Antonio Brown was off most teams’ radars in the 2010 NFL Draft, and 193 players were called out on the podium before Brown’s name was announced. The Steelers found use for Brown immediately, who broke his second season with the team, catching 69 passes for 1,108 yards.
Since then, it’s been nothing but success for Brown. Nine seasons in the league, he has over 11,000 yards receiving and 74 touchdowns. He’s been to the Pro Bowl every year since 2013. He was recently traded to the Raiders, who then released him and within hours, picked up by the New England Patriots, who plan on using the pro bowl wide receiver in a pivotal role. While Brown’s career has been met with steady success, the 22 wide receivers who went before him have not had the same production, most of which are out of the league right now.
Here are the 22 wide receivers who were taken before Antonio Brown was selected in the sixth-round:
22) Pick 191: Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas (Bengals)
Briscoe was selected just four picks ahead of Brown in the sixth round. While drafted by the Bengals, Briscoe never saw the playing field there. Instead, he was quickly cut and picked up by the Buccaneers where he played 18 games with Josh Freeman as quarterback, catching 41 passes for 480 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.
He then was waived and signed by the Redskins, but after spending a season there and not playing more than seven games, he injured his shoulder the next preseason. He was waived and not picked up by any teams. Briscoe surpassed 3,000 receiving yards at Kansas, scoring 31 touchdowns.
21) Pick 177: Carlton Mitchell, South Florida (Browns)
The Browns were a team that could have used Brown, struggling to find the right quarterback and pass catchers over the last couple decades. Mitchell entered the draft after his junior year and was known for his speed. However, he failed to score more than nine times in college.
He spent two seasons in Cleveland and dressed in 16 games, but only ended up catching three passes for 31 yards on five targets. The Browns cut Mitchell after the 2011 season and he wasn’t picked up by any other teams.
