Ranking the top 10 pass-catchers in college football for 2024

Mar 15, 2024, 08:00 AM ET The 2024 NFL draft includes a significant collection of talented receivers, consisting of Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze, not to point out Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, all of whom could be top-10 picks.But that does not indicate there won’t be anybody left to catch the ball in the college game. Our list of the leading 10 receivers in college football for the coming season, as figured out by a survey of our reporters, consists of five players who broke the 1,000-yard threshold in 2023, plus two players who missed out on considerable time due to injury and one who had as huge an impact at cornerback as he did as a receiver.We asked our resident experts to rank their leading 10 wide receivers/tight ends going into the 2024 season. Points were appointed based upon their votes: 10 points for first place, 9 for second place and down to one point for 10th place.Here are the results.Previous top 10 lists: Running backs |

Quarterbacks 2023 stats: 86 receptions, 1,212 backyards, 14.1-yard average, 9 TDs Points: 92( five first-place votes )Concern was a swelling of clay in 2022 as a vibrant athlete and a terrifying figure with the ball in his hands

. The blue-chip freshman scored rushing, getting and punt return touchdowns, but wasn’t where he required to be as a real receiver. He balanced just 8.3 backyards per catch and completed his first year at Missouri with 375 getting yards.The light bulb came on for Burden in 2023. He moved to the slot and topped 375 yards by the second quarter of his fourth game.

He acquired 114 lawns or more in 5 straight games, tossed himself into blocking and dirty work late in the year when running back Cody Schrader began to catch fire and still completed the season ranked ninth nationally in receiving backyards. He dropped just two passes all season and completed in the top five in the nation in yards after catch (711, 3rd), required missed deals with(30, fourth )and backyards after first contact (300, 5th ). He captured a desperate fourth-and-17 pass to establish a game-winning basket against Florida and the game-clinching goal pass in the Tigers’Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State. Schrader received some Heisman elect his late-season work, however Missouri doesn’t go 11-2 in 2023 without Problem. And now he enters his junior season as perhaps the most tested receiver in the country. His potato chips are pretty good too.– Costs Connelly

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2023 statistics: 90 receptions, 1,402 yards, 15.6-yard average, 10 TDs

Points: 78 (three first-place votes)

After an outstanding freshman year in 2022, where he captured 39 passes for 702 backyards, McMillan broke out as a sophomore, taking 90 passes for 1,402 yards with 10 goals as Arizona won 10 games for just the second time in more than twenty years. No returning power conference receiver had more getting yards than he did last year, capturing passes from both Noah Fifita and Jayden de Laura.The offseason saw a major change in Tucson with head coach Jedd Fisch departing for Washington, which caused some preliminary speculation that McMillan may move with him to the Huge 10. However, both McMillan and Fifita announced they would stay at Arizona to bet brand-new head coach Brent Brennan, who arrived from San Jose State. It will be difficult for McMillan to top his analytical output from a year earlier, but the Wildcats will no longer have Jacob Cowing– who captured 90 passes as a senior– which might make them more dependent on McMillan.– Kyle Bonagura

2023 stats: 41 receptions, 515 yards,

12.6-yard average, 4 TDs Points: 59 Top-three nationwide pass receivers typically don’t have a lot to show, however Egbuka is seeking to deliver more for an Ohio State offense with the greatest of expectations. After a breakout season in 2022– he had 1,151 receiving yards and 11 goals on 74 receptions, while adding two rushing goals and 75 yards on punt returns– the Steilacoom, Washington, native appeared poised to make the leap to the NFL in 2024. But last season didn’t go as planned, as Egbuka was slowed by a midseason ankle sprain that sidelined him for three games. He ended up with just 41 receptions for 515 lawns and 4 touchdowns, never ever reaching the 100-yard mark and eclipsing 40 backyards simply when in Big Ten play.Marvin Harrison Jr.’s departure puts Egbuka in the spotlight as Ohio State’s No. 1 receiver and a Biletnikoff Award candidate. He had actually displayed top-end speed and route-running and balanced 15.7 lawns per reception in 2022 while adding to the return game his first 2 seasons. Egbuka will contribute in easing the transition for Kansas State transfer Will Howard and leading a receiver group as soon as again pegged to be among the nation’s finest.– Adam Rittenberg 2023 statistics: 86 receptions, 1,182 yards, 13.7-yard average, 10 TDs Points: 41(one first-place vote

)Johnson racked up 86 catches for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns, playing as Oregon’s No. 2 receiving target last season. Those are hardly No. 2 numbers as only five other receivers in the nation– including his 2023 colleague Troy Franklin– posted an 80-1,100 -10 line. The only 2 players from that group returning for 2024 are Johnson and Arizona’s McMillan.Johnson was a wizard both before and after the catch. He hauled in more than half his contested catches, balanced more than 3 yards per catch after first contact

