Our NFL rookie profile series continues with the analysis of 2023 NFL Draft Prospect Xavier Hutchinson, WR from Iowa State. We will continue to provide you with these in-depth rookie profiles and a ton of other fantasy football rookie analyses right up through the NFL Draft. Stay tuned, and stay ahead of your league.
The 2023 rookie wide receiver class has been dubbed weak, shallow, and even terrible. While I disagree with the weak and terrible parts, there’s some truth to it being called shallow. Because of that shallow nature, we must skip the players with shaky profiles in the early rounds. As we progress into the later rounds, it’s time to look for some diamonds in the rough - players that we think can gain value within the following year. One of those players may be Hutchinson.
With the covid pandemic causing so much disruption to the 2020 season, we’ve seen more fifth-year players in this class than I can ever remember. Hutchinson is part of that large group, as he played two years of junior college football before transferring to Iowa State University in 2020. He was considered the 10th-best JuCo transfer WR in the 2020 class, according to 247Sports.
The Stats
Courtesy of Sports Reference.
Hutchinson immediately impacted the Iowa State Cyclones offense in 2020, leading the team in receiving by almost 200 yards and coming second in touchdowns scored, only behind a future NFL Player in Charlie Kolar. In that season, Hutchinson sported a 28% receiving yards market share, 2.6 PPR points per touch, and 2.11 yards per team pass attempt.
Not much changed in his second season with the Cyclones. In 2021, Hutchinson led the team in receiving by a little over 200 yards and was only behind Charlie Kolar in touchdowns scored. This time, he had a 31% market share, 2.49 PPR PPT, and 2.43 YPTMPA.
