Top 10 College Football Wide Receiver Duos for 2015
Great passing games aren't made with just one go-to receiver.
In order to have one of the most feared attacks in the entire country, teams must have multiple targets out wide who can make the big play. If not, opposing defenses can lock on to just one wideout and keep even the most talented players quiet for a game.
While college football lost some of its best receivers from 2014—Alabama's Amari Cooper, West Virginia's Kevin White and Kansas State's Tyler Lockett, to name a few—to graduation or early entry into the NFL, many of the best one-two punches at wide receiver are back for another season of tormenting defenses.
These rankings of the top 10 returning wide receiver duos in college football for 2015 are based on the combined 2014 stats of the two star wideouts and are adjusted slightly for the level of competition they face week in and week out.
Let us know what you think the most talented receiver pairing is on this list or which duo has the potential to break into the top 10 by the end of the 2015 campaign in the comments section below.
Missed the Cut
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The 10 pairs on this list missed the statistical cut for the overall top 10, but they each deserved special mention for their performances in 2014 and their potential for 2015.
Bowling Green: Roger Lewis and Ryan Burbrink
Cincinnati: Shaq Washington and Mekale McKay
Illinois: Mike Dudek* and Geronimo Allison
LSU: Travin Dural and Malachi Dupre
Nebraska: Jordan Westerkamp and De'Mornay Pierson-El
Oklahoma: Sterling Shepard and Durron Neal
Ole Miss: Laquon Treadwell** and Cody Core
Penn State: DaeSean Hamilton and Geno Lewis
UL-Monroe: Rashon Ceaser and Ajalen Holley
USC: JuJu Smith and Adoree' Jackson
*out indefinitely for 2015 with ACL injury
**missed four games of 2014 season with leg injury
10. Western Kentucky: Jared Dangerfield and Taywan Taylor
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2014: 114 catches for 1,592 yards (13.96 yards per catch) and 18 touchdowns
Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon Doughty led the nation in both passing yards and touchdowns last season. Doughty was granted a final year of eligibility, and he can count on his two biggest targets to take the Hilltoppers' offense to bigger heights in 2015.
Dangerfield recorded at least one receiving touchdown in eight games last season and had his biggest performance in Western Kentucky's biggest game—an insane 67-66 overtime upset victory over Marshall. According to this tweet from SB Nation's Bill Connelly, Taylor was one of the most reliable targets in all of college football last season, recording a staggering 13.5 yards per target in 2014.
Doughty has a wealth of receivers returning with him this season, but Dangerfield and Taylor represent the best combo Western Kentucky has in its pass-happy offense. Look for these two to make big plays when the Hilltoppers travel to Vanderbilt, Indiana and LSU in their upcoming schedule.
9. Ohio State: Michael Thomas and Jalin Marshall
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2014: 92 catches for 1,298 yards (14.11 YPC) and 15 touchdowns
The beauty of Ohio State's championship-winning passing attack in 2014 was that everyone got involved—and I'm not just talking about the multiple star quarterbacks the Buckeyes had on the roster.
Even though Devin Smith led Ohio State in receiving last season by averaging 28.2 yards per catch, Thomas was the most popular target of J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones with a team-high 54 catches. As a redshirt freshman, Marshall finished third on the team in receiving yards while lining up as an H-back and slot receiver in head coach Urban Meyer's offensive scheme.
But Marshall is looking like he will be Smith's replacement as the top vertical threat this season, as the young playmaker practiced this spring at outside receiver, according to the Northeast Ohio Media Groups' Doug Lesmerises. That's a scary combination of speed and possession for a team that already has a loaded offense.
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8. UCLA: Jordan Payton and Thomas Duarte
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2014: 95 catches for 1,494 yards (15.74 YPC) and 11 touchdowns
If Josh Rosen becomes UCLA's replacement for star quarterback Brett Hundley as expected, the talented true freshman will inherit most of the receivers from the Bruins' 2014 campaign. The top two on that list are Payton and Duarte, who were first and second on the team in both yards and touchdowns last season.
Payton had the sixth-best season for catches of anyone in UCLA history last season and came up big for the Bruins against big-name opponents. In addition to having 100-yard games against three ranked teams, Payton scored touchdowns against Texas, Utah, Arizona State, Oregon and Arizona in 2014.
His reliability on the outside is joined on the inside by Duarte, who was a constant big-play threat as a hybrid tight end/receiver. The 6'3" Duarte ranked first in the Pac-12 and 15th in the nation with 19.29 yards per catch last season. After battling through injuries in 2014, a healthy Duarte could have a huge year thanks to his skills after the catch.
7. Texas A&M: Josh Reynolds and Speedy Noil
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2014: 98 catches for 1,425 yards (14.54 YPC) and 18 touchdowns
Big plays in the passing game are the standard in head coach Kevin Sumlin's offense at Texas A&M, and the winner of the battle between former 5-star quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray will have several great receivers he can rely on for the upcoming season.
Among returning receivers in the SEC, Reynolds ranks first in touchdowns and second in yards, as he led the way for the Aggies attack in 2014. Even though he missed most of spring practices, the rangy Reynolds looks like a lock for a 1,000-yard season and double-digit touchdowns as Texas A&M's top target.
