Is There Any Hope for These 2nd-Year WRs After a Disappointing Rookie Year?

Story by

Story by
Is There Any Hope for These 2nd-Year WRs After a Disappointing Rookie Year?

Luke Easterling · Athlon Sports

Tue, Jun 17, 2025 ·

6 min read

About Our Ads

Is There Any Hope for These 2nd-Year WRs After a Disappointing Rookie Year? originally appeared on Athlon Sports .

Last year's NFL Draft featured an elite wide receiver class, but while many of those top pass-catchers impressed in their rookie campaigns, a handful of them failed to live up to the hype that came along with their high draft slot.

On the latest episode of "Best Podcast Available," I sat down with Matt Harmon of Yahoo! Sports to talk about the rookie receivers who didn't quite live up to the hype last season, but still have a ton of potential if some variables change in their favor moving forward.

Harmon brought up four names in particular: Ja'Lynn Polk ( New England Patriots ), AD Mitchell ( Indianapolis Colts ), Keon Coleman ( Buffalo Bills , and Xavier Legette ( Carolina Panthers ).

"I'm not gonna go as far as to say they were set up to fail, but I don't think they were put in the right roles for their individual skill sets," Harmon said of that particular quartet.

Ja'Lynn Polk struggled mightily as a rookie in New England last year.Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Polk was easily the biggest disappointment of the group, a second-round pick coming off a strong season at Washington that showed off a pro-ready skill set on tape. Despite a weak receiver room in New England , Polk caught 12 passes for just 87 yards in his rookie season, hauling in a pair of touchdowns but averaging just 7.3 yards per reception.

"With Polk, this was a guy who was an off-the-line-of-scrimmage player, kind of a flanker, played about 35 % of his snaps in the slot (in college)," Harmon said. "Early in the season with the Patriots, he's out there running 22 percent 9 (go) routes, and he's on the line of scrimmage as the X receiver. There was nothing in his college tape that said he was gonna be the X receiver, because Rome Odunze was that guy at Washington."

"He literally dropped his own opportunities, but that role was never going to be conducive to his showcasing the things he's really good at," Harmon said of Polk.

Coleman starred at Florida State in 2023 after transferring from Michigan State, and though he had a few flashes of potential (nearly 20 yards per reception), he finished his rookie campaign with a modest 29/556/4 line.

Keon Coleman averaged nearly 20 yards per catch as a rookie, but he would benefit from better usage.Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

"The Bills said, the moment they drafted him, that they viewed him as an X receiver," Harmon said, pointing out a telling trend about receivers who struggle against man and press coverage in college not faring well as X receivers in the NFL. "The Bills were true to their word, they almost never played him in the slot . . . to be fair, they have a lot of slot options, including Khalil Shakir , who is a stone-cold baller and a really consistent player . . . so it's kinda hard for them to get (Coleman) in the slot. But I just don't think he's ever gonna be a high-tier, high-volume separator at that X receiver position."

Harmon sees the opposite problem in Indy with Mitchell, who caught just 20 passes for 254 yards and no touchdowns as a rookie for the Colts.

"He's only an X receiver, because his route-running against zone coverage, he just doesn't have the feel for when to settle down," Harmon said of the former Georgia and Texas star. "He is really good at probably four routes: 9 (go), out, curl, slant, against press man coverage. But he's really good on those routes. He's one of the random receivers, very rare, where I want to see them only play the X."

AD Mitchell faces an uphill battle to make a splash with the Colts.Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

"He couldn't displace Alec Pierce in Year 1," Harmon said of Mitchell's rookie season. "The Colts, when Josh Downs got hurt, they tried to kick (Mitchell) into the slot, and I think his head was just swimming early on. Maybe not this year, because Pierce is still there, but in future years, he can just win that X receiver job. Maybe there's a path for him."

The Panthers traded back into the first round to land Legette with the No. 32 overall selection, and he showed immediate promise with four touchdown catches in the first nine weeks of the 2024 season.

"Of these four, the guy I'm most optimistic about from a deployment perspective," Harmon said. "I think the Panthers had it right with his usage (last year). They wanted to use him off the line of scrimmage, they wanted to use him in the slot, move him into the backfield, make him more of a motion player. And that's where I think he's gonna best express his abilities, because he's really good on these crossing routes, you get the ball in his hands and he can be a real big-play weapon."

But after a solid start, Legette's production waned down the stretch when his role and usage changed in the offense. Thankfully, Carolina's top pick in this year's draft should allow them to correct that mistake and set Legette up for success in Year 2 with Bryce Young .

Xavier Legette should benefit from the arrival of top-10 pick Tetairoa McMillan in Carolina.© Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"After they traded Diontae Johnson , there's an opening, so they move Legette to that X receiver spot, and his rookie season kinda spirals after that," Harmon recalls. "But now, they've drafted Tetairoa McMillan , who's just gonna walk right into that X receiver position. I think that's gonna help Legette play in the roles that make more sense for him."

It's only been one year for all of these young receivers, and they're all plenty talented enough to make a jump in the right direction in Year 2. They'll need a little help from their respective supporting casts, though, both on the field and throughout the coaching ranks, to reach their ceilings.

"All four of those guys are kind of in the same bucket where, their careers could go one way or the other, but a lot of it's gonna come down to how they're deployed," Harmon said. "And this is always the case with rookies wide receivers. You don't wanna just lose a season playing in a role that doesn't fit your skills best, but it does happen."

To check out the entire conversation, including a full deep dive on the entire 2024 receiver class heading into Year 2, watch the full episode of BPA:

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: