Big Ten Football: Power Ranking the Receivers Heading Into Week Four
The Big Ten Conference has a national reputation as a power running conference with big, slow, non-athletic players.
That could not be further from the truth.
The conference is loaded with very good receivers that can stretch the field.
Two weeks ago the conference lost its leading receiver from a season ago, and through two games this season, Purdue's Keith Smith still leads the league with 18 receptions. Several players will pass Smith in total receptions this week, but it will take several huge games to surpass his nine catches per gamesecond is at 8.5 and third is 5.5.
Without Smith on the field, here are the best 11 receivers in the Big Ten.
No. 11 WR Keshawn Martin
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Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Keshawn Martin
Height: 5-11
Weight: 185
Class: Junior
Hometown: Inkster, Michigan
He is tied for the Spartans' team-lead in receptions with 10 and two yards ahead of B.J. Cunningham for the team-lead in receiving yards.
The biggest difference between Cunningham and Martin is Martin's big play ability. Cunningham is a more consistent receiver, but Martin can take it the distance every time he has the ball.
In addition to his ability to catch the ball, he runs the ball too. He has four carries for 47 yards this season.
He got off to slow start, but had a very good game last week against Notre Dame, catching eight passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.
This Week's Game: Home vs. Northern Colorado
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 10
Receiving Yards: 149
Touchdowns: 1
No. 10 WR Darryl Stonum
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Michigan Wolverines wide receiver Darryl Stonum
Height: 6-2
Weight: 195
Class: Junior
Hometown: Stafford, Texas
Stonum leads the Wolverines with 12 receptions. He has really asserted himself as the Wolverines' top receiver with a team-high 188 yards, including the longest reception of the season—a 66-yard touchdown against the Massachusetts Minutemen.
He broke out last week against the Minutemen with three catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. His performance was one of the top receiving games of the week by a Big Ten receiver.
Martavious Odoms and Roy Roundtree are more known receivers, but Stonum is using the under-the-radar approach to put together a solid start to the season.
This Week's Game: Home vs. Bowling Green
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 12
Receiving Yards: 188
Touchdowns: 2
No. 9 WR A.J. Jenkins
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Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver A.J. Jenkins
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Class: Junior
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
Jenkins is easily the best receiver on the Illini this season. He has exactly one more reception per game and nearly 150 more receiving yards than Jarred Fayson, who is second on the team in both categories.
Young quarterbacks tend to find one receiver to lock onto in big situations and Jenkins is becoming that guy for redshirt freshman Nathan Scheelhaase.
He has already set career-highs in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns this season through three games.
This Week's Opponent: Bye
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 12
Receiving Yards: 190
Touchdowns: 2
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 8 WR Cortez Smith
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Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Cortez Smith
Height: 6-2
Weight: 180
Class: Senior
Hometown: Hooks, Texas
The other Smith in the Boilermaker's receiving group became the No. 1 receiver on the team with the injury to Keith Smith.
Last week against the Ball State Cardinals, he broke out with five catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, including a 76-yard touchdown catch.
That performance vaulted him into the top 10 of the Big Ten Conference in receptions and receiving yards per game.
This Week's Opponent:
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 13
Receiving Yards: 183
Touchdowns: 2
No. 7 TE Lance Kendricks
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Wisconsin Badgers tight end Lance Kendricks
Height: 6-4
Weight: 241
Class: Senior
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Badgers have a long line of very good receiving tight ends. It started with Owen Daniels, then Travis Beckum, then Garrett Graham, and now Kendricks.
He began his collegiate career as a wide receiver, but he bulked up and moved to tight end. When he added the bulk he did not lose any athleticism. He is a big matchup problem for defenses because linebackers and safeties can't run with him and cornerbacks are too small to stop him.
With the team's top wide receivers battling injuries (David Gilreath has a concussion and Nick Toon has a toe injury), Kendricks is the team's leader in receptions and yards.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Austin Peay
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 11
Receiving Yards: 196
Touchdowns: 2
No. 6 WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos
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Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos
Height: 6-1
Weight: 200
Class: Senior
Hometown: Campbell, Ohio
Johnson-Koulianos had a big game in the Hawkeyes' loss to the Arizona Wildcats last Saturday, with catching seven passes for 114 yards and one touchdown.
