You are comparing senior year players to underclassmen.

In 2014, Houk (as a junior) had 21 catches for 241 yards and 2 TDs. He was still working through issues with drops that had really plagued him in 2013. But then, his senior year, he took a leap to 37 catches and 490 yards, though still with only 2 TDs.

In 2016, MLP (as a sophomore) had 27 catches for 277 yards and 2 TDs. He had a real problem with drops, but also made a few great, acrobatic catches (one vs. Arizona, two vs. Miss St.).

MLP would have to make less of a leap to get to Houk's 2015 numbers than Houk had to make to get to those numbers.