3rd Year Wide Receiver = Urban Legend

[saundman2000]

People quote the 3rd year rule like it's written in stone and applies to all 3rd year WRs.

Newsflash: WRs that suck will never breakout.

No team hits on all of their prospects. Maybe the guy just sucks and never panned out, maybe the QB sucks, maybe there are too many good WRs above him, who knows.

Guys like Brandon Lloyd, Greg Lewis and Antonio Chatman fit in the "QB sucks" group.

Guys like Doug Gabriel, Kevin Curtis, Bryant Johnson and Shaun McDonald fit in the "too many good WRs above him" category.

Guys like Tyrone Calico fit in the "he sucks and never panned out" crowd. That guy is a physical beast...6'4", 230, and fast. He just doesn't have hands or heart. Brandon Jones, a rookie, was wiping the floor with Calico until Jones was put on IR.

There are so many reasons for success or failure that you can't pigeonhole guys into this 3 year rule.

Good Points, Brutally Huge.

There is something about a WR's third year of development, but I wouldn't call it a RULE more like a GUIDELINE. With Rules, there are always exceptions but with Guidelines it's left to each person to use their own discretion. Consideration of many guidelines makes a Fantasy Owner a better decision maker.

Almost always there's third year WRs that break out based on the general learning curve of the position. The trick is to figure out who those 1, 2, 3, or 4 guys will be.

[louisianacajunsam]

donte stallworth and deion branch had much more fantasy impact than brandon stokley this season.....

however, i like stokley and if dallas clark didnt play so much of the slot this season, stokley would have had good numbers

[Sixxgunn]

Don't forget guys that showed flashes, had every reason to succeed, but for some reason didn't. Main case in point...Nate Burleson. This guy could have and should have been at least serviceable this year, but ended up being horrible. Sure he had an injury, but he stunk before that, and stunk after it. Something didn't click there, and I'm still stumped as to why.