College Football Recruiting 2012: Ranking The Top 10 Wide Receivers

As we move in our opening positional rankings list, today brings us to the wide receivers. An early glance at the top receiver prospects of the 2012 recruiting crop has us pretty excited. We still need to see more tape and gather more information, but the early returns show a solid class.

Everyone wants to play receiver but it is rare to find the combination of hands, speed, quickness, leaping ability and route running. Receivers need time to develop and tend to get better the longer they stay in one system.

Here's 10 early receivers we like and think will be standouts.

10. Latroy Pittman

Pittman is a 6'1", 190-pound receiver that is already committed to Florida. He reminds me of Gator receiver Carl Moore. He's a chain guy who's QB friendly, has a large catch radius and works voids in the middle of the field.

He's not a sudden release guy, but plays faster than his timed speed and has the ability to develop into a solid and crisp route runner. Pittman also has strength to out-muscle smaller defensive backs for balls and gain separation at the line in press coverage.

9. Dwayne Stanford

Stanford is from the Cincinnati area and is a 6'5", 185-pounder with length to pluck balls away from his frame. He's athletic enough to avoid on the move and doesn't get caught in traffic with linebackers in underneath routes.

He does the little things well in releasing with proper footwork, hand placement and high pointing balls in traffic.

Stanford has a slew of offers, including Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Florida State and Georgia.

8. Jalen Cobb

Cobb is 6'1", 185 pounds and already committed to Arkansas to play in Bobby Petrino's offense. He has very good speed and can get behind a secondary with ease.

He also does a nice job of catching the ball with proper hand placement and runs very crisp routes. He adjusts well to avoid traffic and can catch in a crowd.

Another great aspect to Cobb's game is that he really works to be a sound blocker. He shields DBs away from his runners and looks to help downfield to ensure extra yardage.

7. Dvario Montgomery

The 6'2", 205-pound Montgomery will be a monster in college. He releases well vs. press due to his size and strength and can just bully defensive backs.

He spent most of last year playing linebacker but will be a receiver in college. He also has solid speed to get vertical, and runs solid routes.

He's a good leader and a pretty competitive player who keenly understands that to be the best he must have the best work ethic.

He likes Florida and Oregon right now, but also has offers from LSU, South Carolina and Georgia.

6. Jaevon Richardson

Boasting solid 4.5 speed on a 6'1", 170-pound frame, Richardson is one of the top receivers in the 2012 class.

He's headed to Texas A&M to play the slot spot in the Aggies' offense where they will take advantage of his release quickness and exploit his talents against linebackers and nickle defensive backs.

He'll need to add some bulk to handle himself against press/jam coverage on the line, but his quickness, speed and athleticism will carry him well in College Station.

5. Stefon Diggs

Diggs is an electric athlete on the perimeter and stands 6'1", 190 pounds. He not only times well in combine settings but also translates it to the field.

He's dynamic with the ball and is at his best after the catch. He has a lot of shake and bake athleticism in the open field, is excellent on smoke and bubble screens and can play running back as well.

I think he'll end up at receiver and that is why I have him on this list. Diggs has offers from Florida, Miami, Michigan, Georgia, Virginia Tech among a plethora of others.

4. Jordan Payton

Payton is a 6'2", 200-pound receiver that oozes production. He already has over 33 scores before his senior season for Oaks Christian (CA).

He's committed to USC and is as steady as they come. Payton has a thick build, catches everything and runs solid routes. He's strong enough to release vs. press and athletic enough to adjust to bad balls.

He performs well on the big stage and has played against top competition on the varsity level for years. Payton is an early California Player of the Year candidate.

3. Avery Johnson

Johnson is the younger brother of LSU defensive back Patrick Peterson and will follow his older brother to play in Baton Rouge for LSU.

At 6'2", 185 pounds, Johnson has good speed, a long frame and solid hands. He can pluck balls outside his frame, go up over crowds and knows how to explode out of his breaks.

Johnson has enough speed to get vertical and stretch the field while working voids in coverages over the middle.

2. Caleb Jones

Jones had over 60 grabs and nearly 900 yards in just seven games as a junior. He has almost 20 touchdowns over the last two years.

At 6'3" and 185 pounds he has great running ability, understands how to read and attack coverages and high points the ball very well.

He is the top overall player in Texas this year and that's saying a lot. He has offers from Texas, Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Miami, Texas A&M, and Auburn.

Jones is also the cousin of Auburn receiver Emory Blake.

1. Dorial Green-Beckham

Green-Beckham takes the top spot in our initial receiver rankings and it may be a tough task to stop him from being the top receiver in the country.

At 6'6", 220 pounds Green-Beckham has been the top player in Missouri for two years. He has excellent athleticism, hands, size, toughness, leaping ability and quickness in and out of his breaks.

He's a playmaker on the edges and is a big time redzone threat. Green-Beckham is a match up nightmare as he is too big for cornerbacks, fast for safeties and quick for linebackers.

Oh, and he's been timed at 4.43 in the 40. Alabama, USC, Florida, Miami, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, and Oklahoma are just a few names to toss out that have already offered.