Ranking the SEC's WR Rooms

We’re just over three weeks until the Georgia Bulldogs take on the Clemson Tigers in Atlanta and I can feel the excitement starting. The Dawgs have started fall practice and our subscribers have the Dawgs Central forum rocking!

UGA sits atop the preseason coaches poll as the #1 ranked team in the country. This is obviously due to the amount of talent on the team and how deep the position rooms are in Athens. We previously talked about Kirby Smart and company having the second best quarterback room in the SEC and the top running back room in the SEC. Now let’s take a look at how Georgia’s receivers stack up against the rest of the conference. Let us know your thoughts on the following rankings:

1 MISSOURI - This wasn’t a hard one for me. The Tigers have the leading returning receiver in the SEC in Luther Burden (over 1200 yards, 9 TD), who is also seen as one of the top receivers in the nation. Theo Wease is a great compliment to Burden and could easily be WR1 on a lot of teams. Missouri also returns their third leading receiver from last season, Mookie Cooper.

2. OLE MISS - With Tre Harris and Jordan Watkins returning, the Rebels would have probably been at least in the top five on my list. The addition of Antwane “Juice” Wells gives Lane Kiffin one of the most formidable receiving trios in the nation. That’s not to mention Ayden Williams beginning his sophomore campaign. And everyone knows the type of offense they run in Oxford.

3. GEORGIA - While the Bulldogs may not have the tried and true #1 receiver at the top of the depth chart, Georgia might just have the deepest room in the SEC. I see this to be true even after removing Rara Thomas from the depth chart. Dominick Lovett has a really good chance to take the next step in his career and establish himself as the go to target. Dillon Bell is in my opinion one of the most underrated receivers in the SEC, while Arian Smith is poised to have a breakout year. Colbie Young is already making plays as a big bodied target, while Michael Jackson is coming into his own in Athens. Anthony Evans is also one to keep an eye on, as he’s flashed at the right times. This room could really go six or seven players deep and not lose much of a step.

4. TEXAS - The Longhorns bring a pretty promising offense into their first season in the SEC with elite quarterback and running back rooms. That doesn’t stop with this receiver group. It will be interesting to see them compete in the weekly SEC grind, but they already have SEC type players in this room in Johntay Cook and Isaiah Bond. Of course Bond is since he transferred from Alabama. If we were just ranking top duos I’d probably have the Longhorns at #3,, but the room in Athens is deeper.

5. TENNESSEE - Here’s where I started going back and forth a little with a few teams. I have 5-9 ranked very close and could have gone a few ways with it. I went with the Vols at #5 mainly due to the production of Squirrel White and the offense they run. Bru McCoy also returns after having an interesting career filled with transfers and injuries. Adding transfer Chris Brazzell from Tulane gives Josh Heupel a pretty nasty trio that will be hard to stop.

6. OKLAHOMA - This group may hinge on the play of highly talented, but unproven young quarterback Jackson Arnold. Deion Burks transferring in from Purdue strengthens this room to a top 6 group, but his teammates are also really good football players.Andrel Anthony, Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, and Jayden Gibson will put a strain on defenses.

7. LSU - Gone are two first round NFL Draft picks. Malik Nabers went #6 overall and Brian Thomas Jr. went #23 overall. Star quarterback Jayden Daniels was drafted #2 overall. You just can’t replace that kind of star power and production in one offseason, not even with NIL and the transfer portal. The Tigers have a trio of talented receivers in Kyren Lacy, Aaron Anderson, and Chris Hilton. They also added Zavion Thomas from Mississippi State. This gives them potential, but not a lot of production.

8. KENTUCKY - I’m high on returning production and I’m also high on Barion Brown. He’s produced over 500 yards receiving two years in a row and is poised for a breakout season. I see him doing well with Brock Vandagriff under center. Dane Key had just as many yards and touchdowns last season and is a strong second  or third option. Jay Maclin had over 1000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns with North Texas last season. He started his career off at Missouri.

9. FLORIDA - Eugene Wilson III is the leading receiver with over 500 yards last season. That may not seem like much for a WR1, but he really turned it on in SEC play (Vandy, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, LSU) midseason. Wilson had 11 catches for 75 yards and 1 TD against Georgia in 2023. Chimere Dike had over 1000 yards receiving combined from his last two seasons at Wisconsin, while Elijhah Badger went for almost 1600 yards combined from his last two seasons at Arizona State.That’s not a bad trio at all for the Gators, especially if Graham Mertz can have a good year.

