Five wide receivers who could shape the 2023 playoff race
There's no more potent weapon in college football than a dominant wide receiver. If these five guys can become elite in 2023, their schools could have a shot at the playoffs.
Last Friday I gave you five defensive tackles who’s gravity could be planet-like enough to shift the playoff race for the teams on which they play. This week we’re looking at a list of receivers who could make all the difference for this coming season.
Anticipating the emergence of great receivers is immensely difficult. Who knew Justin Jefferson and La’Marr Chase were going to dominate 2019 before it happened? Jefferson had been a very solid outside receiver in 2018, they moved him inside to make room for redshirt freshman Chase and the rest is history. Jefferson was a low 3-star recruit previously, Chase was a blue chipper but there was nothing before 2019 to herald what was about to come forth from him. It’s not like he’d been hyped as the next Jerry Rice out of high school, just one of many very promising receivers around the country.
I could give a gazillion other examples which would reveal the potential folly of this exercise. At defensive tackle you have to be a big, athletic dude to have a big time impact. If you’re not 300 pounds with length and natural explosiveness, your odds are low of dominating in the trenches and you’re not going to stay hidden for long. It’s not hard to look at a roster and film to gauge if a team has a planet.
To thrive at receiver requires great coordination and athleticism, but you could be 5-foot-9 like Wes Welker, have “only” 4.6 speed like Jerry Rice, or be one of the more rare and obvious freaks like Calvin Johnson. There are a gazillion profiles for a dominant receiver and few effective ways to differentiate them. Sure Tyreek Hill had insane speed, but many other guys did as well and didn’t do much? How would you have predicted Cooper Kupp would become one of the most dominant football players in the NFL?
The teams I’m about to list will make clear why the emergence of the following guys into star, NFL-caliber receivers would make a huge difference on the coming season. These are squads that have a chance if they can get NFL caliber wideouts on the field because of their quarterbacks, systems, and overall quality. Rather than picking wideouts that I think WILL become dominant, I’m going to mention guys that probably NEED to be great for their teams to have a title shot.
Additionally, I’ll remind you the true deep threat who can pull a safety away from the rest of the action is the most valuable piece you can have on offense regardless of system.
Finally, I’m going to leave out some schools that you might think should be on here. For instance, Georgia. Ladd McConkey has already proven he can effectively space a title team, they have a freak tight end in Brock Bowers, and they added several other proven wideouts in the portal. I don’t know what their plan of attack will be but the emergence of a receiver isn’t really a question mark. That’s not really how they roll.
Texas is in similar shape, their receiving corps would necessarily be instrumental if they make a playoff run but the question marks are elsewhere. Washington, same story. Also, Oklahoma’s upcoming season hinges on the emergence of a big play wideout in the Veer and Shoot, but their upcoming season doesn’t have a playoff ceiling.
Alright here we go.
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