Percy Harvin led all rookie receivers last season in both fantasy points and fantasy points per game. How often is it that the top rookie fantasy receiver ends up being the best fantasy receiver from his class? It's difficult to grade more recent classes, of course, but there is only one receiver from 1988 to 2009 who is a lock to end up as the best receiver from his class. And although it's a Viking, it's not Harvin. The table below shows the top rookie wide receivers from each of the last 21 years, along with their fantasy points and fantasy points per game totals from their rookie seasons. Next to that, I've listed the top receiver from that class based on points of career VBD:

The ten classes from '88 to '97 can safely be graded, and none of the top rookie receivers ended up being the most productive member from that class. The same can be said for the '99, '00 and '01 classes. The '02 class is up in the air, although I doubt Stallworth ends up with the most VBD. Boldin was a legitimate star, but he landed in the same class as Andre Johnson: before their careers end, I suspect that Johnson will easily surpass Boldin and be labeled the top fantasy receiver from the 2003 class.

It doesn't take Nostradamus to put Larry Fitzgerald ahead of Michael Clayton when looking at the 2004 draft; the '05 to '08 classes are all likely to change over the years, but the top rookie receiver from each of those seasons has already been surpassed by at least one other guy. Harvin faces heavy competition from Crabtree, Nicks, Wallace, Maclin, Collie and probably a couple of players who didn't do much as rookie last year. If he bucks the trend and comes out as the best receiver from his class, he'll have earned it.

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