Ryan Broyles: The Greatest Receiver in NCAA History

Currently, Ryan Broyles holds the NCAA record for career receptions. Prior to Broyles, Purdue WR Taylor Stubblefield had the record with 316 receptions. Stubblefield’s record had stood for over six years, until Broyles surpassed him on Saturday night.

While Broyles already has the record for receptions, he is 10th all-time in career yards (4,244).

Barring injury, Broyles should finish at least second, needing only 275 yards in his final seven games to surpass Marcus Harris of Wyoming (4,518), and has the possibility of passing Nevada’s Trevor Insley and his record of 5,005 yards, which has stood as the number to beat since 1999.

To pass Insley, Broyles only needs 762 yards, the equivalent of 109 yards per game.

On the career touchdowns list, Broyles is currently fourth with 44 touchdowns. Trailing Darius Watts (Marshall, 47 TDs, 2003), Troy Edwards (Louisiana Tech, 50, 1998), and Jarrett Dillard (Rice, 60, 2008), first place may be out of reach at this point, but sole possession of second place is a real possibility.

Right now, Broyles has the receptions record with 10 more than anyone else and should finish the season with at least 50 more receptions than anyone else in NCAA history (although Toledo Jr. Eric Page already has 241 receptions and is averaging 0.3 receptions per game more than Broyles for his career).

Also, Oklahoma State great Rashaun Woods is the only other BCS conference player to go over 4,000 career yards (4,414).

At the end of the year, even if Broyles can’t become the No. 1 receiver in NCAA history, he should undoubtedly be the top receiver from one of the current BCS AQ conferences.

In terms of touchdowns, Broyles already has the most of any AQ conference player and should hold that record by a substantial margin over Woods (42).

A conservative estimate (taking only 75 percent of his season per game averages), Broyles would finish his career with 378 receptions (an NCAA record by 62), 4,957 yards (second place and 48 short of the NCAA record, but the most from a BCS AQ conference by 543), and 52 touchdowns (second place and eight short of the NCAA record, but the most from a BCS team by 10).

At the worst, Broyles should finish No. 1 in receptions, No. 2 in yards, and No. 3 in touchdowns (with No. 1 yards and No. 2 touchdowns possible).

To put that in perspective, Rashaun Woods is the only other player in the top 10 in all three categories with 293 receptions, 4414 yards, 42 TDs, and placing Woods  T-10th, 3rd, and T-6th respectively (Broyles ranks No.1, 10, and 4 right now).

Although Ryan Broyles may not have yet had an incredible season like Michael Crabtree’s 2007 season (1,962 yards, 22 TD’s) or Troy Edwards’ 1998 season (1,996 and 27 TD’s), he is on pace for 1,766 yards, which would make him only the second player with two seasons over 1,600 yards (Edwards), and 19.5 TDs.

However, this is still slightly shy of some other top seasons and he doesn’t have the national recognition that surrounded Crabtree in 2007, as Justin Blackmon, and Alshon Jeffrey have stole some of the spotlight.

Broyles, though, has quietly and consistently put together what should be considered the greatest career by any receiver in NCAA history, regardless of conference and team.

Then, additionally, there’s the fact that he did it against the highest level of competition. He wasn’t some receiver from the WAC playing games with little national significance.

He didn’t thrive on a low level of competition. Ryan Broyles played for one the best teams in America and played against some of the best competition that existed in college football.

Even if he were to not play another snap, his career could still be considered the greatest of any receiver in NCAA history—and he still has seven games left to remove any doubt.