Thursday, May 08, 2008 | Posted by Connor Byrne

When the Buffalo Bills were on the clock in Round 2 of last month's NFL draft, they absolutely made the right decision in choosing former University of Indiana wide receiver James Hardy with the 41st overall pick. Measured anywhere from 6-foot-5 to 6-7 and weighing around 220 pounds, Hardy -- in terms of size -- is exactly what Buffalo's sputtering offense and frighteningly tiny receiving corps needs going forward. With that said, this decade's history says that fans expecting greatness from Hardy might ultimately be disappointed.

Though the difficulty the NFL's 32 teams have at finding successful pro receivers in the first round of the draft always grabs the spotlight, the fact is that stumbling on one in the second round is just as tough. Going all the way back to 2000, it's clear organizations haven't exactly been adept at selecting useful wideouts in Round 2. Take a look:

2000 - Dennis Northcutt (No. 32 overall, Cleveland), Todd Pinkston (No. 36, Philadelphia), Jerry Porter (No. 47, Oakland).

The only second-round receiver of this threesome to experience any kind of sustained NFL fortune is Porter, who signed a six-year, $30 million contract with Jacksonville in March. During the first seven seasons of his career, all of which were with Oakland, Porter hauled in 284 catches and 30 touchdowns in 105 games. Breaking down the numbers, Porter has amassed under three catches per game and approximately four TDs per season. He's hardly a superstar, obviously, but is still unquestionably the top pass catcher of this particular group. Northcutt, who is coincidentally Porter's Jaguars teammate, actually has 36 more receptions than Porter in 10 more games, but he has 15 fewer touchdowns and has never been considered a starting-level wideout. Last and certainly least, Pinkston had a 78-game, 184-catch career with the Eagles but is now out of the NFL.

2001 - Quincy Morgan (No. 33, Cleveland), Robert Ferguson (No. 41, Green Bay), Chris Chambers (No. 52, Miami).

Of this less-than-esteemed trio, Chambers is easily the best. During parts of eight seasons with the Dolphins and Chargers, the 5-foot-11, 210-pounder has compiled a highly impressive 440 receptions and 47 touchdowns. Chambers even made his way to the Pro Bowl in 2005, when he finished with 82 grabs, 1,100-plus yards and 11 scores. Morgan, who hasn't appeared in an NFL game since 2006, caught 164 passes in 80 games. Ferguson, currently a Minnesota Viking, has averaged exactly two receptions per game and has found the end zone just once every six contests.

2002 - Jabar Gaffney (No. 33, Houston), Josh Reed (No. 36, Buffalo), Tim Carter (No. 46, New York Giants), André Davis (No. 47, Cleveland), Reche Caldwell (No. 48, San Diego), Antwaan Randle El (No. 62, Pittsburgh), Antonio Bryant (No. 63, Cleveland).

Bills fans know Reed all too well: He's the guy with eight touchdowns in 88 games. Gaffney has been slightly better in the TD department (13), and he's also been a consistent 30- to 50-catch player with the Texans and Patriots. Carter has just 80 catches in 69 games, Davis has averaged fewer than two per contest, and Caldwell has visited the end zone just 11 times. Bryant, with 250 career receptions, leads this group; however, because of off-the-field issues, he's presently out of the league. Lastly, although Randle El hasn't lived up to his prior billing as a wideout (245 catches, 11 TDs), it's hard to come down on a former college quarterback who turned into a onetime Super Bowl hero for Pittsburgh and has been a solid return man/slash-type player throughout his two-team career.

2003 - Taylor Jacobs (No. 44, Washington), Bethel Johnson (No. 45, New England), Anquan Boldin (No. 54, Arizona), Tyrone Calico (No. 60, Tennessee).

The only thing stopping this foursome from being one of the worst on-paper, hypothetical receiving corps ever assembled is the stellar career Boldin has had. The former Florida State star fell out of front-office executives' favor prior to the 2003 draft because of average-at-best timed speed, which was lucky for Arizona. A two-time Pro Bowler, Boldin has 413 catches and 29 touchdowns in 68 games. Further, he has two 100-catch seasons and three 1,000-yard campaigns. Conversely, the remainder of this quartet has combined for a mere 118 receptions. Yikes.

2004 - Devery Henderson (No. 50, New Orleans), Darius Watts (No. 54, Denver), Keary Colbert (No. 62, Carolina).

Another comically bad bunch; this is becoming a trend, is it not? Henderson's career high for receptions in a season is 32, Watts is an Arena Leaguer, and Colbert averages 25.9 yards per game. That about covers it.

2005 - Reggie Brown (No. 35, Philadelphia), Mark Bradley (No. 39, Chicago), Roscoe Parrish (No. 55, Buffalo), Terrence Murphy (No. 58 overall, Green Bay), Vincent Jackson (No. 61, San Diego).

At last, a group that has actually done OK for itself in the pros. Brown has averaged a respectable three-plus catches per game and 14.4 yards per grab during his career so far; Buffalo's diminutive Parrish (5-9, 173) has made up for a lack of high-end receiving talent with his all-world return skills; finally, Jackson, 6-5, 241, has averaged 16 yards per catch in one of the league's top offenses. As for the negative, Bradley has totaled just over one catch per game, and Murphy's career was sadly curtailed by a spinal injury.

2006 - Chad Jackson (No. 36, New England), Sinorice Moss (No. 44, New York Giants), Greg Jennings (No. 52, Green Bay).

Jennings has 98 catches in two seasons; last year, he turned into a top-notch gamebreaker. During the 13 regular-season matchups Jennings appeared in, he caught 53 balls, racked up 920 yards (17.4 a reception) and an eyebrow-raising 12 touchdowns. On the other hand, Jackson has 13 catches in only 14 games; meanwhile, Moss has failed to mimic older brother Santana, catching just 26 passes in 19 games.

2007 - Sidney Rice (No. 44, Minnesota), Dwayne Jarrett (No. 45, Carolina), Steve Smith (No. 51, New York Giants).

It's obviously far too early to judge any of these players after one season; with that said, Rice and Smith showed a lot of promise as rookies, and Jarrett was only able to appear in six games.

The pattern proven here is that the second round isn't exactly a place to expect to draft a surefire starting-caliber receiver. The bottom line is that only a handful of the 31 players analyzed above have really turned into success stories at the pro level. For every prodigious weapon like Chambers, Boldin and Jennings, there are multiple failures along the lines of Morgan, Jacobs and Watts.

This obviously isn't to say Hardy has no chance to turn into a dynamic target for the Bills; rather, the point is that unrealistic, Plaxico Burress-like expectations shouldn't be heaped on him. Including Hardy, there were a whopping 10 receivers selected in the second round of April's draft. At least one or two of them will likely enjoy fine careers, but the rest probably won't. Whether Hardy falls into the "good pick" category in a few years remains to be seen, but the Bills certainly had the right idea when they chose him. It's up to Hardy now.

*E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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