NFL Draft: Re-drafting every first-round pick from 2017 NFL Draft

NFL Draft: Re-drafting every first-round pick from 2017 NFL Draft: 30, WR Corey Davis

Originally selected 5th overall (-25)

It’s become clear that wide receiver Corey Davis was taken simply way too high in the 2017 NFL Draft. The numbers he put up while attending Western Michigan however, seemed to justify his positioning.

As a freshman, Davis racked up 67 catches and 941 yards, fine numbers but not something he was satisfied with. Davis continued to get better and better year after year as his numbers continued to jump off the page. In his next three seasons, Davis caught 78, 90 and 97 balls respectively. With more catches under his belt, the receptions shot up like a rocket. Davis went from 941 receiving yards in his rookie year to 1,408 as a Sophomore, 1,436 as a Junior and 1,500 as a senior. Yet, that same level of high play he showed on the collegiate level hasn’t revealed itself in the pros.

With his fourth year officially in the books, Davis has yet to put together a thousand yard season. He also seldom finds himself in the end zone as his career-high for a season was only five. With a chance to do things over, Davis plummets from his top five selection but falls to a team that really needs him in the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After watching JuJu Smith-Schuster dominate with a bonafide number one in Antonio Brown in his first years, Smith-Schuster has been somewhat exposed now that the spotlight is firmly on him. With back-to-back seasons in which he has failed to crack a thousand yards, it’s become painfully clear that Smith-Schuster isn’t a number one.

The addition of Davis is exactly what this team needs. While it’s difficult to say if he will develop into a number one option, we’ve seen what Smith-Schuster can do. It’s time to go in another direction.