But the most talented receiver on campus in College Station might be Noil, the former 5-star recruit who exploded onto the scene last season with his, well, speed. While Reynolds is still the one to watch whenever Texas A&M needs a big receiving play, Noil has the explosive athleticism to turn any quick grab into a breakaway touchdown.
6. Western Michigan: Corey Davis and Daniel Braverman
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2014: 164 catches for 2,405 yards (14.66 YPC) and 21 touchdowns
Sure, the toughest competition Davis and Braverman faced last season came in road games against Purdue and Virginia Tech, but one can't discount the mind-blowing amount of yardage and points the two returning Broncos were responsible for last season.
Davis finished fourth in the nation last season for receiving yards per game and recorded a pair of 200-yard games, six additional 100-yard games and one more in which he was one yard away from triple digits. He had a touchdown in each of Western Michigan's final eight games of the season, including a three-score performance against Air Force in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The smaller Braverman was three yards away from having a 1,000-yard campaign in 2014 and scored a pair of touchdowns in three different games. With most of the Broncos' offensive starters returning in 2015, there's a great chance these two will take their statistical destruction of the MAC's secondaries to even greater heights.
5. Notre Dame: William Fuller and Corey Robinson
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2014: 116 catches for 1,633 yards (14.08 YPC) and 20 touchdowns
Fuller's emergence as one of college football's best scoring receivers was remarkable last season. He tied for third with the aforementioned Davis from Western Michigan with 15 touchdowns and had four 100-yard games in his standout sophomore campaign.
Notre Dame has a deep group of receivers alongside Fuller, and one of the most exciting is Robinson, a 6'5" red-zone threat who finished second on the team last season with 40 catches and five touchdowns. Robinson's physical gifts make him a matchup problem for any defense and could make him one of the first receivers taken in the NFL draft next year.
Quarterback Malik Zaire has plenty of teammates who could help him take the Notre Dame offense to the next level, and Fuller and Robinson represent the classic duo of big-play speed and dominant possession. These two Irish receivers could zoom past the 20-touchdown mark this season.
4. Arizona: Cayleb Jones and Samajie Grant
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2014: 118 catches for 1,737 yards (14.72 YPC) and 15 touchdowns
Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez wants quarterback Anu Solomon to take the next step in 2015, and these two talented junior receivers might be keys to making that happen.
The 6'3" Jones, a former transfer from Texas, led Arizona in receiving yards and touchdowns in his first season of eligibility with the Wildcats. At almost 16 yards per catch last season, Grant is a speed demon on both the inside and outside for the Wildcats and already has two years of starting experience. ESPN's Kevin Weidl nailed his game perfectly by calling him "pint-sized, but lightning in a bottle."
After an offseason of improvement for Solomon and the receiving corps, Arizona's entire passing game has the chance to become one of the best in the country, so keep your eyes on Jones and Grant.
3. TCU: Josh Doctson and Kolby Listenbee
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2014: 106 catches for 1,771 yards (16.71 YPC) and 15 touchdowns
One of the players to benefit the most from TCU's switch in offensive philosophies last season was Doctson, who went from 440 yards in 2013 to 1,018 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2014. With great hands and size, Doctson is the perfect all-around target for star quarterback Trevone Boykin.
Doctson lines up opposite Listenbee, a track star who finished second on the team in receiving yards and averaged 18.37 yards per catch. ESPN.com's Travis Haney wrote that Listenbee is "arguably the fastest player in the country" and is someone the TCU coaching staff would love to get more involved in the offense this season.
The explosive Horned Frogs should be able to go toe-to-toe with any offense in the country. And, with the speedy duo of Doctson and Listenbee on the outside, any defense on the schedule must be wary of the instant touchdown threat TCU possesses again this season.
2. Clemson: Mike Williams and Artavis Scott
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2014: 133 catches for 1,995 yards (15 YPC) and 14 touchdowns
Even with a handful of issues at quarterback last season, Clemson almost had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers. That alone speaks to the pure talent of Williams and Scott, who were two of the youngest starters on the Tigers last season.
The 6'4" Williams stretched opposing defenses to their limits last year and posted an incredible clip of 18 yards per catch. He had at least five catches in six games last season, with four of them ending with Williams posting 100 or more yards on the stat sheet.
But as Bleacher Report's Ben Kercheval noted in March, Scott was actually Clemson's leader in catches and touchdowns and kept getting better as the season went on for the Tigers. Together, they are an incredible one-two combination for a team that should finally have some certainty at quarterback.
1. Baylor: Corey Coleman and KD Cannon
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2014: 122 receptions for 2,149 yards (17.61 YPC) and 19 touchdowns
Bad news, rest of college football. Baylor's utterly ridiculous offense had two 1,000-yard receivers a year ago—and they're both back in Waco for another season.
Despite missing the first three games of the 2014 season, Coleman still led Baylor in receiving yards and touchdowns thanks in part to a special 224-yard performance against Oklahoma and four 100-yard contests. Coleman's great speed and strength give him the ability to punish defenses before and after the catch in this warp-speed offense.
And then there is Cannon, who had a 200-yard game and three additional 100-yard games—as a true freshman. An elite vertical threat who torched a great Michigan State secondary multiple times in last season's wild Cotton Bowl, he is the perfect fit alongside Coleman as the most prolific wide receiver tandem in all the land.
Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.
Justin Ferguson is an on-call college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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