{"id":270211,"date":"2025-08-07T23:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T23:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/270211\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T23:28:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T23:28:12","slug":"texas-2025-opponents-ranking-the-top-5-wide-receiver-tight-end-corps-that-the-longhorns-will-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/270211\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas’ 2025 Opponents: Ranking The Top 5 Wide Receiver\/Tight End Corps That The Longhorns Will Face"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas faces the best group of pass catchers in the country in their road season opener. Then a number of teams with real upside, but who will need some things to go right in the broader offense to feature their pass catchers properly. <\/p>\n

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]<\/a><\/p>\n

Ohio State<\/p>\n

Georgia<\/p>\n

Florida<\/p>\n

Texas A&M<\/p>\n

Oklahoma???<\/p>\n

If Ohio State requires explanation, I can\u2019t help you. Wait, I can help you! What am I talking about? <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jeremiah(Mark J. Rebilas)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the short synopsis: Jeremiah Smith is the best wide receiver and best football player in college football. TE Max Klare may be country\u2019s the best pure pass catching tight end and he\u2019s going to spend all of his time in single coverage. Rangy Carnell Tate is a nice complement to both of them \u2013 he\u2019s a first or second day NFL pick in 2026. Their slot Brandon Inniss is more than capable and good after the catch. I watched Ohio State\u2019s spring game. Their second team wide receivers would start for 90% of the college football universe. Thank heavens for QB inexperience and new starting tackles.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Georgia massively improved their wide receiver room this offseason. Dropping 31 passes last year didn\u2019t help their passing game much. USC transfer Zachariah Branch is getting all the hype and he is explosive, if unfinished, but I expect the additions of Aggie leading receiver Noah Thomas (6\u20196\u2033) and the return of the suspended (only a year probation!) Miami transfer Colbie Young (6\u20194\u2033) to power a downfield, contested-catch passing attack. Those additions free Dillon Bell to return to his gadgety all-purpose YAC role. London Humphreys remains an opportunistic deep threat.<\/p>\n

Their other big differentiator is the tight end combo in the SEC: Oscar Delp and Lawson Luckie. They combined for 45 catches and 7 touchdowns last year and that production should increase.<\/p>\n

Can Gunner Stockton unlock their new arsenal against good defenses? Can a revamped OL protect? <\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

\"Florida-Gators-Eugene-Wilson\"Florida receiver Eugene Wilson III. (Maddie Washburn\/UAA Photo)<\/p>\n

I see a drop off here to Florida, but Eugene \u201cDon\u2019t Google What My Dad Did Super Bowl Eve\u201d Wilson is back healthy and a very strong option. True freshman Dallas Wilson \u2013 the superstar of their Spring game \u2013 continues to show out and he\u2019s a starter kit Rome Odunze. J Michael Sturdivant is a quality possession big body with 123 career catches and a huge catch radius. They have serious long speed in youngsters like Aidan Mizell and Vernell Brown III. Tight ends are blocking surfaces for Napier and 6\u20197\u2033 270 Hayden Hansen will be a surface that blocks. <\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

I love Texas A&M\u2019s wide receivers as all around athletes, but it will be interesting to see if they can fully cohere into a complete unit that threatens with the whole route tree. Early verdict? Nah. They\u2019re going to excel on bubble screens, rubs, crossing routes, little sit downs, switch routes, and any passing concept where they can catch it on the run. They\u2019re all great ball carriers for Klein\u2019s read-option game and they\u2019ll be plenty distracting as jet sweepers and on reverses.<\/p>\n

KC Concepcion was a superstar freshman at NC State and a terrible sophomore. I explain the drop off in TTF<\/a> \u2013 it\u2019s a little involved, but if he\u2019s back to old form, he\u2019s terrific with the ball in his hands. There\u2019s some front runner there, though. Sophomore Terry Bussey is equally slippery as a receiving and run threat and he does a lot of what Concepcion does, but with more desire for the dirty work. Finally, they brought in little Mario Craver from Mississippi State to take the top off with his speed and ball tracking. Nice addition. This will be a vertical and horizontal oriented room.<\/p>\n

This a smart group to surround Marcel Reed with as they\u2019ll do a lot of the work for him. The downside is a lack of refined passing game concepts when needed.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Oklahoma at #5? In a race of four 100 meter sprinters and the kid who won the qualifier at Fat Camp, that race has a fifth place finisher.<\/p>\n

My other options are Vanderbilt entirely on the strength of TE Eli Stowers paired with probably the SEC\u2019s worst receiving corps, or it\u2019s Mississippi State, and the Bulldogs are starting Brenen Thompson. Maybe I need to watch UTEP tape again. <\/p>\n

Oklahoma does have upside and they can\u2019t possibly be worse than last year.<\/p>\n

Texas was very interested in slot Deion Burks when he transferred out of West Lafayette two years ago. He\u2019s very quick and appears to be fully healthy. He\u2019s not on NFL draft boards because he stinks. They\u2019re going to feed him. Arkansas transfer Isaiah Santegna proved competent in Fayetteville, but he\u2019s possibly a bit redundant to Burks.<\/p>\n

So far, tight end appears to be a black hole. The Sooner propaganda to the contrary is amusing.<\/p>\n

Small school additions Javonnie Gibson and Jer\u2019Michael Carter need to come up big outside. Gibson is a 6\u20192\u201d 215 pound outside receiver from Arkansas-Pine Bluff who was a 2nd Team FCS All-American with 1215 receiving yards on 70 catches. He broke his leg in the Spring and it\u2019s unclear when he will be a full participant in Fall Camp, but they think he can work his way back by mid September. McNeese State transfer 6\u20194\u201d Jer\u2019Michael Carter doesn\u2019t have Carter\u2019s production (he caught 37 balls last year) but OU loved his traits. Another option could be deep threat 6\u20195\u201d Jayden Gibson (26 yards per catch in 2023, injured last year). One way or another, Oklahoma is going to be big outside. Can they win?<\/p>\n

If GM Jim Nagy is good at spinning small school straw into gold, OU is your #5. If not, they\u2019ll be better, but a bottom half or quartile SEC unit and I probably should have just written three paragraphs about Mississippi State\u2019s Jordan Mosley.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Back To School time.\u00a0Get properly schooled on the Horns, their opponents, the current roster building landscape, recruiting, and the SEC before kickoff.<\/a>\u00a0Over 61,000 words of college football goodness.<\/p>\n

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