Ten SEC teams are in the midst of some sort of a quarterback derby.
What’s a wide receiver to do? Same as always: Catch whatever’s thrown to them, regardless of who is throwing it to them.
Here, then, are the five best wide receiver tandems in the SEC in 2016:
5. Fred Ross and Fred Brown, Mississippi State
Ross will miss spring practice while recovering from a groin injury, which means he’ll miss reps with the new quarterback, but he’s the least of the Bulldogs’ worries. Ross had a 1,000-yard season and finished second in the SEC with 88 catches. Brown averaged 15.3 yards per catch — exactly the number of the man he’s replacing, De’Runnya Wilson.
They’ll provide a comfortable, reliable outlet for Mississippi State’s next quarterback.
4. Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural, LSU
Talent-wise, they compare with any tandem in the country. The key in 2016 is to feed them the football. Dupre led LSU with 43 catches last season. That total ranked 18th in the SEC. He averaged 16.23 yards per catch. That total ranked sixth. Dural’s ratio was even more out of whack: He averaged 19 yards yet caught just 28 passes.
Hence the frustration from Tigers fans who want to see Cam Cameron release the parking brake and let the offense go. Deep, preferably.
3. Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart, Alabama
They’d challenge for the top spot if we knew who will start at quarterback and whether Lane Kiffin has the OK to throw 35 times a game. (Last year, Alabama averaged 29.7 passes per game.)
Those are unknowns. What we do know is this duo combined for 152 catches, 1,745 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015 — all with a first-year starter at quarterback. And they’re only getting better.
Add tight end O.J. Howard to the mix, and you could get a replay of the playoff games all next season.
2. Quincy Adeboyejo and Damore’ea Stringfellow, Ole Miss
We know this much: Chad Kelly isn’t going to stop throwing merely because Laquon Treadwell and Cody Core aren’t on the receiving end. Stringfellow, who at 6-2, 220, looks a lot like Treadwell, averaged 13.97 yards per catch last season, about three laces shy of Treadwell’s 14.06.
Adeboyejo was even better, averaging 15.89 on 38 catches.
Treadwell and Core combined for 119 catches, 1,797 yards and 15 touchdowns. Some teams might worry about replacing that productivity.
Not the Rebels. Adeboyejo and Stringfellow showed last year they are legitimate weapons capable of accepting and starring in larger roles in 2016.
1. Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M
They’re the most proven and most prolific returning duo, combining for 131 catches and more than 1,900 receiving yards in 2015.
The SEC hasn’t seen a pair of 1,000-yard receivers on the same team since Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry left LSU in 2013.
Kirk and Reynolds both could top 1,000 in 2016, too, because while the Aggies have a quarterback competition, they won’t have a quarterback controversy.
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.
