Colorado University Athletics
Football Notebook: Future NFL Draft-WR Outlook
May 02, 2017 | Football
The Pac-12 has not had more than five WRs selected in a draft in 30 years; CU has not had multiple WRs selected since 1972. Can both streaks end in 2018?
BOULDER – Jon Wilner, college football and basketball writer for The Mercury News, pointed out an interesting note from the NFL Draft in his Monday article where he highlighted the winners and losers from the 2017 NFL Draft.
That note (and you can read the full article at this link):
Loser: Pac-12 receivers. Of the 36 players picked, only three were WRs. (Not drafted: Victor Bolden, River Cracraft, Gabe Marks, Michael Rector, Trey Griffey, Tim White, Tim Patrick and Kenny Walker.) Receiver has been an oddly mediocre position for the conference – relative to its tailbacks, quarterbacks and offensive linemen — over the sweep of decades.
This inspired some research.
In the past five NFL Drafts, a total of 169 Pac-12 players have been chosen. Among those were only 22 wide receivers. The number seems low, but it is not all that far off in comparison with its Power 5 brethren.
Power 5 Conferences
Wide Receivers/Quarterbacks/Total Draft Picks Last 5 Years
What is of note is that in the last two years, a pair of Pac-12 receivers have eclipsed the conference record for receptions in a career and both went undrafted.
CU's Nelson Spruce was the first of the two, as his 294 receptions from 2012-15 set a Pac-12 record. He went undrafted in 2016 before signing as an undrafted free agent (UDFA) with the Los Angeles Rams.
Then Washington State's Gabe Marks eclipsed Spruce's record last season and finished his career with a Pac-12 all-time best 316 receptions. Marks also did not hear his name called in last week's draft and signed as an UDFA with the New York Jets.
Wilner followed up Tuesday and had some fun projecting the top 2018 draft picks out of the conference He projected three wide receivers among the Pac-12's top 34 potential prospects. Those were USC's Deontay Burnett, Stanford's Trenton Irwin and Washington's Dante Pettis (Wilner predicting that Burnett and Irwin could both declare early given their talent, as they will be juniors in 2018).
Link to Wilner's Tuesday article on Pac-12 projections for the 2018 NFL Draft found here.
Also included in Wilner's top 34 for the 2018 draft were CU OL Jeromy Irwin and CB Isaiah Oliver. We would like to include RB Phillip Lindsay in the mix as well among top prospects, especially if he can have another 1,000-yard rushing season and catch over 40 passes again.
Back to the wide receivers and taking a deeper look at those in the conference, at least looking at production levels and/or accolades, the potential is there to break the Pac-12 wide receiver shortage in the NFL Draft.
Starting in house, we have three Buffs whose careers merit a shot at the next level after the trio all drew All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors in 2016. Shay Fields has the best numbers; 144 receptions for 1,929 yards and 17 touchdowns along with his deep threat factor (he has nine career receptions of 50 yards or longer).
Bryce Bobo's prototypical body type (6-2, 195) and hands (Mr. SportsCenter Top 10) would intrigue an NFL team. He has 88 career receptions for 945 yards and five touchdowns.
Then there is Devin Ross, a quick inside receiver who would fit well into the NFL game. Ross has 97 career receptions for 1,113 yards and seven touchdowns.
Other Pac-12 wide receivers to add into the mix:
Oregon's Darren Carrington II – He will be a senior this fall, was second-team All-Pac-12 as a sophomore in 2015 and has 112 receptions for 1,919 yards with 15 touchdowns in his career.
Washington State's Tavares Martin, Jr. – Would have to leave school early to be drafted, but if he has another big year like he did as a sophomore in 2016, that might not be out of the question considering he would be losing his quarterback Luke Falk to graduation. Martin ranked sixth in the Pac-12 last season with 64 receptions, was seventh with seven TDs and eighth in yards with 728.
UCLA's Darren Andrews – An honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick as a junior in 2016, he has 102 receptions for 1,204 yards and five touchdowns in his career. Teammate Jordan Lasley (a to-be redshirt junior in 2016) came on towards the end of 2016 for the Bruins and his 56.4 receiving yards per game is the fifth-most among returning receivers in the conference.
Take Wilner's three WR projections, the three Buffs who have a shot and the other Pac-12 receivers mentioned and there is a chance for a higher number to be drafted in 2018.
You have to go back a long ways to find the last time more than five wide receivers were drafted out of the conference; 30 years to be exact when in 1988 seven receivers from the Pac-10 were drafted in a year with 12 rounds and a total of 333 players selected.
The last time CU had two or more wide receivers chosen in the same draft was in 1972, when Cliff Branch (fourth round to Oakland) and Larry Brunson (11th round to Denver) were picked.
