NFL

Which Wide Receiver Prospects Dominated the Most Games in 2017?

Which incoming rookie wide receivers accounted for production on a game-to-game basis?

Statistics in college football can be misleading. Opponents can be pushovers or elite. Offenses can be one-dimensional or flat out bad. They can spread the ball around or funnel everything to a select few players.

Simply put, there are a lot of variables to discuss when breaking down a collegiate player's statistical profile.

One thing that is hard to argue with, though, is just straight up results compared your teammates. Your team may throw the ball only 10 times a game, but if you're targeted on all 8 or 9 or all 10, there's probably a reason for it. Your team may play in a difficult conference, but if you excel while your teammates don't, there's probably a reason for that, too.

With this assumption, we're going to look at which receiver prospects dominated the most games this season, which I'm defining as at least 40% of his team's receiving yards in a single game.

If that cutoff sounds random, that's because it is -- a bit. But it passes the eye test. Among 130 Division I receivers taken in the first four rounds since 2009, the names at the top of the game domination list in a player's final season is pretty nice.

Eric Decker netted at least 40% of the Minnesota Golden Gophers' receiving yards in seven of eight games (87.5%) in 2009. Demaryius Thomas accounted for 40% or more of Georgia Tech's receiving yards in 11 of 13 games (84.6%) in 2009.

Jordan Matthews did it in 9 of 13 games (69.2%) for the 2013 Vanderbilt Commodores. Then, sure, there's A.J. Jenkins (69.2%) near the top of the list, but Paul Richardson (66.7%), DeVante Parker (66.7%), Dez Bryant (61.5%), Allen Robinson (58.3%), Zay Jones (58.3%), and Kenny Golladay (58.3%) round out the top 10.

You don't just accidentally accrue a near-majority of production game over game if you don't have any talent. So, which prospects dominated at least a third of their team's games this year? (Ties are broken by games with 50% of receiving or more.)