Where Texas’s WR Room Ranks in the SEC

AUSTIN – As head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns enter the season with top quarterback and running back rooms, Texas also enters with a top receiving room as well. 

With a wide receiver corps ranking among some of the best, here, Texas fans can find out just where the Longhorns’ receiving room ranks among the others in the SEC.

1. LSU

Although any team on this list could arguably be rearranged, LSU’s receiving corps stands out among the rest wi th familiar SEC faces in Nic Anderson and Barion Brown in unfamiliar territory.

Anderson, a transfer from Oklahoma, did not register any stats last season due to an injury that only allowed him to make an appearance against Tennessee. However, he did manage to reel in 798 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 38 receptions in 2023.

Brown’s 2024 season also fell short, due to a rib injury; he only recorded 361 receiving yards and three touchdowns by the end of his junior campaign. But like Anderson, his 2023 season was better, totaling 539 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

He also holds the SEC record and the lead among active players with the five kickoff return touchdowns he h as earned throughout his career. He has totaled 1,465 yards solely off of kickoffs, which is about half of his all-purpose yardage through his career (3,273).

However, the Tigers also hold more experience on the roster. Behind Anderson and Brown, both likely to start next season, LSU also has Aaron Anderson, Chris Hilton, and Zavion Thomas.

Aaron Anderson will also get the start alongside Brown and Nic Anderson, returning to Baton Rouge for his redshirt junior season after managing to tally up 884 yards and five touchdowns on 61 receptions last season, lea ding the Tigers in both categories.

If that wasn’t enough for LSU, they’ll also be bringing back role players in Hilton and Thomas, while also bringing in 4-star TaRon Jackson and Florida State transfer Destyn Hill. The future is also solidified, with No. 1 WR Tristen Keys and two other 4-star commits for 2026.

2. Alabama

Everybody in the college football world knows who Ryan Williams is, but the Crimson Tide has a lot more depth and talent than people may realize.

Williams solidified himself as a star during his freshman season, but questionable quarterback play may have held him and others back, like Germie Bernard. The former receiver at Washington who followed head coach Kalen DeBoer to Tuscaloosa will be returning for his senior season.

Bernard proved that he could be a force in any conference, making his mark in the SEC by tallying 794 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He will play a significant role as a talented physical route runner who will balance out the deep threat that Williams is.

The staff also managed to secure Miami transfer Isaiah Horton, who entered the transfer portal after securing 56 catches for 616 yards and five touchdowns last season. Only three inches in height and four pounds separate Horton and Bernard in their builds; they have very similar attributes and will both be physical receivers able to make contested catches for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide is also returning two redshirt sophomores in Cole Adams and Jalen Hale, both former 4-star recruits who have seen little playing time due to injury. 

Hale has shown his ability as a speedster, able to make plays deep by utilizing his quickness and acceleration. Although his 2024 campaign was terminated before it began, he was able to bring in five receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown in 2023.

Adams made his mark in just four game s last season, with six catches for 94 yards. He showed just a little bit of what he’s capable of as a smart route runner with good hands.

Alabama will have a returning face new to the WR room in CB-turned-WR Jaylen Mbakwe. They also have multiple talented freshmen on the roster, and commitments from the No. 3 WR and two other 3-stars for the 2026 recruiting class.

3. Texas

The Longhorns are now without star wide receiver Isaiah Bond, but that doesn’t mean the offensive showcase will stop for the Texas offense.

Returning wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. has now been thrust into the WR1 position for his junior year and will be the leading piece in an offense led by Arch Manning.

The California native was originally a 4-star in the class of 2023 and was ranked as the No. 21 WR . Now, he has all the potential to shine; 456 yards and seven touchdowns on seven receptions last season, and now entering as the most experienced receiver on the roster.

Although the Horns are bringing in more experience in Stanford transfer Emmett Mosley V, another formerly underrated recruit with superstar potential.

