Since 2000, there have been 37 wide receivers taken in the first round of the NFL draft. Only one of them hit the 1,000-yard milestone as a rookie.
Supersticious or not, the trends show first round wide receivers are not prosperous in the NFL their first year.
That statistic may scare you away from drafting a rookie wide receiver. If it doesn’t, let me share with you the “The Curse of Florida Wide Receivers”.
Now, it’d be a great understatement to say Harvin is not skilled. Over his three years at Florida, Harvin scored 32 TDs and totalled nearly 3,800 total yards of all-purpose offense. He was one of the premiere talents in this year’s draft. The only problem is that he played for Florida in college.
Some of the highly-touted wide receivers to come from Florida recently were Reidel Anthony, Jacquez Green, Travis Taylor, Jabar Gaffney, Reche Caldwell and Taylor Jacobs. None of these guys have had inspiring careers in the NFL in a fantasy football sense.
So when coach Steve Spurrier left Florida, some predicted the curse would be lifted and we’d see a successful Florida WR in the NFL.
Chad Jackson had something to say about that. In four seasons in the NFL he caught 14 passes. I won’t even say the “b-word” here; you just said it for me most likely.
Though, since Ron Zook left Florida that school has been the epitome of success. While I don’t think the Florida wide receiver curse has been completely lifted, I do think Harvin is the best chance Florida has ever had to prove they can provide the NFL with talented wide receivers.
If you are superstitious, Percy Harvin is a huge fantasy risk this season. If you don’t believe in this mumbo-jumbo, you will find a great talent late in the draft with a lot of upside. More upside than other 12th round selections like Patrick Crayton, Mark Clayton and Nate Washington.
Remember, if he doesn’t pan out within the first few weeks you can always drop him for the latest flavor of the week!
2009-10 prediction for Percy Harvin:
700 yds receiving, 5 TDs
The Vikings need a true possession receiver.. that would help Harvin big time. Will be interesting to see how the wideouts line up this year and if the coaches let the QB go deep more than once a game. With BB and Harvin they have the speed for sure! But with Harvin being such a “space” guy how will the Vikings create space for him? We need the QB play to step up!