March is here, which means around the country college football teams have either already begun spring practice or will do so soon. Each team enters spring practice with the optimism that they can improve on their 2014 campaign and the hope that they will contend for a bowl, their conference title, or even the College Football Playoff.
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With spring practice starting, we're going to take a look at the top five groups at each position. We've already looked at the top quarterback and running back groups in the country, and now we move on to the the five teams with the best wide receiver groups in the nation, led by a trio of schools down in Texas.
Texas A&M Aggies - Josh Reynolds, Speedy Noil, Ricky Seals-Jones, Edward Pope
The Aggies have a very young and talented receiving corps that goes about six or seven deep on the depth chart. QB Kyle Allen will have his pick of tremendous receivers to throw to this year, and should make the sophomore's job much easier. Junior WR Josh Reynolds is the leader of the group and he racked up 842 yards and 13 TDs in 2014. Young stars Speedy Noil (who does things like this & this) and Ricky Seals-Jones combined for 1,000 yards and 9 TDs last season, and with Malcome Kennedy gone, both figure to have bigger roles in the offense. Behind those top three, there's still a lot of talent with Edward Pope and 5-star freshman Christian Kirk — who is a speedster — ready to make an impact. The Aggies also added 4-star TE Jordan Davis — 6-foot-5, 255 pounds — to their roster this recruiting class, who could find his way onto the field early on.
Baylor Bears - KD Cannon, Corey Coleman, Jay Lee, Davion Hall
Art Briles' offenses always put up big numbers in the passing game, and this season there's a ton of talent at the wide receiver spots for Seth Russell to throw the ball to. KD Cannon was one of the nation's most dangerous receivers as a freshman —1,030 yards and 8 TDs — and the speedster figures to only get better with another full offseason to hone his route running skills. Corey Coleman led the team in receiving yards with 1,119 and 10 TDs in only 10 games last year and he's back for his junior year. Jay Lee and Davion Hall will have larger roles in 2015 after combining for just over 800 yards and 7 TDs last year, and freshmen Ishmael Zamora and Blake Lynch are terrific young talents that will find a spot in the rotation.
TCU Horned Frogs - Josh Doctson, Kolby Listenbee, Deante' Gray, Ty Slanina
We stay in the state of Texas once again with TCU. TCU returns 10 offensive starters from their tremendous squad from last season, and that includes all of the key parts to one of the nation's most dynamic passing attacks. Their top three receivers from 2014 are back including the incredible Josh Doctson. Doctson was QB Trevone Boykin's favorite target, racking up 1,018 yards and 11 TDs — he was also Boykin's safety valve as he'd just throw it up in Doctson's direction under duress, knowing he could go up over defenders and get it. Listenbee and Gray are also back for their senior seasons after combining for over 1,300 yards and 12 TDs in 2014.
Oregon Ducks - Byron Marshall, Darren Carrington, Devon Allen, Dwayne Stanford, Pharoah Brown
Oregon is losing QB Marcus Mariota, but the Ducks bring back pretty much everyone else that was involved in the passing game in 2014. Byron Marshall is back for his senior season after making the move from running back to slot receiver in 2014, where he excelled hauling in 74 passes for 1,003 yards and six TDs. No team spreads the ball around as well as Oregon, and of the nine players with more than 100 yards receiving in the 2014 season, only one of those is gone. FCS transfer QB Vernon Adams Jr is the favorite to take over for Mariota and, while those are tough shoes to fill, he has all the talent he could ask for around him to make his job easier.
Ole Miss Rebels - Laquon Treadwell, Evan Engram, Cody Core, Quincy Adeboyejo
There isn't a better receiver in all of college football than Laquon Treadwell down at Ole Miss. Treadwell's 2014 season was cut short due to a gruesome leg injury at the end of the Auburn game, but he still had 48 catches for 632 yards and five TDs in the nine games he appeared in. He'll be back to 100% by fall practice and will be joined by ultra-talented tight end Evan Engram — 38 catches, 662 yards, two TDs in 2014 — and WR Cody Core — 41 catches, 558 yards, six TDs. The receiving corps has tons of talent down in Oxford, the biggest question for the Rebels is whether they will have anyone that can get them the ball with the departure of QB Bo Wallace.
Honorable Mention:
Arizona Wildcats - Arizona returns most of their skill position talent from the squad that won the Pac-12 South last year, and that includes seven of their top eight receivers from last season. Cayleb Jones was the Wildcats' top receiver with 1,019 yards and nine TDs, and he will get another full offseason to work with QB Anu Solomon as they look to try for a surprise repeat in the loaded Pac-12 South.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Notre Dame had four 500+ yard receivers in 2014 and all of them are back in South Bend for 2015. William Fuller — 76 catches, 1,094 yards, and 15 TDs — leads a deep Irish receiving corps that should help young QB Malik Zaire develop and be comfortable in Brian Kelly's offense.
UCLA Bruins - A disappointing 2014 campaign left a bad taste in the mouth of the Bruins, but they return every top receiver from last season, including Jordan Payton — 67 catches, 954 yards, and seven TDs. QB Brett Hundley is gone, but UCLA is still a threat to the Pac-12 South because of the immense amount of talent at the rest of the skill positions.
Clemson Tigers - Mike Williams and Artavis Scott make for one of the nation's most dynamic young receiver combos. The two combined for 1,995 yards receiving and 14 TDs in 2014, during which the Tigers' QB situation was always in flux. This season, with DeShaun Watson as the full time starter, expect Williams and Scott to have monster seasons. The only thing keeping Clemson off the Top 5 is question marks about depth behind those two.