Mosley will enter Austin with three more years of eligibility remaining after appearing in nine games for the Cardinal last year, after missing the first three games due to injury. In the nine games he appeared in, he caught 48 passes for 525 yards and six touchdowns.

Moore and Mosley will lead the young receiving corps through the season, with Moore taking over Bond’s shifty role in the slot, and Mosley acting as a p hysical go-to in short and mid-range situations. Together, they will also act as mentors for the rest of the newcomers.

The Longhorns will also benefit from sophomore Ryan Wingo, who will be in the spotlight after a standout freshman year in which he recorded 29 receptions for 472 yards and two touchdowns. Wingo is a speedy receiver who will be a great deep threat for the Horns.

Entering the 2025 season, Texas will also have redshirt freshman Parker Livingstone and three of the top-20 receivers in this previous recruiting cycle, including 5-star No. 2 WR Kaliq Lockett. In case there’s any future need, the staf f also currently holds two 2026 WR commitments.

4. Georgia

At first glance, Georgia’s roster may immediately impress as a WR room that deserves a ranking higher than the fourth spot, but deeper analysis proves it’s not quite that. 

Returners Colbie Young and Dillon Bell will be the leaders in experience for the Georgia wide receivers; however, they didn’t have the best performances last season.

Young totaled 149 yards and two touchdowns last season in five games before he was arrested and suspended from the team, before being reinstated in January after a plea deal was reached. But he did manage to reel in 563 yards in the 2023 season.

Bell did appear in every game for the Bulldogs, finishing the season with a statline of 43 receptions for 466 yards and four touchdowns, a 111-yard improvement from the 2023 season.

However, the Bulldogs did manage to acquire the former No. 1 WR in the class of 2023 in Zachariah Branch from USC, while also acquiring Texas A&M transfer Noah Thomas.

Branch transferred from USC after just two seasons in which he scored four total touchdowns: three receiving, one rushing, and one on special teams.

Thomas played a significant role in the Aggies’ offense over the past couple of seasons, totaling 574 yards and eight touchdowns on 39 catches. 

Branch is extremely fast and shifty, allowing him to separate from defenses. Thomas is a route runner with good hands who can separate but also contest with DBs. With uncertainty looming around Georgia’s QB situation, it’ll be interesting to see what they can produce.

If the Bulldogs need more, though, they’ll also have four WRs from the 2025 class that they signed, one of whom was ranked as the No. 4 receiver in the class. As for 2026, they currently have two 4-star commits who are both ranked outside the top-30 for WRs.

5. Florida

The Gators have recently been putting together a young and talented wide receiver room that is not to be underestimated this upcoming season.

The likely star of the show will be UCLA transfer J. Michael Sturdivant, a former receiver for the Bruins who missed time during the 2024 season due to injury, but brought in 597 yards and four touchdowns as a redshirt sophomore, and 755 yards and seven touchdowns as a redshirt freshman.

Florida will also have wide receiver Eugene Wilson II back in Gainesville after he missed most of the 2024 season due to a hip injury that required surgery. Still, though, in five games he was able to tally 266 yards and a touchdown on 19 receptions. Back in 2023, as a freshman, he totaled 538 yards and six touchdowns after bringing in 61 passes.

The Gators are also returning sophomores in Aiden Mizell and Tank Hawkins, both of whom could see an improved role in the offense this next year, as neither of them has shown who they are just yet, with Mizell attaining 202 receiving yards last season and Hawkins with 100.

But, Florida will also have two true freshmen that they could turn to as well; Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III, both of whom were top-10 WR prospects in the class of 2025.

Wilson was originally committed to Oregon, but the Gators got the flip at closing time. Wilson stood out in Florida’s spring showcase and looks like he could take on the role as a superstar freshman, like Ryan Williams or Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, for the 2025 season.

If they need more firepower, head coach Billy Napier and the staff also have TJ Abrams and Kahleil Jackson returning, with another freshman in Naeshaun Montgomery incoming. Gainesville will also have two top-30 wide receivers entering for the 2026 season.