(with 17 missed out on tackles )and acquired 727 backyards after the catch, the majority of among all Power Five receivers in 2015. On the other hand, he was as reliable an option as there remained in college football, taking 78.9% of his targets, third-most amongst all FBS receivers with at least 100 targets and tops in the Power 5.– David Hale 2023 statistics: 54 receptions, 985 backyards, 18.2-yard average, 8 TDs Points: 30 Editor’s Picks 2 Associated One of the numerous transfers Ole Miss has actually cashed in on in recent seasons, Harris returns as one of the top pass-catchers in the country. He started his profession at Louisiana Tech and had a breakout season there in 2022 with 10 goal catches. He missed one game at Ole Miss

last season with an injury but still ended up with 54 catches for 985 yards and eight goals. He’s 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and has the athleticism and size to win most individually matchups.The Rebels will be deep at receiver with slot Jordan Watkins and tight end Caden Prieskorn returning and South Carolina move Antwane “Juice “Wells coming in, which will make it difficult for challengers to double-team Harris. Not only will Harris be a target for Jaxson Dart in crucial third-down circumstances, however he is one of the more hazardous big-play receivers in college football. He balanced 18.2 yards per catch last season, and his 21 catches of 20 yards or longer rank third nationally amongst returning FBS players.– Chris Low 2023 stats: 85 receptions, 1,092 yards, 12.8-yard average, 6 TDs Points: 28 Restrepo had three relatively peaceful seasons at Miami before 2023, when he kipped down one of the best years by a receiver in school history. The South Florida native set a school record with 85 catches, becoming simply the sixth Hurricanes receiver ever to break the 1,000-yard mark in a season (1,092). A first-team All-ACC selection, Restrepo was at his finest in a loss to Louisville, when he captured 8 passes for 193 backyards with a touchdown late in the year.He had a strong connection with quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, but will now be capturing passes from former Washington State QB Camera Ward, who quickly announced he would enter the NFL draft before reversing course and moving to Miami.– Bonagura 2023 statistics(at South Alabama): 91 receptions, 1,316 lawns, 14.5-yard average, 7

TDs Points: 27 Find you a slot receiver who can do it all. At South Alabama in 2023, Lacy was first in the nation in receiving yards from screens, shallow and hook routes(606 from 60 catches ), first in backyards after catch and first in backyards after first contact. He

was likewise an A+deep hazard, ranking 18th in receiving lawns on passes thrown 20-plus yards

downfield and balancing 14.5 yards per reception on the season regardless of all the brief paths. He was the No. 1 in the Jaguars ‘death attack– he was targeted on 30%of his routes and accounted for 38%of his group’s getting yards– and still, no one might stop him. He topped 100 backyards in 8 of his 12 games.For each of 4 seasons, Lacy showed enormous development, leaping from 11 catches in 2020 to 41 in 2021, 64 in 2022 and 91 in 2023. He was among the nation’s best return men in 2022 too. And now he takes the rational next action in his career: seeing what he can do at a Power 5 school. He will act as the most proven pass-catcher in a significantly remodeled Louisville getting corps as Jeff Brohm tries to make his 2nd ACC championship game look in 2 seasons.– Connelly Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports 2023 statistics: 45 receptions, 649 lawns, 14.4-yard average, 4 TDs Points: 23 Michigan has lost a great deal of star power from its national championship offense, however Loveland, together with running back Donovan

Edwards, will enter the spotlight in

2024. Loveland became an elite-level tight end during his first 2 seasons in college and

should be among the leading potential customers at his position in the 2025 NFL draft. Michigan doesn’t have lots of recruits from Idaho, but Loveland made the long journey from Gooding, in the southern part of the state, and arrived as a three-star hire in 2022. He broke out late in his freshman season, beginning five games, recording 16 receptions for 235 lawns, while standing out on special teams.Loveland took on a bigger role last fall in Michigan’s death game, finishing 3rd on the group in receptions( 45) and 2nd in both receiving lawns (649 )and receiving goals (4). He had numerous receptions in each of the Wolverines ‘last nine games, including three for 64 backyards in the

national championship win over Washington. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Loveland made first-team All-Big 10 honors and was named Michigan’s offending player of the week five times. As the Wolverines reload at quarterback and wide receiver, Loveland will have a lot more obligation on his really capable shoulders this fall.– Rittenberg 2023 stats: 57 receptions, 721 backyards, 12.6-yard average, 5 TDs Points: 21 (one first-place vote)Hunter’s location here is sort of like if Michael Jordan had ranked as one of the White Sox’s top prospects in 1994. He really has no business being this proficient at what is, basically, his

part-time gig. While Hunter excelled as one of the elite cover corners in college football in 2015, his effect on offense was almost as considerable, catching 57 balls for 721 yards and five goals in 9 games. To put that in viewpoint, the last time a Colorado receiver hit all 3 of those marks was Laviska Shenault back in 2018– and Hunter did it while likewise playing defense and missing 3 games.How Hunter’s role progresses in 2024 is one of the more appealing questions of this offseason, and whether he depends on the rigors of playing both ways throughout a complete season for a 2nd year in a row is anyone’s guess. However what’s undoubted is Hunter’s uncommon talent, that makes him unsafe anywhere on the field– and perhaps at receiver

many of all.– Hale 2023 stats (at Alabama ): 48 receptions, 668 backyards, 13.9-yard average, 4 goals Points: 19 Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is hoping Bond can do what Georgia transfer Adonai Mitchell provided for the Longhorns ‘offense in 2023. Bond had 48 catches for 668 lawns with

4 touchdowns at Alabama last season. Most famously, he took the winning goal on fourth-and-31 with 32

seconds left in a 27-24 triumph at Auburn, which put the Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game.A former Georgia high school sprint champ in the 100 and 200 meters, Bond has blazing speed and should become a trustworthy deep threat for the Longhorns.– Mark Schlabach Likewise receiving votes: Brant Kuithe, Utah (17); Kevin Concepcion, NC State(16 ); Ricky White, UNLV( 14); Juice Wells, Ole Miss(12 ); Zachariah Branch, USC(

11 ); Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State(11 ); Tory Horton, Colorado State( 10); Evan Stewart, Oregon( 10); Elic Ayomanor, Stanford(8), Deion Burks, Oklahoma( 6); Kris Mitchell, Notre Dame (6); Oscar

Delp, Georgia( 5); Moose Muhammad, Texas A&M( 5); Benjamin Yurosek, Georgia (1 )