10. ALABAMA - I know…..I know, many are going to say this is pretty low for a normally loaded Alabama squad. But is it? They lost Isaiah Bond to Texas and Jermaine Burton to the NFL. While talented, their two returning receivers (Kendrick Law and Kobe Prentice) went for a combined 449 yards receiving and two touchdowns last season. Germie Bernard came over from Washington with new head coach Kalen DeBoer, while Ryan Williams reclassified to enter college early. He’s talented, but you don;t want to have to count on a true freshman who should be a senior in high school.

11. TEXAS A&M - The Aggies begin the season with a new coaching staff and a new quarterback………….sort of. Conner Weigman played well in his first three games in 2023 before suffering a season ending foot injury against Auburn. The Aggies lost the promising Evan Stewart to Oregon, but have Moose Muhammad, Jhadae Walker, and Noah Thomas returning. That’s almost 1300 yards and 9 touchdowns, which isn’t too shabby. You could easily put this group over Alabama’s room.

12. AUBURN - This group would probably be lower if not for Hugh Freeze taking over the offense and the emergence of true freshman Cam Coleman. The bad news is the Tigers will still have Payton Thorne taking the snaps. More good news is that Perry Thompson is also a former 5* true freshman, but will he be ready to contribute.Freeze added 800 yard receiver Robert Lewis from Georgia State, as well as 600 yard receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith from Penn State. I’d definitely have them top 7-8 if they had someone other than Thorne throwing the ball.

13. MISSISSIPPI STATE - Everything is new at Mississippi State this season. New coach (Jeff Lebby - Oklahoma OC), new offense (Lebby - high powered), new quarterback (Will Rogers - Washington), new running back (Woody Marks - USC), and new receivers (Zavion Thomas - LSU, Lideatrick Griffin - Raiders). The Bulldogs will have to depend on junior Jordan Mosley, who only had 3 receptions for 145 yards in 2023. Kevin Coleman brings 800 combined receiving yards in 2022 and 2023 from Jackson State. The key here is going to be Kelly Akharaiyi, who had over 1000 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns with UTEP last season. It will be interesting to see what former Baylor QB Blake Shapen can do in this Lebby offense in the SEC.

14. ARKANSAS - As much as most UGA fans love Sam Pittman, he’s in trouble with his job status as the head coach of the Razorbacks. He has to hope that new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino (I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M TYPING THAT) can help him. Former Boise State quarterback Taylen Green joins them, with KJ Jefferson now at UCF. The Razorbacks will rely heavily on Andrew Armstrong, who had 764 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns last season.Isaac TeSlaa is also a returning contributor. They’re joined by 6’7 Tyrone Broden from Bowling Green.

15. SOUTH CAROLINA - Gone is 1200 yard receiver Xavier Legette to the Carolina Panthers (1st round - #32 overall). Gone is starting quarterback Spencer Rattler to the New Orleans Saints (5th round - #150 overall. Gone is promising and talented receiver Juice Wells, the heir apparent to WR1 after Legette. The Gamecocks lost him very early on to injury last season and as stated above, he is now at Ole Miss. The Gamecocks are excited about talented redshirt-freshman LaNorris Sellers at quarterback. He is joined by former Auburn QB Robby Ashford. They’ll be throwing the ball to ultra-athletic Nyck Harbor, who didn;t have much production at all as a freshman. He’s joined by Luke Doty (yes, the QB) and three transfer receivers. Dalevon Campbell had almost 600 yards receiving at Nevada in 2023, while Gage Larvadain went for almost 700 yards with Miami-Ohio. Jared Brown has the most production of the transfers, with over 1500 yards combined in 2022 and 2023 at Coastal Carolina. I’d have this group higher if not for the quarterback situation.

16. VANDERBILT - I thought about just leaving them off the list since they’re probably going to be ranked #16 in almost every category. Like a lot of people I don;t care for James Franklin much as a head coach, but it’s becoming more and more impressive what he was able to do at Vanderbilt while he was there. Of course we have to lead off with the Commodores losing promising receiver London Humphreys to UGA. He’ll be a good one for the Dawgs in the future. It’s really going to hurt them losing AJ Swann to be Nussmeier’s backup at LSU, while also losing Ken Seals to TCU.Leading receiver Will Sheppard is now at Colorado. Returning receivers Quincy Skinner and Junior Sherrill had a combined 500 yards in 2023. They’re joined by former Texas Tech receiver Loic Fouonji. Unfortunately for this trio, the SEC is just getting harder and Vandy is still Vandy.