Cincinnati Bearcats Football 2026 Wide Receiver Position Preview

Redshirt senior JV Gibson, redshirt sophomore Elijah Jones and redshirt senior Flynn Schiele are projected to file in the deptch chart at the X spot come Sept. 5th against Boston College. 

JV Gibson: Gibson comes to UC after one year at Oklahoma, where he notched 199 yards across 18 catches. Prior to playing with the Sooners, Gibson played one season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2024, where he was nominated for the FCS All-American Second Team after he averaged 101.3 yards per game. 

Elijah Jones: Jones sophomore season, saw the former three-star go for two passes for 17 yards in UC's offense. 

Flynn Schiele: Schiele is a 6th-year player who was projected for a standout season at DII program Colorado School of Mines; however, Schiele suffered a season-ending injury in his first game against West Texas A&M. In 2024, Schiele notch 1,195 yards and 12 touchdowns off of just 66 catches. 

Moving over to the Z spot, we fing redshirt junior Malachi Henry, redshirt junior Larenzo Fenner and redshirt freshman Giyahni Kontosis. 

Malachi Henry: At the University of Central Arkansas, Henry notched an 889-yard 2025 season that resulted in 69 receptions and 10 touchdowns.

Larenzo Fenner: Fenner was a touchdown machine in his 2025 season with South Dakota. Fenner’s 15-touchdown campaign was the most in school history; his 1,001 yards ranked third in the school’s history as well. 

Giyahni Kontosis: Kontosis appeared in three games last season, but did not register a catch. 

Lastly, at the slot sits the junior, Johnson, redshirt sophomore Cade Wolford and sophomore Pierce Ayers. 

Isaiah Johnson: Across the 2025 campaign, Johnson notched 14 receptions for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of his touchdowns came in a 70-0 win over Northwestern State, with the last coming in a 41-20 win over the Baylor Bears. 

Cade Wolford: The former Kent State star finished last season with All-MAC Third Team honors, totaling 19 receptions for 509 yards and 7 touchdowns. Wolford tallied 26.8 yards per catch for the Golden Flashes. 

Pierce Ayers: Ayers comes to UC after two seasons at Wittenberg. Ayers did not play during his first season, but ended last year with two games over 100 yards. 

Who Takes The Starting Gig?

Gibson, Henry and Johnson should each expect to start at their respective positions, while Wolford will be used all over the formation but focused at the slot spot.

The biggest problem with this corps is that there is nearly zero returning production. For a quarterback that is already a transfer in JC French IV, Satterfield surely wouldn’t have minded having more than one top wideout from last season return. Instead, he is faced with an FCS-laden group in an attempt to improve on last season’s 74th-ranked passing offense that tallied 220.3 yards through the air.