Every receiver's situation is unique. What round they're drafted in matters, but not as much as the players around them, their coaches and the team they play for. Nevertheless, a quick historical look at what kind of results 2nd-round receivers have in their rookie seasons does at least make for a starting point in the discussion of what the St. Louis Rams might expect from Brian Quick, the wide receiver they selected with the first pick in the 2nd round of the draft.
The biggest question in attempting any futile prediction, is to ask how many passes that player will catch. Without a bona fide No. 1 receiver, I would expect Sam Bradford's throws to be spread around, especially since the focus of the offense is going to be on the two running backs.
Somewhere between 45-55 receptions is reasonable for Quick. Plaxico Burress caught 45 with the Jets' offense last year. Tight end Dustin Keller led with 61 receptions.
Among 2nd-round picks since 1994, only one has topped 1,000 yards. That was Anquan Boldin who caught 101 passes in his rookie year, 2003. He's an outlier. Below, is the list of all receivers with at east 45 receptions since 1994.
Games | Receiving | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Player | Year | Draft | Tm | G | GS | Rec | Yds | TD | ||
1 | Anquan Boldin | 2003 | 2-54 | ARI | 16 | 16 | 101 | 1377 | 13.63 | 8 | 86.1 |
2 | Kevin Johnson | 1999 | 2-32 | CLE | 16 | 16 | 66 | 986 | 14.94 | 8 | 61.6 |
3 | Eddie Royal | 2008 | 2-42 | DEN | 15 | 15 | 91 | 980 | 10.77 | 5 | 65.3 |
4 | DeSean Jackson | 2008 | 2-49 | PHI | 16 | 15 | 62 | 912 | 14.71 | 2 | 57.0 |
5 | Chris Chambers | 2001 | 2-52 | MIA | 16 | 7 | 48 | 883 | 18.40 | 7 | 55.2 |
6 | Frank Sanders | 1995 | 2-47 | ARI | 16 | 15 | 52 | 883 | 16.98 | 2 | 55.2 |
7 | Darnay Scott | 1994 | 2-30 | CIN | 16 | 12 | 46 | 866 | 18.83 | 5 | 54.1 |
8 | Torrey Smith | 2011 | 2-58 | BAL | 16 | 14 | 50 | 841 | 16.82 | 7 | 52.6 |
9 | Keary Colbert | 2004 | 2-62 | CAR | 15 | 15 | 47 | 754 | 16.04 | 5 | 50.3 |
10 | Greg Little | 2011 | 2-59 | CLE | 16 | 12 | 61 | 709 | 11.62 | 2 | 44.3 |
11 | Donnie Avery | 2008 | 2-33 | STL | 15 | 12 | 53 | 674 | 12.72 | 3 | 44.9 |
12 | Bert Emanuel | 1994 | 2-45 | ATL | 16 | 16 | 46 | 649 | 14.11 | 4 | 40.6 |
13 | Greg Jennings | 2006 | 2-52 | GNB | 14 | 11 | 45 | 632 | 14.04 | 3 | 45.1 |
14 | Titus Young | 2011 | 2-44 | DET | 16 | 9 | 48 | 607 | 12.65 | 6 | 37.9 |
15 | Jerome Pathon | 1998 | 2-32 | IND | 16 | 15 | 50 | 511 | 10.22 | 1 | 31.9 |
16 | Antwaan Randle El | 2002 | 2-62 | PIT | 16 | 0 | 47 | 489 | 10.40 | 2 | 30.6 |
Back to Quick. When you condense it down to the receivers in that 45-55 reception range, yardage totals in the 600s are close to the norm. If Quick can catch that many passes, he should be able to top 600 yards, assuming he would be targeted a little deeper than, say, Danny Amendola, and since he also has some yards after the catch ability.
A better question for Quick would be the number of touchdowns he can score. No Rams receiver has had more than five touchdowns in a season since 2007, when Torry Holt scored seven. Quick's attributes should make him a contributor in the red zone, the end zone, where he can catch a fade and jump balls in the right matchups.