2006 Unit Rankings – Wide Receivers

Preview 2006 Unit Rankings Wide Receivers

Offenses | Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Offensive Lines
Defenses | Def. Lines | Linebackers | Secondaries | Spec. Teams

1. USC
This group will keep the NFL stocked for years to come. The entire corps is full of big, fast, talented receivers who can do it all highlighted by the best returning receiver in America, Dwayne Jarrett, and the speedy Steve Smith, who's also All-America caliber. Patrick Turner and Chris McFoy would provide excellent depth if it was just the two of them, but top recruit Vidal Hazelton and junior Whitney Lewis help to make the reserves something truly special. There's a good rotation at tight end between three good pass catchers.

2. Texas Tech
It'll be among the most productive groups in America with the return of the top four wide receivers. Robert Johnson, Joel Filani, and Jarrett Hicks are all going to be on All-Big 12 teams and a few All-America squads. There's speed, talent, and size with enough options to go around for two good receiving corps. Each of the top receivers will have a fair share of 100-yard games.

3. Hawaii
This isn't just an ultra-productive, ultra-experienced group, it's full of great talent led by super sophomores Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullen. They weren't heavily recruited by any of the big names, but they proved last year that they should've been. Chad Mock and Ross Dickerson are explosive receivers who'll see their share of big games with all the attention paid to Bess and Grice-Mullen. There's more than enough depth to go around helped by the return of Jason Rivers back after missing last year.

4. Florida State
The receiving corps is loaded with size, speed, talent, and now, experience. Chris Davis is a nice veteran to serve as a go-to target, while Greg Carr and De'Cody Fagg are big, lightning fast deep receiver who'll led Drew Weatherford bomb away. Joslin Shaw is a rising playmaker after converting from running back, and track star Kenny O'Neal will bring even more speed. The concern, at least early on, will be at tight end needing true freshmen Brandon Warren and Caz Piurowski to push Charlie Graham.

5. Virginia Tech
The potential is there for this to be the best receiving corps in the ACC if everyone starts to play up to their capabilities. A shocking group as freshmen in 2004, they had a good, but inconsistent 2005. Now there's no excuse to not blow up with big passing quarterbacks fighting it out to take over for Marcus Vick and two years of experience to rely on. Eddie Royal and Josh Hyman are decent-sized speed receivers, and David Clowney and Josh Morgan are big speed receivers. The big concern is replacing sticky-handed tight end Jeff King with two redshirt freshmen.

6. LSU
There's too much NFL talent here to be merely average. The loss of world-class sprinter Xavier Carter to the pro track ranks take away some speed, but he didn't do much on the field. Dwayne Bowe, Craig Davis, Early Doucet and Brandon LaFell all have next-level skills with size and too much speed for 99% of the college secondaries. They also have experience enough to grow into a special unit. The Tigers have decent tight ends in Keith Zinger and Mit Cole, but they have to be involved in the passing game.

7. Iowa State
With or without Jon Davis, this will be one of the Big 12's best receiving corps. Todd Blythe is a premier deep threat who's almost unstoppable around the goal line, while Austin Flynn has been fantastic making the switch from quarterback to receiver. Davis is the steady possession receiver in the group, but he tore his Achilles tendon this spring and is iffy for the start of the season. On the plus side, speedy R.J. Sumrall appears ready to fill in and add even more pop to the position. The tight ends have the potential to be excellent with Ben Berkema and Walter Nickel each fantastic receivers.

8. Notre Dame
Is Jeff Samardzija really that good? Can Rhema McKnight make a successful return from a knee injury? Can any of the unproven backups step up and help fill the void left by Maurice Stovall? Can John Carlson and Marcus Freeman combine to do what Anthony Fasano did at tight end? For such a talented group of receivers, there are an awful lot of questions. Ohio State's talented secondary showed that Samardzija can be taken out of a gameplan, while McKnight has yet to live up to his immense potential despite leading the team in receptions for two years. Even so, this will be one of the nation's most productive receiving corps thanks to the system and Brady Quinn.

