Expectations should be held in check with Patriots rookie receivers – Sports – The Boston Globe

On the whole, rookie receivers usually don’t make much of an impact right away. Instant impact players like Randy Moss, Anquan Boldin, or Marques Colston, who each had 1,000-yard seasons as rookies, are rare, even for guys picked at the top of the draft. Calvin Johnson didn’t get his first 100-yard receiving game until Week 15 and finished his rookie year with 48 catches, 756 yards, and four touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald didn’t have a 100-yard game his entire rookie season, and finished with 58 catches, 780 yards, and eight touchdowns. Brandon Marshall, a fourth-round pick, had one start, 20 catches, 309 yards, and two touchdowns as a rookie before catching 100 passes his second season.