He is a good sized receiver with big play capability. He is a rare type of receiver that can find holes in the zones in short passing plays and go up with corners in jump balls downfield in deep routes.
He is in the conference's top 10 of receptions per game, receiving yards per game, and all-purpose yards per game.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Ball State
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 13
Receiving Yards: 183
Touchdowns: 1
No. 5 WR Derek Moye
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Penn State Nitany Lions wide receiver Derek Moye
Height: 6-5
Weight: 205
Class: Junior
Hometown: Rochester, Pennsylvania
Moye is a big receiver that leads the Nittany Lions in receptions, receiving yards, and yards per catch. He clicked with true freshman quarterback Rob Bolden right away.
Moye's big frame gives Bolden a safety net to just throw the ball up to when he is under pressure.
He has been one of the more consistent receivers in the Big Ten Conference with five, three and four catches and 61, 69 and 87 receiving yards in each of the first three games, respectively.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Temple
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 12
Receiving Yards: 217
Touchdowns: 0
No. 4 WR DeVier Posey
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Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver DeVier Posey
Height: 6-2
Weight: 213
Class: Junior
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posey is a big play threat with good size, speed, and hands.
He is a not a run away as the best receiver on his team, asDane Sanzenbacher has totaled the exact same amount of receiving yards and just two less receptions, but Posey is a player that defenses have to know where he is on every play.
He is in the top five in the Big Ten in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game.
So far his best performance of the season came against the Miami Hurricanes in week two when he recorded four catches for 105 yards.
Last week against the Bobcats he managed five catches for 62 yards while trying to elude the coverage of his brother Julian.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Eastern Michigan
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 13
Receiving Yards: 208
Touchdowns: 2
No. 3 WR/QB MarQueis Gray
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Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver and quarterback MarQueis Gray
Height: 6-4
Weight: 230
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Gray is quietly becoming one of the best receivers in the conference. Through three games, he is third in the conference in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game.
He has 14 catches, 211 receiving yards, and two touchdowns this season. His two best performances came in the last two games, in which he recorded all of his stats, except one catch and 22 yards.
He is big, fast, and elusive. His conversion from quarterback to wide receiver may be the best thing that happens to senior quarterback Adam Weber and the Gopher offense.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Northern Illinois
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 14
Receiving Yards: 211
Touchdowns: 2
No. 2 WR Jeremy Ebert
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Northwestern Wildcats wide receiver Jeremy Ebert
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Class: Junior
Hometown: Hilliard, Ohio
Ebert may be the best receiver no one outside of the Big Ten Conference knows about, even some Big Ten people don't know a whole lot about him. He has kind of come out of nowhere to lead the Wildcats' wide open passing game.
He is the only player in the Big Ten that averages over 20 yards per catch. He beat the Vanderbilt Commodores for five catches and 99 yards in his best performance this season.
He is second on the Wildcats in receptions (just one behind Drake Dunsmore), but is over 100 yards ahead of the next closest receiver.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Central Michigan
Games Played: 3
Receptions: 12
Receiving Yards: 248
Touchdowns: 2
No. 1 WR Damarlo Belcher
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Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Damarlo Belcher
Height: 6-5
Weight: 215
Class: Junior
Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Belcher is second in the Big Ten in total receptions behind only Purdue's injured star Keith Smith. At season's end Belcher should be the conference's leading receiver and an All-Conference member. He also has a chance at becoming an All-American.
He averages nearly nine catches per game with 8.5. The Hoosiers have played only two games and yet Belcher is second in the conference in total receptions and receiving yards.
Last week's 10-catch, 135-yard, and one-touchdown performance turned him into one of the nation's elite receivers. He is among the nation's top 50 in both receptions and receiving yards with mostly players that have played one more game than he has.
This Week's Opponent: Home vs. Akron
Games Played: 2
Receptions: 17
Receiving Yards: 227
Touchdowns: 2
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
