- Ohio State is at the top: The Buckeyes’ receiving corps is led by the best player in college football, Jeremiah Smith.
- Auburn comes in second: Eric Singleton Jr. and Cam Coleman are among the 10 best wide receivers in college football ahead of the 2025 season.
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Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
While the quarterback is the biggest determining factor for whether a team’s passing game is successful, it’s also critical to have capable pass-catching weapons.
We continue our college football positional group rankings with the 10 best receiving corps ahead of the 2025 season. Wide receivers and tight ends were considered when compiling this list.
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1. Ohio State
This is my fourth season ranking the 10 best receiving corps in college football, and the Buckeyes have topped the list twice now. And they’ve never placed outside the top three.
Jeremiah Smith isn’t just the best receiver in college football; he’s the best player in college football. As just a true freshman, he was the most valuable receiver in the nation, according to PFF WAA. The cover athlete of EA Sports College Football 26 led the Power Four with 15 receiving touchdowns and trailed only Tetairoa McMillan in receiving yards (1,311) in 2024.
Ohio State also added Purdue transfer Max Klare, my third-ranked returning tight end. His 684 receiving yards in 2024 lead all returning Power Four tight ends this season.
Many are projecting Carnell Tate to be a first-round pick in 2026, and he’d be the sixth Ohio State receiver in the past five drafts to earn that title. Brandon Inniss, Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter were all top-10 wide receiver recruits coming out of their respective high school classes, as well.
2. Auburn
The Tigers are the only team with two of my top 10 wideouts in college football. Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton Jr. placed fifth on that list and has track speed. His 1,468 receiving yards since 2023 are the second most among returning Power Four wide receivers, and his 664 receiving yards on deep throws in that stretch are the most.
Cam Coleman slotted in at sixth on that list and came on strong at the end of his true freshman season. The former top-five recruit led the nation with six receiving touchdowns and racked up the sixth-most receiving yards (306) across the final three weeks of the regular season. Expect a massive sophomore breakout for Coleman.
Auburn has three other intriguing second-year receivers in Malcolm Simmons, Perry Thompson and Bryce Cain, in addition to Wake Forest transfer Horatio Fields.
Eric Singleton Jr.'s 2024 PFF Game Grades
3. Clemson
Clemson’s top wide receiver trio is about as good as there is in college football. Bryant Wesco Jr. is my seventh-ranked returning wideout after a stellar freshman season. His 707 receiving yards trailed only Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams among true freshmen. He wasn’t the only impressive true freshman in the Tigers’ receiving corps, though. T.J. Moore lived up to his five-star billing by placing fourth among all true freshmen with 650 receiving yards last year.
Finally, Antonio Williams has first-round upside in the 2026 NFL Draft after tying for third among Power Four wideouts with 11 receiving touchdowns last season.
4. Ole Miss
The Rebels may have lost four of their top five pass catchers from a year ago, but they replenished their receiving corps in the transfer portal. De'Zhaun Stribling comes in from Oklahoma State and was one of the 30 most valuable receivers in the country last season, according to PFF WAA. The same is true for fellow transfer Harrison Wallace III, who led all Penn State wideouts with 723 receiving yards last year. Cayden Lee is also back after a strong sophomore year, tying for sixth among SEC wideouts with 38 receiving first downs plus touchdowns.
Ole Miss might also have the best tight end room in college football, thanks to Luke Hasz and Dae'Quan Wright. Hasz transferred from Arkansas and is my 10th-ranked tight end in the nation, and Wright’s 75.8 PFF receiving grade since 2023 ranks fourth among returning Power Four tight ends.
5. Alabama
While it didn't match Jeremiah Smith's otherworldly freshman campaign, Ryan Williams' first college season was still incredible. The former top-five recruit’s 865 receiving yards ranked second to Smith among FBS true freshmen — and second among all true freshmen over the past three seasons. He enters 2025 as my No. 2 receiver in the country and graces the cover of EA Sports College Football 26 alongside Smith.
Germie Bernard will once again be Alabama’s No. 2 receiver and was one of the 25 most valuable wideouts in the nation this past season, according to PFF WAA. Miami transfer Isaiah Horton rounds out the trio and placed ninth among ACC wide receivers with 38 receiving first downs plus touchdowns this past season.
6. Georgia
It might be surprising to see the Bulldogs ranked this high, considering they placed just 88th in team PFF receiving grade a year ago. However, Georgia addressed that weakness in the transfer portal by bringing in USC’s Zachariah Branch and Texas A&M’s Noah Thomas.
