Trivia: Youngest Receiving Stars

by Chase Stuart on March 26, 2018

There have been only two players in NFL history to record a 100-yard receiving game before turning 21 years old. Can you name them?

Trivia hint 1	Select Show
One came in 2017; the other in 2010.

Trivia hint 2	Select Show
One went to USC; the other to Florida.

Trivia hint 3	Select Show
One played for the Steelers; the other, the Patriots.

Click 'Show' for the Answer	Select Show
Aaron Hernandez was born on November 6, 1989, and had his first 100-yard game in the second game of his rookie season (at 20 years, 317 days). JuJu Smith-Schuster was even “younger” — his birthday is November 22nd of 1996 — although his first 100-yard game came in week 8 of last year (20 years, 341 days).

The Steelers rookie was the youngest player since the NFL merger to record a catch: he was 20 years, 299 days old when he recorded his first NFL reception. He is remarkably young, of course: he was the youngest player in the 2017 NFL Draft and also one of the most productive as a rookie. As a sophomore at USC, Smith-Schuster had 1,454 yards in 14 games. He had 123 receiving yards in his first game in college, which came three months shy of his 18th birthday.

He had a remarkable rookie season even if you consider him just an average 21-year-old, and not a really young 21-year-old:

Query Results Table
							Games		Receiving
Rk	Player	Year	Age	Draft	Tm	Lg	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds ▼	Y/R	TD	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt
1	Randy Moss*	1998	21	1-21	MIN	NFL	16	11	124	69	1313	19.03	17	82.1	55.6%	10.59
2	Amari Cooper	2015	21	1-4	OAK	NFL	16	15	130	72	1070	14.86	6	66.9	55.4%	8.23
3	Mike Evans	2014	21	1-7	TAM	NFL	15	15	122	68	1051	15.46	12	70.1	55.7%	8.61
4	Keenan Allen	2013	21	3-76	SDG	NFL	15	14	105	71	1046	14.73	8	69.7	67.6%	9.96
5	Sammy Watkins	2014	21	1-4	BUF	NFL	16	16	128	65	982	15.11	6	61.4	50.8%	7.67
6	JuJu Smith-Schuster	2017	21	2-62	PIT	NFL	14	7	79	58	917	15.81	7	65.5	73.4%	11.61
7	Josh Gordon	2012	21	2-1	CLE	NFL	16	13	96	50	805	16.10	5	50.3	52.1%	8.39
8	DeAndre Hopkins	2013	21	1-27	HOU	NFL	16	16	91	52	802	15.42	2	50.1	57.1%	8.81
9	Percy Harvin	2009	21	1-22	MIN	NFL	15	8	91	60	790	13.17	6	52.7	65.9%	8.68
10	Hakeem Nicks	2009	21	1-29	NYG	NFL	14	6	74	47	790	16.81	6	56.4	63.5%	10.68
11	Larry Fitzgerald	2004	21	1-3	ARI	NFL	16	16	115	58	780	13.45	8	48.8	50.4%	6.78
12	Jeremy Maclin	2009	21	1-19	PHI	NFL	15	13	91	56	773	13.80	4	51.5	61.5%	8.49
13	Reggie Bush	2006	21	1-2	NOR	NFL	16	8	121	88	742	8.43	2	46.4	72.7%	6.13
14	Antonio Bryant	2002	21	2-63	DAL	NFL	16	15	93	44	733	16.66	6	45.8	47.3%	7.88
15	Kenny Britt	2009	21	1-30	TEN	NFL	16	6	75	42	701	16.69	3	43.8	56.0%	9.35
16	Christian McCaffrey	2017	21	1-8	CAR	NFL	16	10	113	80	651	8.14	5	40.7	70.8%	5.76
17	Kenny Stills	2013	21	5-144	NOR	NFL	16	10	50	32	641	20.03	5	40.1	64.0%	12.82
18	Andre Reed*	1985	21	4-86	BUF	NFL	16	15		48	637	13.27	4	39.8
19	Ricky Nattiel	1987	21	1-27	DEN	NFL	12	3		31	630	20.32	2	52.5
20	Gern Nagler	1953	21	14-167	CRD	NFL	11	11		43	610	14.19	6	55.5

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/26/2018.

Something particularly notable about his production last year? His catch rate was over 70% and his yards per reception was over 15, all while gaining at least 800 yards. Since 1992, he was just the 4th player to hit those three marks:

Query Results Table
							Games		Receiving
Rk	Player	Year	Age	Draft	Tm	Lg	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt
1	Jordy Nelson	2011	26	2-36	GNB	NFL	16	9	96	68	1263	18.57	15	78.9	70.8%	13.16
2	Tyreek Hill	2017	23	5-165	KAN	NFL	15	13	105	75	1183	15.77	7	78.9	71.4%	11.27
3	John Taylor	1993	31	3-76	SFO	NFL	16	16	74	56	940	16.79	5	58.8	75.7%	12.70
4	JuJu Smith-Schuster	2017	21	2-62	PIT	NFL	14	7	79	58	917	15.81	7	65.5	73.4%	11.61

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/26/2018.

When it comes to projecting future NFL success, Smith-Schuster had about as good a rookie year as it gets: not only was he incredibly young, but he was also remarkably efficient and very productive.

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