That note (and you can read the full article at this link):
Loser: Pac-12 receivers. Of the 36 players picked, only three were WRs. (Not drafted: Victor Bolden, River Cracraft, Gabe Marks, Michael Rector, Trey Griffey, Tim White, Tim Patrick and Kenny Walker.) Receiver has been an oddly mediocre position for the conference – relative to its tailbacks, quarterbacks and offensive linemen — over the sweep of decades.
This inspired some research.
In the past five NFL Drafts, a total of 169 Pac-12 players have been chosen. Among those were only 22 wide receivers. The number seems low, but it is not all that far off in comparison with its Power 5 brethren.
Power 5 Conferences
Wide Receivers/Quarterbacks/Total Draft Picks Last 5 Years
| Year | ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC |
| 2017 | 5/4/42 | 2/1/14 | 6/1/35 | 3/1/36 | 5/2/53 |
| 2016 | 2/1/26 | 5/0/26 | 4/5/47 | 5/3/32 | 6/2/51 |
| 2015 | 6/1/47 | 3/1/25 | 7/1/35 | 5/3/39 | 6/0/54 |
| 2014 | 5/3/42 | 2/0/17 | 5/0/30 | 5/0/34 | 8/4/49 |
| 2013 | 3/3/31 | 8/2/22 | 1/0/22 | 4/1/28 | 6/1/63 |
| 5-Year Totals | 21/12/189 | 20/4/104 | 23/7/169 | 22/8/169 | 31/9/276 |
What is of note is that in the last two years, a pair of Pac-12 receivers have eclipsed the conference record for receptions in a career and both went undrafted.
CU's Nelson Spruce was the first of the two, as his 294 receptions from 2012-15 set a Pac-12 record. He went undrafted in 2016 before signing as an undrafted free agent (UDFA) with the Los Angeles Rams.
Then Washington State's Gabe Marks eclipsed Spruce's record last season and finished his career with a Pac-12 all-time best 316 receptions. Marks also did not hear his name called in last week's draft and signed as an UDFA with the New York Jets.
Wilner followed up Tuesday and had some fun projecting the top 2018 draft picks out of the conference He projected three wide receivers among the Pac-12's top 34 potential prospects. Those were USC's Deontay Burnett, Stanford's Trenton Irwin and Washington's Dante Pettis (Wilner predicting that Burnett and Irwin could both declare early given their talent, as they will be juniors in 2018).
Link to Wilner's Tuesday article on Pac-12 projections for the 2018 NFL Draft found here.
Also included in Wilner's top 34 for the 2018 draft were CU OL Jeromy Irwin and CB Isaiah Oliver. We would like to include RB Phillip Lindsay in the mix as well among top prospects, especially if he can have another 1,000-yard rushing season and catch over 40 passes again.
Back to the wide receivers and taking a deeper look at those in the conference, at least looking at production levels and/or accolades, the potential is there to break the Pac-12 wide receiver shortage in the NFL Draft.
Starting in house, we have three Buffs whose careers merit a shot at the next level after the trio all drew All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors in 2016. Shay Fields has the best numbers; 144 receptions for 1,929 yards and 17 touchdowns along with his deep threat factor (he has nine career receptions of 50 yards or longer).
Bryce Bobo's prototypical body type (6-2, 195) and hands (Mr. SportsCenter Top 10) would intrigue an NFL team. He has 88 career receptions for 945 yards and five touchdowns.
Then there is Devin Ross, a quick inside receiver who would fit well into the NFL game. Ross has 97 career receptions for 1,113 yards and seven touchdowns.
Other Pac-12 wide receivers to add into the mix:
Oregon's Darren Carrington II – He will be a senior this fall, was second-team All-Pac-12 as a sophomore in 2015 and has 112 receptions for 1,919 yards with 15 touchdowns in his career.
Washington State's Tavares Martin, Jr. – Would have to leave school early to be drafted, but if he has another big year like he did as a sophomore in 2016, that might not be out of the question considering he would be losing his quarterback Luke Falk to graduation. Martin ranked sixth in the Pac-12 last season with 64 receptions, was seventh with seven TDs and eighth in yards with 728.
UCLA's Darren Andrews – An honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick as a junior in 2016, he has 102 receptions for 1,204 yards and five touchdowns in his career. Teammate Jordan Lasley (a to-be redshirt junior in 2016) came on towards the end of 2016 for the Bruins and his 56.4 receiving yards per game is the fifth-most among returning receivers in the conference.
Take Wilner's three WR projections, the three Buffs who have a shot and the other Pac-12 receivers mentioned and there is a chance for a higher number to be drafted in 2018.
You have to go back a long ways to find the last time more than five wide receivers were drafted out of the conference; 30 years to be exact when in 1988 seven receivers from the Pac-10 were drafted in a year with 12 rounds and a total of 333 players selected.
The last time CU had two or more wide receivers chosen in the same draft was in 1972, when Cliff Branch (fourth round to Oakland) and Larry Brunson (11th round to Denver) were picked.
Players Mentioned
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