The 10 Most Uncoverable College Football Wide Receivers
To the defensive backs lined up opposite these guys on Saturdays this fall, we have a message for you: good luck.
Offensive numbers in college football continue to tick upward, with CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd noting Wednesday that this season is on pace to break numerous collective records. Passing proliferation is a huge part of that, and not just because quarterbacks are becoming better and more accurate.
We're in a golden age of big-play wide receivers, and the current crop terrorizing college secondaries could be the best ever. But it's not all about putting the ball up and hoping someone with great hands comes down with it, it's also about getting open and beating coverage.
In other words, to be unguardable.
Looking at the current FBS leaders in receptions and yards, while also accounting for the number of times they're thrown to and how often they haul in those targets, we've picked the 10 most uncoverable wide receivers in college football today. They're listed in alphabetical order, but we'd like to hear your thoughts on how they rank (or who else is deserving of such a label) in the comments section.
Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh
1 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'2", 190 lbs
2014 stats: 30 receptions, 428 yards, four touchdowns
As a freshman in 2013, Tyler Boyd caught 85 passes for 1,174 yards to set school records for a first-year receiver. The previous record holder? Some guy named Larry Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald went on to finish second in Heisman Trophy voting in 2004 as a sophomore, the highest finish for a wideout since Desmond Howard won in 1991 and better than any pass-catcher since. And with Boyd topping his freshman numbers, who knows what will come of his college (and professional) career.
Boyd's numbers are down this year, but that's a product of scheme rather than performance, as Pitt ranks 19th in rushing offense but just 116th in passing offense. His 30 receptions represent 34.5 percent of the Panthers' catches in 2014; he's gained 49.3 percent of the yardage and half of the team's eight touchdowns.
If Pitt throws, it's to Boyd, and he usually manages to get between his defender and the ball.
Amari Cooper, Alabama
2 of 10
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'1", 210 lbs
2014 stats: 54 receptions, 768 yards, five touchdowns
Alabama quarterback Blake Sims has received high praise for how he's played this season as a first-time starter. It helps having Amari Cooper seemingly always open for him to throw to.
Through six games, Cooper has been targeted 74 times, hauling in 73 percent of the balls thrown his way. He's accounted for 44 percent of Alabama's receiving yards and 44 percent of the completions made by Sims and Jake Coker despite not being one of the biggest, strongest or fastest receivers in the country.
"It's the little things that set Cooper apart: his footwork, his ability to read defenses and his tireless work ethic," wrote Alex Scarborough of ESPN.com.
All of that was on display during his most noteworthy performance this season, when he caught 10 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns against Florida last month. Frequently lined up against Gators cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, one of the best shutdown corners in the country, Cooper regularly beat his defender over the top on routes that included a pair of fade-route TDs.
Phillip Dorsett, Miami (Florida)
3 of 10
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 5'10", 195 lbs
2014 stats: 16 receptions, 550 yards, six touchdowns
Phillip Dorsett has had a very up-and-down career at Miami, struggling to get into the lineup as a freshman and then struggling with injuries last season after a breakout sophomore year in 2012. This fall he's been targeted very few times but has made the most of those limited opportunities.
Dorsett's 34.4 yards-per-catch average is tops in the country, fueled by three touchdown catches of 63 or more yards. In September against Arkansas State, he had 201 yards on just four receptions, making him the first FBS player in 17 years to achieve such a feat, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com).
Miami has six players with at least 16 receptions this year, led by tight end Clive Watford's 23 catches. Freshman quarterback Brad Kaaya has stuck to shorter routes for most of his targets, with the exception of when he's looked for Dorsett and his blazing speed for longer passes.
Justin Hardy, East Carolina
4 of 10
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'0", 188 lbs
2014 stats: 47 receptions, 593 yards, five touchdowns
If we were giving out a lifetime achievement award for uncoverability, Justin Hardy would win going away. In three-plus seasons with East Carolina, he has caught 313 passes for 3,640 yards and 30 touchdowns, all of which are school records. He needs 37 catches to become the FBS all-time leader, breaking Ryan Broyles' mark of 349 set from 2008-2011 with Oklahoma.
This year, Hardy hasn't had to be the Pirates' main receiving option as he was last year when his school-record 114 catches were more than any two other players on the team. Teammate Isaiah Jones has 42 receptions this fall, though Hardy remains the go-to guy for quarterback Shane Carden in clutch situations.
Hardy has been targeted 63 times in six games, giving him a success rate of 74.6 percent.
Rashard Higgins, Colorado State
5 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'2", 188 lbs
2014 stats: 44 receptions, 776 yards, 10 touchdowns
Colorado State has gotten out to a 5-1 start this year, its best since 2000. The Rams have a balanced offense with great running and passing, but no one player has stood out as much as Rashard Higgins.
Higgins' 10 touchdown catches are tied for first in the country, with eight of those going for 20 or more yards. CSU quarterback Garrett Grayson has targeted Higgins only 48 times out of his 207 pass attempts, but his 6'2" receiver has hauled in an astounding 91.7 percent of those throws.
