The Los Angeles Rams have had two major wide receiver questions in 2026, one surrounding the impending free agency of superstar Puka Nacua, and the other centering on the team’s decision to draft Ty Simpson instead of a pass catcher. Some people believe that you should not extend a receiver for over $40 million per season because there are so many exciting players in the draft ever year, and others believe that the Rams should have never foregone the chance to draft Makai Lemon.
Lemon — who the Rams
will face when they take on the Eagles this week — has to avoid joining many recent examples for why receivers like Nacua are truly generational. Because the annual pre-draft report that “this receiver class is loaded!!!” seems to become more of a lie every year.
NFL fans have been promised a new wave of “generational” wide receivers in the draft practically every year during this decade. So where are they? Surprise, surprise, it turns out that every year isn’t “the best class we’ve ever seen before” and that finding starting wide receivers in the draft isn’t as simple as picking a great athlete and plugging him into any offense.
In fact, wide receivers have probably been much worse first-round draft picks than running backs recently. While running backs like Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, and Jahmyr Gibbs have more than justified their top-12 draft slots, an inordinate number of early-pick receivers aren’t living up to the hype.
As such, receivers like Marvin Harrison, Jr. and Brian Thomas, Jr. are rumored to be on the trade block. Harrison’s reported price tag is only a day three pick, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, less than three years after he was the fourth overall pick in the draft.
If you think the Rams can just trade Puka Nacua and be fine with “next year’s draft picks”, good luck with that plan. (And no, the Rams won’t have a pick high enough to take Jeremiah Smith.)
2021
PFF called 2021 “one of the best receivers classes we’ve ever seen,” headlined by Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, and DeVonta Smith. By those three names, the receiver class exceeded expectations, right? Well, what if you DIDN’T have a top-10 pick?
The Eagles traded up for Smith and now we know why. The next 10 receivers off of the board could be classified as “busts” on one level or another.
On the high end are guys like Rashod Bateman, and he has only had more than 515 yards once (756 yards in 2024) and he’s basically just a complement piece. Nothing teams can’t replace. It’s the same story with Josh Palmer and Dyami Brown.
It’s not until you hit Nico Collins that the Houston Texans got very luck at pick 89.
A star emerged in the fourth round when the Lions picked Amon-Ra St. Brown, but him and Collins are the only two starters drafted after pick 10! Just those two!
2022
The 2022 class had six first-round picks and the results are very mixed.
Chris Olave is probably the best of the first three. Olave, Drake London, and Garrett Wilson are all Pro Bowl-level receivers, but not in the same tier as Nacua and Chase. London’s lack of high-end speed does really limit his ceiling.
Then there’s Jameson Williams, the most talented receiver in the class. His injury history and a suspension for gambling have limited his production and now he’s only averaging 42 yards per game so far this season. Can you replace Puka or Davante Adams with Jameson? I don’t think so.
Jahan Dotson and Treylon Burks are busts.
The second round produced four starters (Wan’Dale Robinson maybe a borderline guy) and three busts. The one-dimensional quality of a George Pickens, Alec Pierce, or Christian Watson really stands out. Watson is currently fifth in the NFL in yards, so we’ll see if this is his big year or not. The third round produced nobody.
Day three produced Khalil Shakir and Romeo Doubs. Okay.
2023
Ironically, 2023 was not as highly touted as the previous few years or the years after it. And yet it produced Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year and the third-place finisher in the same category.
So there’s those two. Then Zay Flowers is really good and Jordan Addison is above-average. The other first-rounder is Quentin Johnston and he’s a bust.
The second-round produced four receivers (Jonathan Mingo, Jayden Reed, Rashee Rice, and Marvin Mims), whereas the third produced six (Dell, Hyatt, Tillman, Downs, Michael Wilson, and Tucker).
Hyatt and Tillman are rather notorious busts, but Wilson is good. Tank Dell gets hurt too often. Josh Downs and Tre Tucker are useful.
Day three produced Puka and Parker Washington and not much else.
2024
Also cited as a “generational” class, just two and three years after the last generation, people got overly excited by Malik Nabers after one season, and crowned Harrison before he ever actually did anything.
Nabers suffered a devastating knee injury in 2025 and he hasn’t been good this season. Maybe that will change after more time to adapt, but he’s bad right now. Harrison has always been bad.
Rome Odunze is mediocre. Brian Thomas got overrated based on a productive rookie season and he’ll probably never be that good again. Three more receivers snuck into the first round: Xavier Worthy, Ricky Pearsall, and Xavier Legette.
Out of seven receivers, what has the 2023 first-round actually produced going into year three?
Best case scenario is probably that Nabers rebounds and maybe one other guy has a mid-career breakout.
Ladd McConkey is surrounded by three busts in the second round, and McConkey is just pretty good.
And there’s nobody really special in the rest of the rounds either. Including guys who were really hyped as steals, like Malachi Corley and Jalen McMillan. Just not much at all, including Jordan Whittington.
2025
Travis Hunter was hyped as the rarest type of player: a two-way starter at corner and receiver. Now in year two, the Jaguars have almost exclusively moved him to cornerback. Hunter has one catch for eight yards this season.
The rest of the first round is up in the air, with Tetairoa McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, and Matthew Golden all off to fairly good starts. Egbuka is probably lagging behind the other two now.
Outside of the first round, Luther Burden is maybe the only other receiver in the entire draft who consistently looks like a starter in the NFL.
And in 2026, Carnell Tate is on one of the worst offenses in football, Jordyn Tyson is injured, and Makai Lemon is maybe not on the same page with Jalen Hurts or Philadelphia’s coaching staff just yet. It’s early to say.
So how bad is this really?
The NFL’s leading receivers are JSN, Olave, Adams, CeeDee Lamb, and Watson in the top-five for yards so far. Golden is actually eighth.
But it’s not just about who is leading, it’s the hit rate for drafting wide receivers that has become the most deceptive thing about planning to replace a receiver in the draft next year. Those plans often fail.
Even top-10 picks are no guarantee, but top-15 picks have been far more reliable than any receiver who goes later than top-20—and most definitely when they go after the first round. Anything after the second round is basically a shot in the dark, good maybe one out of 40 times.
At that point, you must be trading. But who will you be trading for?
Probably just someone who failed with the team who drafted him. A Brian Thomas Jr. might be your best case scenario in a trade. More likely than not, it’ll be Bateman or Dotson.
One of the few elite receivers ever drafted on day three is named Puka Nacua. The Rams would be better served doubling-down on the one lottery ticket that they actually hit.
