It's easy to get excited about rookies. We watch them dominate during their collegiate tenures. We watch, read and listen to analysis of their tape and combine workouts throughout the spring. And then it's all capped off during the excitement of draft weekend.
Especially for the players who hear their names called on Day 1 of the draft, it's hard not to expect immediate fantasy contributions from the next wave of NFL stars. However, history shows that position matters. Rookie-season optimism is reasonable for some, but not for others.
For the purpose of this article, I'll be looking at the rookie-season usage and performance of players selected in the first round during the 10 drafts spanning 2007-2016.
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