Top 25 wide receiver rankings entering Week 10 of college football
Another round of riveting action is in the books in college football, with a handful of major upsets and a whole lot of offense. There was plenty to justify shaking up our wide receiver rankings.
From Marvin Harrison Jr.‘s big day against Wisconsin to a ridiculous touchdown grab by Keon Coleman, there was plenty to note in the offing.
Let’s take a closer look at how some of the nation’s top wide receivers performed. Today we update our top 25 wide receiver rankings and give you the latest on the best pass-catchers in the game.
1. Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
Harrison just keeps stacking monster games on top of each other this season. The latest was a big day at Wisconsin, where Harrison logged just six catches but took them for 123 yards and two scores to help break the game open.
His ability to do just that — be a game-breaker — for Ohio State has proven quite invaluable to new quarterback Kyle McCord. Harrison has done it to the tune of 48 catches for 889 yards and eight touchdowns so far this season, some of the best numbers in the country.
2. Malik Nabers, LSU
LSU had a bye week to prepare for Alabama, meaning Nabers wasn’t in action over the weekend. He’ll have gotten some extra time to work on the gameplan against the Crimson Tide, though, which means you should be prepared for some fireworks on Saturday.
Nabers has risen near the top of these wide receiver rankings in part by virtue of being a big-play threat. He’s averaging 17.5 yards per catch and has recorded 56 catches for 981 yards and nine touchdowns. He now leads the country in receiving.
3. Luther Burden III, Missouri
Only a few spots behind nationally is Burden, who has been an explosive but reliable option for the Tigers this fall. Like Nabers, Burden was on a bye week last week, getting the chance to prepare for top-ranked Georgia in the process.
Burden has been remarkably consistent this season, producing catches in every game he’s been in. He’s actually had his quietest two games to date going into the bye week, so don’t be surprised if he breaks out in a big way against the Bulldogs this weekend. He’s due.
4. Rome Odunze, Washington
Arguably nobody in the nation has been more consistent than Odunze, who puts up between five to eight catches a week for a little more than 100 yards. No, really, Odunze has caught between five to eight passes every week. This last week was a six-catch, 89-yard and one-touchdown performance against Stanford.
On the season Odunze has logged 51 catches for 907 yards and seven touchdowns. His receiving totals currently rank fourth nationally in terms of yards per game, at 113.4.
5. Keon Coleman, Florida State
Coleman is the king of the highlight-reel catch and Saturday’s showing offered more of the same on a brilliant touchdown catch against Wake Forest. That was one of just two touchdown snags the talented wideout had against the Demon Deacons.
Coleman’s performance has probably been a little more up and down week to week than some of his cohorts, but he’s still making his touches count. And Coleman always seems to show up in big spots. On the season he has 38 catches for 538 yards and nine touchdowns.
6. Troy Franklin, Oregon
Franklin cracked into the top 10 on the wide receiver rankings a few weeks ago and hasn’t looked back since. He’s another receiver that has been remarkably consistent in terms of number of touches and yardage,, coming in right around the six catch, 108 yards per game marks.
The Oregon standout had one of his better games of the year, going for eight catches for 99 yards and a touchdown in a major win over Utah. He’ll look to keep that going this week when Oregon hosts California.
7. Xavier Worthy, Texas
The Texas standout has bounced around in these wide receiver rankings quite a bit, and his performances have sometimes been a little up and down. He’s coming off his quietest day of the year in a win over BYU, tallying just four catches for 27 yards.
Worthy is the king of the big play, but his numbers haven’t reflected that quite as much this year. He’s averaging just 13.0 yards per catch, short of some of the other standouts on this list. Still, he has 44 catches for 572 yards and four touchdowns on the year.
8. Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
Speaking of big-play potential, Thomas has been nothing but this season. That was especially true in the team’s win over Army before the bye week, when Thomas caught only three passes but went for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
On the season Thomas is now up to 11 touchdown catches, tied for the national lead. He has hauled in 42 catches for 732 yards to account for those 11 scores.
9. Malik Washington, Virginia
After a quiet season opener, Washington has simply been churning out the production on a weekly basis. He’s a high volume, high production kind of guy, too. His latest outing went for 12 catches for 152 yards against Miami, though it wasn’t enough to prevent an overtime loss.
Still, he’s been a real treat for the Cavaliers this season. Washington already has a whopping 68 catches for 935 yards and six touchdowns. He ranks third nationally in receiving behind only Nabers and Caullin Lacy, who appears later in these wide receiver rankings.
10. Roman Wilson, Michigan
Yet another of the receivers on a bye week this past weekend, Wilson rounds out the top 10 mostly based on his ability to find the end zone. He’s done that 10 times already this season, putting him in pretty rarefied air when it comes to the receivers.
Wilson hasn’t been a very high-volume guy, though, averaging fewer than four catches per game. He’s logged 27 receptions for 446 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season, though six of his 10 touchdowns came in the first three games of the season.
Top 25 Wide Receivers 11-25
11. Xavier Legette, South Carolina
12. Jamari Thrash, Louisville
13. Evan Stewart, Texas A&M
14. Johnny Wilson, Florida State
15. Jacob Cowing, Arizona
16. Caullin Lacy, South Alabama
17. Tory Horton, Colorado State
18. Tahj Washington, USC
19. Tre Harris, Ole Miss
20. Kris Mitchell, FIU
21. Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
22. Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky
23. Ja’Lynn Polk, Washington
24. Ricky Pearsall, Florida
25. Xavier Restrepo, Miami
There were a handful of standout performances by players ranked 11-25 on the wide receiver rankings, but both Corley and Polk had multiple-touchdown games this weekend. Another that found the end zone was Mitchell. There were two new additions to the list this week, too, with Pearsall and Polk both appearing for the first time this season. Stay tuned for more action this weekend to see how the wide receiver rankings change going forward.