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Who has the most talented wide receiver room in the Pac-12?

zachary neel
·6 min read

It’s the offseason, which means that for a large majority of the college football world, it’s time to rank things.

Be it teams, schedules, players, or recruiting classes, fans always love a chance to pit their favorite school up against the best of the best in their conference or in the nation at large, seeing how they stack up against the rest.

While we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the quarterbacks in the Pac-12 — and for good reason — we decided to take a closer look at the wide receivers in the conference this week. On Monday we ranked the top 25 pass-catchers out west, showing which QB in the Pac-12 had the best guys to throw to. Now we want to build off of that ranking and see which team is best suited when it comes to overall WR talent.

This early in the offseason, it’s hard to know which guys are going to step up and be contributors for their respective teams. While there are a handful of new names that will likely break out and burst onto the scene, that can be hard to forecast. So for these team rankings, we looked purely at the talent at the top of the depth chart. Which QB has the most talented stable of receivers at the top to choose from?

Quite simply, which school in the Pac-12 has a WR corp with the most number of top-25 receivers? When you break it down like that, the process is pretty simple. Let’s take a look.

Stanford Cardinal

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WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 0

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • Unranked Mudia Rueben

  • Unranked John Humphreys

  • Unranked CJ Hawkins

Analysis: Things are looking pretty rough for Stanford this year in the first season under new coach Troy Taylor. There’s not much optimism that they can win more than a game or two, and the receiver depth lacks a lot of confidence going forward.

Oregon State Beavers

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WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 0

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • Unranked Silas Bolden

  • Unranked Anthony Gould

Analysis: Oregon State fans probably feel decent about both Bolden and Gould, and they should see an uptick in production with D.J. Uiagalelei now in Corvallis. However, compared to the rest of the Pac, the Beavers certainly don’t measure up in terms of WR talent.

Utah Utes

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WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 2

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 21 DeVaughn Vele

  • No. 25 Jaylen Dixon

  • Unranked Mycah Pittman

  • Unranked Emery Simmons

Analysis: Losing someone like Dalton Kincaid hurts the Utes’ offense, but Utah still has Brant Kuithe and a couple of solid receivers in DeVaughn Vele and Jaylen Dixon. Under Cameron Rising, they will be fine.

Colorado Buffaloes

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WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 1

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 16 Xavier Weaver

  • Unranked Jimmy Horn

  • Unranked EJ Horton

  • Unranked Jaylen Ellis

Analysis: Let’s see which transfers can play I guess, right? After losing Jordyn Tyson to the portal, the Buffs brought in a load a talented players via the portal. We will see if any of them can contribute in a major way going forward.

California Golden Bears

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 2

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 12 Jeremiah Hunter

  • No. 24 Mavin Anderson

  • Unranked Monroe Young

  • Unranked Brian Hightower

Analysis: Losing J. Michael Sturdivant to UCLA definitely stings, but Cal still has Jeremiah Hunter and Mavin Anderson leading the way. The biggest question mark going forward is at the QB position, where it’s likely former TCU passer Sam Jackson taking over.

Washington State Cougars

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 3

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 15 Kyle Williams

  • No. 17 Isaiah Hamilton

  • No. 22 Josh Kelly

Analysis: The Cougars lost De’Zhaun Stribling to Oklahoma State, but they have a few nice transfer portal pieces coming in from UNLV, Fresno State, and San Jose State. We will see if they can get up to speed and produce at the Power 5 level like this did in years previous.

UCLA Bruins

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WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 1

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 6 J. Michael Sturdivant

  • Unranked Kyle Ford

  • Unranked Kam Brown

Analysis: 

Arizona State Sun Devils

(Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 3

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 11 Jordyn Tyson

  • No. 18 Xavier Guillory

  • No. 20 Elijah Badger

  • Unranked Melquan Stovall

Analysis: Credit where credit is due, Kenny Dillingham knows how to recruit via the transfer portal. Landing Jordyn Tyson from Colorado was huge, and both Xavier Guillory and Elijhah Badger can play as well. It’s going to be fun to watch and see what they can do in 2023.

Arizona Wildcats

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 2

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 3 Jacob Cowing

  • No. 7 Tetairoa McMillan

  • Unranked AJ Jones

Analysis: Even after losing Dorian Singer to USC, the Wildcats have one of the better wide receiver rooms in the conference. With Jacob Cowing and Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona has two of the best receivers out west. If Jayden de Laura can take a step forward in production, the Wildcats could be dangerous.

Oregon Ducks

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 4

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 4 Troy Franklin

  • No. 13 Gary Bryant Jr.

  • No. 19 Tez Johnson

  • No. 23 Traeshon Holden

  • Unranked Kris Hutson

Analysis: The Ducks have talent at the top of the list with Troy Franklin, and they’ve got depth as well. With four players in our top-25 rankings, it’s clear that Bo Nix has no shortage of targets in the offense, and he should be able to pick defenses apart, knowing that he’s got a receiver he can trust wherever he looks.

USC Trojans

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 4

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 5 Dorian Singer

  • No. 8 Tahj Washington

  • No. 9 Mario Williams

  • No. 14 Brenden Rice

  • Unranked Michael Jackson III

Analysis: It should come as no surprise that Lincoln Riley has been able to stack his roster with elite receivers. Adding Dorian Singer from Arizona this offseason was a massive move, and there are still guys like Williams, Washington, and Rice coming back from last season. USC’s offense will be explosive yet again.

Washington Huskies

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

WRs in the Pac-12 Top 25: 3

Notable Receivers on Roster

  • No. 1 Rome Odunze

  • No. 2 Jalen McMillan

  • No. 10 Ja’Lynn Polk

  • Unranked Taj Davis

  • Unranked Germie Bernard

Analysis: A true embarrassment of riches. Not only does Washington have the No. 1 WR in the conference, but they also have the No. 2 WR, and the No. 10 WR. On top of that, there is an expectation that Michigan State transfer Germie Bernard will be a big impact-player as well. With Michael Penix Jr. at the helm, the Huskies offense is going to be dangerous this year.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire