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Every 1,000-Yard Receiver in SEC Football History
By Chris Wright
Last Updated:
Saturday Down South has built an exclusive, searchable database of every 1,000-yard receiver in SEC history. It includes those who played for teams that weren’t in the SEC at the time.
Our 1,000-yard receiving yards database doesn’t have a theme song, but if it did …
“The times, they are a changin’ …”
Bob Dylan penned those words in 1964, but they’re certainly apropos for what has happened to SEC football since the calendar switched to 2000.
One by one, every coach began following Steve Spurrier’s blueprint for how to win football games. It took some time, but even the legendary Nick Saban realized it’s faster and often easier to gain yards through the air than by ground. The number of SEC 3,000-yard passers increased. The number of SEC 1,000-yard rushers decreased.
No surprise, then, that entering the 2025 season, more than 90 SEC receivers have topped the 1,000-yard mark since 2000, compared with only 26 in all of the years before.
Here is the complete history of every 1,000-yard receiver in SEC history. It includes those who played for teams that weren’t in the SEC at the time.
SEC’s 1,000-Yard Receivers
Yes, SEC football teams are playing more games, which leads to higher totals, but that doesn’t fully explain why 20 of the SEC’s 25 highest single-season yardage totals came from 2010-2024. That’s a change in philosophy, not scheduling. Even if you remove players who weren’t in the SEC at the time, 18 of the top 25 best single-seasons still came from 2010-2024.
Here’s every SEC player who has reached 1,000 yards receiving in a season (* indicates the player wasn’t in the SEC at the time):
Every SEC Team’s First 1,000-Yard Receiver
Not only did Vanderbilt football produce the first 3,000-yard passer in SEC football history, the Commodores also produced the first 1,000-yard receiver. That’s remarkable enough.
More unbelievable? The Commodores did it in different decades. In 1967, Bob Goodridge became the first SEC receiver to top the 1K threshold, finishing with 1,114 receiving yards. In 1983, Vandy QB Kurt Page became the first 3,000-yard passer in SEC history.
Here is every SEC team’s first 1,000-yard receiver (* indicates the player wasn’t in the SEC at the time):
Which SEC Team Has The Most 1,000-Yard Receivers?
Alabama and Oklahoma each have 13 1,000-yard receiving seasons in their respective history — though Oklahoma enters 2025 still looking for its first 1K receiver in the SEC. Here’s a look at every current SEC team’s total number of 1,000-yard receivers (total includes players who weren’t in the SEC at the time), as well as most recent:
* – Team had 2 1,000-yard receivers in that season.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
