5 WRs who were the biggest one-season wonders in NFL history

There are more players that are wide receivers than any other position in NFL history. Teams carry a ton of wide receivers on their rosters, which creates opportunities for breakout stars each season. Some of the players who break out have long and successful careers, while others sometimes disappear after one great season. Here are five one-season wonder wide receivers from NFL history.

NFL wide receivers who were one-season wonders

#5 - Marcus Robinson, Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears wide receiver Marcus Robinson

Marcus Robinson was irrelevant in his rookie season with the Chicago Bears, appearing in just three games while recording four receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. This adds to his incredible breakout campaign in the 2000 NFL season, his second with the Bears.

Robinson exploded with 84 receptions for 1,400 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while appearing in all 16 games and starting in 11 of them. It looked like the Bears found themselves an unlikely star at wide receiver, but Robinson's production quickly fell off. He failed ever to surpass 55 receptions or 750 receiving yards in any other career season.

#4 - Laurent Robinson, Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Laurent Robinson

Laurent Robinson spent his first four years in the NFL with two different teams, including two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and two more with the St. Louis Rams. He averaged 250 receiving yards and one touchdown per season across those four years combined.

In the 2011 NFL season, Robinson's fifth, he joined the Dallas Cowboys for a year. That season, he recorded 858 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, nearly doubling his career yardage total and tripling his touchdown total. After that, he played just one more season with the Jacksonville Jaguars before retiring, recording just 252 yards and zero touchdowns.

One-season wonder wide receivers from NFL history

#3 - Allen Hurns, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Allen Hurns

Allen Hurns showed promise in his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, chipping in 677 receiving yards. In his second season, he took things to the next level, recording 64 receptions for 1,031 yards and ten touchdowns.

It appeared as though the Jaguars had found themselves a stud wide receiver who was initially signed as an undrafted free agent. Unfortunately, he played just four more years after that while failing to record more than 500 yards or three touchdowns in any other season.

#2 - Sidney Rice, Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice

After being drafted in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft, Sidney Rice joined the Minnesota Vikings with pretty high expectations. He struggled in his first two seasons, combining for just 537 yards and eight touchdowns.

Rice turned things around significantly during his third year with the Vikings, accumulating a massive 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns while more than doubling his career production. It was just a one-year breakout, as he only surpassed 500 yards in one other season of his career.

#1 - Michael Clayton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton was a highly-rated wide receiver prospect coming out of LSU for college football, earning himself a 15th overall selection by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2004 NFL Draft. He lived up to the hype in his rookie season, starting 13 games while recording 80 receptions for 1,193 yards and seven touchdowns.

Unfortunately for Clayton and the Buccaneers, his rookie season was the only one in which he contributed solid production. He played for seven more years after that but failed to exceed 500 yards in any other season and totaled just three more touchdowns in his entire career.