then no other quarterback went into the first two rounds.
Guys like Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Jared Goff and Drew Lock are all clear to start Week 1 without worrying about a heavily drafted rookie being pushed into the lineup. Any quarterbacks on the fringes can wish for a chance, and a handful of shaky starters have fewer worries after the first few rounds of the draft.
LOSER
Seattle Seahawks: Again, the Seahawks did their own thing.
The most unpredictable franchise in the NFL was at it again on Friday. After making a fairly conventional pick in the first round and grabbing Charles Cross for ninth in left tackle — although a run-first team making a tackle and playing in a collegiate air-raid offensive might not be a good fit — they had two Back-to-back picks in the second round and a huge distress at the quarterback.
And the Seahawks, after taking Minnesota linebacker Boye Mafe, took back Kenneth Walker III with the second of those picks. Seattle may be the only team in the NFL that values a running back over a quarterback when they have a serious need for the latter. Although it’s not like every other team liked this quarterback class.
Seattle has had a lot of success with unconventional things over the past decade. Maybe that will work too. But making a running back over a quarterback when Drew Lock is the predicted starter was a trademark for the Seahawks.
Tight Ends: There aren’t many impact tight ends in the NFL. And based on the draft capital of this year’s tight end class, there will be no immediate talent feed for the position.
It wasn’t until the 23rd pick of the second round that it came to a close end. At this point, the Arizona Cardinals selected Trey McBride of Colorado State. The last time a tight finish was not achieved in the first two rounds was in 1987, and McBride’s choice saved that year’s class from achieving that. The next tight end was Virginia’s Jelani Woods with the ninth pick of the third round.
Receivers are all the rage, but teams would still like to have a chess piece tight end to create discord on offense. They’ve been hard to find lately.
Nakobe Dean: Georgia made history on Thursday night when five defenders competed in the first round. Then day two of the draft started, and one of her teammates kept slipping.
There are one or two players in every draft who fall surprisingly, and among the non-quarterbacks in the 2022 draft, that faller was Dean. The often-injured linebacker, considered by many to be either the #1 or #2 inside linebacker in the draft, was still available after the end of the second round. said Austin Gayle of PFF that Dean refused surgery on his shoulder, which put teams off. Dean is also a bit short for the position.
Dean’s slide ended in the third round as the Philadelphia Eagles took him 83rd overall. This could be a good value over time. Dean probably wanted better news during the draft, but he’ll have a chance to prove every other team wrong.