A 3-star prospect out of Mesquite, Texas, Higgins had only one other FBS offer, from Louisiana-Monroe. But he set a freshman school record for catches with 68 and has quickly become the Rams' No. 1 option in the passing game.
Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
6 of 10
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 5'11", 175 lbs
2014 stats: 29 receptions, 399 yards, three touchdowns
Tyler Lockett hasn't put up his usual numbers this season, hobbled early by injury and part of what's now a solid two-headed receiving corps for Kansas State alongside Curry Sexton. But the veteran remains the Wildcats' most dependable receiver, which made his drop of a touchdown in last month's home loss to Auburn so shocking.
Lockett cut inside on a slant, easily beating his defender, but the perfect throw from Jake Waters bounced out of his hands in the end zone. It's one of only nine passes thrown his way this season that he hasn't caught, and it surely has since been used as fuel for improved play in ensuing games.
"I want to be technique-sound with everything I do," Lockett told Ken Corbitt of the Topeka Capitol-Journal before the season. "I realize technique beats talent. ... That's one of the things I want to emphasize every single practice and every single game this year."
Lockett needs to pick up the pace to finish his career as K-State's leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns, all of which are held by his father, Kevin.
Keevan Lucas, Tulsa
7 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 5'10", 198 lbs
2014 stats: 53 receptions, 649 yards, seven touchdowns
Not much has gone right this season for Tulsa, which after winning its opener in double overtime has lost five straight games. Yet amid those struggles has emerged a breakout year from Keevan Lucas, who has more than double the catches of any other Golden Hurricane player and has been on the receiving end of seven of Dane Evans' 11 touchdown passes.
Lucas, a part-time starter as a freshman, has caught 76.8 percent of the balls thrown his way. He has three 100-yard games and four outings with at least nine receptions, including a whopper of a 2014 debut when he hauled in 13 catches 233 yards and three TDs against Tulane.
In that game, Lucas showed both his big-play ability, catching TD passes of 43 and 84 yards, while also being the go-to guy in the red zone for a three-yard TD that forced overtime.
Nelson Spruce, Colorado
8 of 10
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'1", 195 lbs
2014 stats: 62 receptions, 732 yards, 10 touchdowns
With 99 passes in his first two years of college, Nelson Spruce wasn't necessarily an unknown entity heading into the fall. Rather, he had been labeled as more of a possession receiver, someone to throw to on short routes to move drives along.
But with Colorado needing to replace a major amount of production with Paul Richardson's early departure to the NFL, someone needed to step up and fill that void. Spruce was identified as a potential candidate for that during training camp, but his coaches couldn't have expected him to bust out like he has.
Spruce leads the FBS with 62 receptions in six games, and his 10 TDs are tied for first. He's been thrown to more than any receiver in the country, an average of 14.3 per game, and while many of those throws have been on short or intermediate routes, he's shown the ability to catch it no matter where quarterback Sefo Liufau throws it.
He had 13 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown in a win over Hawaii, then obliterated that output with a 19-reception, 179-yard, three-TD effort in a shootout loss to California.
Jaelen Strong, Arizona State
9 of 10
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'3", 215 lbs
2014 stats: 41 receptions, 614 yards, five touchdowns
When Arizona State had to switch quarterbacks midway through the season because of injury, untested backup Mike Bercovici was thrust into the spotlight for big games against UCLA and USC. He didn't panic, though, knowing that when times got tough he had one of the best receivers in the country able to grab the ball as long as it was put within reach.
Jaelen Strong has caught 22 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns in Bercovici's two starts, including the 46-yard Hail Mary reception to beat USC on Oct. 4. With USC's many defenders backing into the end zone looking to bat down the final throw, Strong simply ran in front of them and high-pointed the ball at the goal line for the shocking TD.
The play has earned a nickname—the "Jael Mary"— as well as T-shirts. It also helped move Strong up the 2015 NFL draft big board of ESPN's Mel Kiper (subscription required), who wrote, "Strong can be almost impossible to cover thanks to his ability to win in contested situations."
Kevin White, West Virginia
10 of 10
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'3", 210 lbs
2014 stats: 61 receptions, 888 yards, five touchdowns
West Virginia has shown vast improvement on offense this season, with a lot of credit going to how quarterback Clint Trickett has been able to become comfortable in coach Dana Holgorsen's system. But without Kevin White, Trickett wouldn't be putting up the impressive numbers he has to this point.
White only had 35 receptions last season, his first at West Virginia after transferring from a junior college. He's nearly doubled that in half a year's worth of games in 2014, and his yardage is tops in the nation. The Mountaineers are a pretty balanced team, throwing only 49.3 percent of the time, but White has been the target on 80 of the 260 pass attempts.
He's caught 76.3 percent of those throws and is the only player in the country with a 100-yard receiving effort in every game this season. Fourteen of his catches have gone for 20 or more yards, including six of 30-plus and two for more than 60 yards.
Statistical information courtesy of CFBStats.com and RotoGrinders.com.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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