Wide Receiver
Wide Receiver (WR) First Round Draft Trends
This page tracks every wide receiver selected in Round 1 of the NFL Draft from 2021 through 2025, with pick-by-pick scoring under both the Huddle Report and FantasyPros systems. Use the year toggles to isolate individual draft classes or compare WR selection patterns across all five years.
Understanding how many wide receivers go in Round 1 each year — and where in the round they cluster — is one of the most effective ways to improve mock draft accuracy. Position-specific trends help you decide whether to project a wide receiver at a given slot or anticipate a position run that could push WRs into a different range than expected.
Build your 2026 mock draft with these historical WR trends in mind, then check the accuracy leaderboard after draft night to see how your wide receiver picks scored.
Teams Likely to Draft a Wide Receiver in 2026
Based on current team needs, the following teams have wide receiver as a top-3 positional need heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. As an offensive position, wide receivers are part of the offensive side of the ball — see the offense vs defense analysis for how each side has trended from 2021–2025:
- Las Vegas Raiders — Pick #1
- New York Jets — Pick #2
- New York Giants — Pick #5
- Kansas City Chiefs — Pick #6
- Washington Commanders — Pick #7
- New Orleans Saints — Pick #8
- Cleveland Browns — Pick #9
- New York Giants — Pick #10
- Miami Dolphins — Pick #12
- Los Angeles Rams — Pick #13
- Baltimore Ravens — Pick #14
- New York Jets — Pick #16
- Carolina Panthers — Pick #19
- Philadelphia Eagles — Pick #20
- Pittsburgh Steelers — Pick #21
- Cleveland Browns — Pick #24
- Miami Dolphins — Pick #27
- New England Patriots — Pick #28
- Kansas City Chiefs — Pick #29
- New York Jets — Pick #30
Related Analysis
- Offense vs Defense — how side-of-ball distribution shapes Round 1 each year
- Accuracy by Pick Range — where in the round predictions are hardest
- Position Runs — consecutive same-position picks that shift WR draft slots
- 1st Round Misses — projected Round 1 players who fell to Day 2
- Consensus Big Board — 86.3% of top-32 ranked prospects go in Round 1