Branch was a top-five recruit in the 2023 high school class and has elite quickness for the position, placing in the 95th percentile of FBS receivers in separation rate and the 93rd percentile in yards after the catch per reception across his first two seasons. Thomas is a big-bodied receiver at 6-foot-6 and ranked seventh among SEC wideouts with nine contested catches in 2024. Georgia also returns Colbie Young from injury after he led the ACC with 12 contested catches in 2023 while at Miami.
The Bulldogs have one of the best tight end duos in the sport, as well, in Lawson Luckie and Oscar Delp. Luckie placed fifth among SEC tight ends last season with 21 receiving first downs plus touchdowns, while Delp boasts a 99th-percentile separation rate throughout his career.
7. LSU
Like Georgia, LSU significantly upgraded its receiving corps through the transfer portal. Nic Anderson played just nine snaps in 2024 due to a quadriceps injury but was a nice deep threat for Oklahoma the year before, logging 344 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 20-plus-yard throws. Kentucky’s Barion Brown is a speedster whose 805 career receiving yards after the catch are the seventh most in the SEC since 2022. Speaking of speed, Aaron Anderson is back for another year after placing second in the SEC with 458 yards after the catch.
While the Tigers lost star tight end Mason Taylor to the NFL, they have an exciting replacement in sophomore Trey'Dez Green. He was a five-star recruit in the 2024 class, led all true freshmen tight ends with a 69.9 PFF receiving grade this past season and didn’t drop a single pass.
Barion Brown's Career PFF Grades
8. Texas
The Longhorns may have lost their three leading receivers from 2024 — Matthew Golden, Gunnar Helm and Isaiah Bond — but Arch Manning still has plenty to work with. It starts with Ryan Wingo, who is in line for a breakout sophomore campaign. His 270 yards after the catch in 2024 were the fifth most among true freshmen. DeAndre Moore Jr. is also back after catching seven of his 11 contested targets last season while placing in the 92nd percentile in separation rate.
Texas dipped into the transfer portal to boost its receiving corps with a couple of star pass catchers from the ACC, too. Jack Endries is my second-ranked tight end in college football and leads all returning Power Four tight ends with 1,030 receiving yards across his past two years at California. Emmett Mosley V transferred in from Stanford, and his eight contested catches last season trailed only Jeremiah Smith among Power Four true freshmen.
9. Texas A&M
Texas A&M added one of the best receivers in the transfer portal in NC State’s Kevin Concepcion, who is my eighth-ranked wide receiver in college football. Since 2023, his 792 yards after the catch are the second most among returning Power Four receivers and his 16 receiving touchdowns are the most. Sophomore Terry Bussey is very similar to Concepcion in that he should be handed designed touches in any way possible. The former five-star recruit ranked second among true freshmen wideouts with 111 rushing yards this past season. Mario Craver transferred in from Mississippi State and placed sixth among Power Four true freshmen with 254 receiving yards on deep throws last year.
Tight end Amari Niblack hardly played for Texas in 2024, but he’s an elite athlete who flashed while at Alabama. During the 2023 season, 11 of his 20 catches went for at least 15 yards.
10. Notre Dame
While he didn’t receive as much hype as other receivers in the transfer portal, Malachi Fields was still one of the best options available. The former Virginia Cavalier leads all returning Power Four pass catchers in receiving yards since 2023 (1,619). He was the honorable mention receiver on my top-10 list.
Jaden Greathouse is back for his junior year after leading the Fighting Irish with 592 receiving yards this past season. He was one of the 25 most valuable wideouts in the nation, according to PFF WAA. Jordan Faison is also back for another year as Notre Dame’s No. 3 receiver. To cap it all off, the Fighting Irish added Wisconsin’s Will Pauling from the transfer portal. His 18 contested catches over the past two seasons were the third most among Big Ten wideouts.
Honorable Mention: Penn State
Penn State’s inclusion on this list might be shocking at first glance, considering the wide receiver position has held the program back in recent years. However, the Nittany Lions were seemingly determined to change that narrative this offseason.
Their starting trio of wide receivers will be made up entirely of transfers: Syracuse’s Trebor Pena, Troy’s Devonte Ross and USC’s Kyron Hudson. Pena’s 475 yards after the catch last season were the ninth most among Power Four receivers, Ross ranked seventh in the Group of Five with 1,050 receiving yards and Hudson tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 13 contested catches.
While losing superstar tight end Tyler Warren certainly hurts, Penn State has done an incredible job of recruiting at that position. The Nittany Lions have brought in a top-five tight end recruit in each of the past three recruiting classes and still have a solid veteran for the room in redshirt senior Khalil Dinkins.
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