2009 Wide Reciever Impact Rookies

This position in this year's draft was arguably the deepest and most diverse. We had the bigger, more physical wide recievers in Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden, Kenny Britt, and Michael Crabtree and we also had the smaller, quicker recievers like Hayward-Bey, Maclin, and Harvin. The six wide recievers taken in the first round made this position the most-picked. This year's class will have a great chance to make a run at the famous 1996 class that had players like Owens, K. Johnson, Glenn, and Harrison. Ranking these players is difficult, because you have to take into account the system that they are going to, their roles, and the other players that they are competing with. So after lots of studying, projections, and estimations here are my top rookie wide recievers for this season, plus two bonus sleepers
1)Kenny Britt - Rutgers - Tennesse Titains
2)Hakeem Nicks - North Carolina - New York Giants
3)Jeremy Maclin - Missouri - Philadelphia Eagles
4)Percy Harvin - Florida - Minnesota Vikings
5) Brian Robiske - Ohio State - Cleveland Browns
Sleeper(1)Patrick Turner - University of Southren California - Miami Dolphins
Sleeper(2)Derrick Williams - Penn State - Jacksonville Jaguars
I have a feeling the first thing my readers are going to notice about the list is that Michael Crabtree's name is conspicuously missing. Crabtree is missing for two reasons.
1) The new offense being ran in San Fransico will be a pound-the-rock, run oriented system that takes advantage of Frank Gore
2)Crabtree's impact is going to be felt in the red zone, but out of all the recievers he will have to make the biggest adjustment, he will not be able to out-muscle all the cornerbacks as he did in college. Crabtree will be a good reciever in the NFL just not in his rookie season.
Kenny Britt is my number one impact rookie at reciever for a couple of reasons. First, he will be "the man" when he steps on the practice field, and arguably the most talented reciever on the Titans roster. Second, Britt is going to benefit greatly from the play action pass from the effectiveness of the running attack. Last, Britt has a supurb combination of size (6'3) and solid speed (4.5), which well help him seperate from cornerbacks by giving him multiple ways to get open down the field. The issues that could hold Britt back are his questionable hands, slow of the snap, and poor downfield blocking, but these are things that can be worked on during his career.
My number two impact rookie reciever is Hakeem Nicks who was 29th overall by the New York Giants. New York hopes that he will fill the big bodied wide reciever void left by Plaxico Burress. He is four inches shorter than Burress, but is a wider-bodied reciever that will be able to use his body to block out defensivebacks to catch the slants that Manning and Burress used successfully which opened up running lanes for their running game. Nicks has arguably the best hands in this years draft, which made me put him in the number two position. He will be in the starting line-up from the beginning, plus he well get tons of chances to catch the balls that Plaxico Burress would have had thrown to him. The negatives about Nicks are his lack of speed (4.63), the depth of the Giants wide reciever corps, and many people believe that his success in college was due to the fact that the Tar Heels had three really good recivers and other teams defenses were spread too thin. The only issue that can really affect Nicks is his speed, because good cornerbacks could undercut the slant routes that makes Nicks so dangerous.
The third and fourth ranked players were really hard to seperate since they are very similar players, but what was the deciding factor was injuries. Jeremy Maclin will not be as injury prone as Percy Harvin, thus he goes third and Harvin fourth. Maclin has a chance to put up the best numbers out of all the recievers in this draft.The precedent has already been set by Desean Jackson for rookie recievers in Philadelphia. Many people agree that Maclin is a better player than Jackson was when he came out of college and entered last year's draft. So that leaves Eagles fans to dream about the possibilites with these similar dynamic playmakers on the field at the same time. Maclin most likely will also assume kick-off return duties along side Jackson to keep his playmaking abilities on the field. Potential negatives for Maclin are his poor route running, and he relied heavily on his atheletic ability in college. Rather than using technique to beat defenses which is scary, because I have a strong belief that college players that relied on out-muscling or out-running opponents for their success never make any extended sustained success in the NFL (ex. Reggie Bush).
Percy Harvin's versitlity makes me put him on the list no matter how injury prone he is. Harvin can play QB in the wildcat, wide reciever, and also play runningback. He well also benefit from playaction, and single coverage, because defenses will, load up to stop Peterson. Harvin has the potential to lead the NFL in YAC (Yards after Catch) for years with his one of a kind agility and elusiveness. On the downside, Harvin gets injured way to much the season has not even started and he has missed mini camp due to dehydration, and was sent home from the rookie symposium due to an illness. Another problem with Harvin is that he tested positive for marijuana at the scoutiong combine, and now is in the NFL substince abuse policy. The upside to these negatives is that they are of the field issues, and except for being sort of short he has no gapping holes in his game. The scariest problem with Harvin is that many people believe that he was a product of a system, because many players from Meyer's system have struggled in the NFL. I do not think Percy will struggle that much, he is a once in a decade type athlete and it will be up to the coaches to harness his ability.
Brian Robsike is the most polished reciever in this draft. Robiske is not the the most gifted athlete, but I believe that he has the best chance to become the best reciever in this draft. It is well documented about his dad being the recivers coach with Atlanta Falcons, and him being molded into being a techniquely sound reciever. Robiskie will most likely be the safety net for whom ever is the quaterback in Cleveland. Robiskie well excel the most in red zone situations, because of his hieght, and is most likely the best in the draft at seperating from cornerbacks. Holding Brian back is the quaterback situation in Cleveland which is not his fault; and which Braylon Edwards is going to show up? If the 2007 Edwards shows up, Robiskie well have to take a back seat to Edwards. If 2008 Edwards who led the league in drops, I could see the quaterback quickely turning to the more reliable Robiske. Alot of what Robiskie will be expected to do will be based on what Edwards does. It would not be very hard for me to believe that Robiskie could be the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
My first sleeper is Patrick Turner of the Miami Dolphins, he is in the mold of Plaxico Burress, that being tall and maybe even a little bit stronger that Burress was. Turner is my number one sleeper, because the Dolphins did not have that big-body reciever that teams need in third down, and red zone situations. Turner has the chance to put up alot of touchdowns, and also put up alot of catches, because he will be asked to be the down the middle of the field threat. Many people believe that Turner will struggle, because it is very difficult for really tall recievers to florish in the NFL, and that why, except for quaterbacks, you do not see many 6'5" and over players.
Derrick Williams, a third round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is my second sleeper pick. We all Williams make big play after big play for four years at Penn State. Williams is small, and at the scouting combine ran alot slower than expected. Never the less I expect him to fill the Jags need for a good reciever. He will have a great mentor in Torry Holt to learn the ins and outs of the league from. The reason that I like Williams is not only will he have a chance to return punts and kicks, but he has the ability to make plays as a wide reciever, something that the Jacksonville Jaguars have not had since the retirement of Jimmy Smith.