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Each week, Saturday Down South will break down the SEC’s top wide receivers, ranking the top five and shouting out the next five guys in line. These rankings are a combination of numbers and their impact on the game, taking into consideration things like first down conversions, timeliness of catches and importance to their team’s offense.
- Amari Cooper, Alabama: Cooper was far more uneven against LSU than he’s been for the majority of the season. He had multiple drops, including an especially egregious one with under 30 seconds to go as Alabama mounted it’s game-tying drive. He still did plenty of Amari Cooper things, sliding underneath the defense for catches that he made look easy, including breaking a couple of tackles on his way to the first touchdown of the game. While 8 catches for 83 yards is a great game for most, it represented a subpar effort in Cooper’s brilliant season, during which he’s already set Alabama single-season records for catches and receiving yards.
- Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina: No change at the top, as Cooper still sits second in the conference in receiving yards (786), catches (51) and touchdowns (8). After making just 3 catches in total in his freshman year, few expected the sophomore to rise to the top of the SEC leaderboards so rapidly.
- Quan Bray, Auburn: It may have been Sammie Coates who made the highlight play in a failed comeback against Texas A&M, but it was Bray who stepped up the most in the absence of star receiver D’haquille Williams, who could miss significant time after suffering an injury in the same game. Bray, who has made most of his impact in the return game this year, had his biggest game of the season with 6 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown, providing a reliable outlet for Nick Marshall. If Auburn hopes to make noise down the stretch, they’ll need that kind of steady production from Bray.
- Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M: The Aggies sophomore receiver has quietly been near the top of the SEC in receiving touchdowns all season, and against Auburn he had his third multiple-touchdown game of the year. Reynolds showed a great connection with freshman quarterback Kyle Allen, with great timing on a handful of quick-hitting routes throughout the upset of Auburn. If A&M’s continues to offense pick back up, Reynolds will be a big beneficiary.
- Vince Sanders, Ole Miss: With Laquon Treadwell gone for the rest of the season, Sanders seems ready to step up and be Bo Wallace’s go-to receiver. The senior went over 100 yards for the second consecutive game against overmatched Presbyterian, and he made a bunch of defenders miss on both of his first quarter touchdowns in the Rebels’ shutout win. Like Auburn, Ole Miss will need that kind of playmaking with a star on the sidelines.
The next 5: Sammie Coates, Auburn; Bud Sasser, Missouri; Malcome Kennedy, Texas A&M; Speedy Noil, Texas A&M; Pig Howard, Tennessee
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