9. Washington State
While it's not the USC receiving corps, it's not far off. Jason Hill's decision to return for his senior season gives the Cougars an All-America caliber weapon to work with, while the academic troubles of Michael Bumpus appear to be over providing a solid number two man. If Chris Jordan can be consistent, there might not be any stopping the Cougar passing game. Talented JUCO transfers boost up the depth at both receiver and tight end.

10. Tennessee
Let's try this again. Was the receiving corps bad because the quarterbacks didn't produce, or was it the other way around, or was it a combination of the two? There's size, speed, and experience to burn with Jayson Swain, Robert Meachem and Bret Smith all NFL-caliber targets. Now they have to play up to their talent level and do a better, more consistent job. New, hard-nosed receiver coach Trooper Taylor will see that things shape up. The rating is based on talent level.

11	Florida	SEC
12	Ohio State	Big Ten
13	Penn State	Big Ten
14	Texas	Big 12
15	Purdue	Big Ten
16	Arizona State	Pac 10
17	Indiana	Big Ten
18	Louisville	Big East
19	Clemson	ACC
20	Miami	ACC
21	Michigan	Big Ten
22	California	Pac 10
23	Oklahoma	Big 12
24	Nebraska	Big 12
25	Missouri	Big 12
26	South Carolina	SEC
27	Colorado	Big 12
28	Michigan State	Big Ten
29	Auburn	SEC
30	Virginia	ACC
31	Alabama	SEC
32	Georgia Tech	ACC
33	Oregon	Pac 10
34	East Carolina	CUSA
35	Fresno State	WAC
36	Southern Miss	CUSA
37	Houston	CUSA
38	Boise State	WAC
39	Maryland	ACC
40	Oregon State	Pac 10
41	UCLA	Pac 10
42	NC State	ACC
43	BYU	M-West
44	Texas A&M	Big 12
45	Utah	M-West
46	Oklahoma State	Big 12
47	UTEP	CUSA
48	TCU	M-West
49	Arizona	Pac 10
50	Nevada	WAC
51	Kansas State	Big 12
52	Pitt	Big East
53	Baylor	Big 12
54	South Florida	Big East
55	Stanford	Pac 10
56	Iowa	Big Ten
57	Louisiana Tech	WAC
58	Utah State	WAC
59	Colorado State	M-West
60	Boston College	ACC
61	Georgia	SEC
62	West Virginia	Big East
63	Rutgers	Big East
64	Toledo	MAC
65	Eastern Michigan	MAC
66	North Carolina	ACC
67	Minnesota	Big Ten
68	Washington	Pac 10
69	Northwestern	Big Ten
70	Memphis	CUSA
71	Vanderbilt	SEC
72	Wisconsin	Big Ten
73	Central Michigan	MAC
74	Bowling Green	MAC
75	Syracuse	Big East
76	Mississippi State	SEC
77	Cincinnati	Big East
78	Arkansas	SEC
79	Illinois	Big Ten
80	Marshall	CUSA
81	UNLV	M-West
82	Wake Forest	ACC
83	Tulane	CUSA
84	Wyoming	M-West
85	Kansas	Big 12
86	San Diego State	M-West
87	Connecticut	Big East
88	Kentucky	SEC
89	Kent State	MAC
90	Duke	ACC
91	Miami Univ.	MAC
92	SMU	CUSA
93	Northern Illinois	MAC
94	UCF	CUSA
95	Tulsa	CUSA
96	New Mexico	M-West
97	Ball State	MAC
98	Akron	MAC
99	Western Michigan	MAC
100	Mississippi	SEC
101	UAB	CUSA
102	Idaho	WAC
103	Army	Ind
104	MTSU	Sun Belt
105	Troy	Sun Belt
106	New Mexico State	WAC
107	San Jose State	WAC
108	North Texas	Sun Belt
109	Ohio	MAC
110	Navy	Ind
111	Rice	CUSA
112	Arkansas State	Sun Belt
113	FIU	Sun Belt
114	Temple	Ind
115	Florida Atlantic	Sun Belt
116	UL Lafayette	Sun Belt
117	UL Monroe	Sun Belt
118	Air Force	M-West
119	Buffalo	MAC