With the NFL on the precipice of what could be the decade of the pass, it's not a surprise that quarterbacks such as Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III are garnering the bulk of the draft headlines.
Quarterbacks can't make it happen without pass-catchers, however, so let's take a closer look at what the metrics have to say about the top 10 wide receivers in this year's draft.
Each wideout was ranked in the following categories: age, height, weight, 40-yard dash time, overall yards per attempt (YPA), short pass yards per attempt (SYPA), vertical yards per attempt (VYPA) and stretch vertical yards per attempt (SVYPA). (Note: Short passes are aerials thrown 10 yards or less downfield; vertical passes travel 11 or more yards; stretch verticals are thrown 20 or more yards. Each player's metrics are based on a tape review of a minimum of nine 2011 contests against BCS conference-caliber opponents.)
The players' rankings in each category were then tabulated on a 1-10 scale with the best score getting a rating of 1. The category rankings were then added up and are listed under the ranking points heading (with a lower score being better).
Now that we have the prelims out of the way, let's take a look at how the rankings turned out.
1. Stephen Hill
Birth date: May 1, 1990 (21 years old)
Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 215 pounds
40-yard dash time: 4.36
YPA: 12.0 (43 targets)
SYPA: 4.0 (13 targets)
VYPA: 15.5 (30 targets)
SVYPA: 17.2 (22 targets)
Ranking points: 27