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Nic Anderson should be one of the SEC's top transfer wideouts in 2025.

SEC Football

Ranking the SEC’s top 10 transfer receivers for 2025

Connor O'Gara

By Connor O'Gara

Published:


In the modern SEC, no transfer position has more immediate upside than wide receiver.

In the relatively limited sample size of the NIL era (2021-24), 8 of 20 All-SEC receivers were transfers. That includes 4 of 6 All-SEC receivers this past season (former 5-star recruits Ryan Williams and Luther Burden III were the lone non-transfers).

That might explain why SEC teams loaded up on receivers via the portal. According to the 247sports rankings of transfer portal receivers, 13 of the top 20 players at the position landed in the SEC.

I, however, decided to do my own ranking of the SEC receiver transfers with some context. To be clear, I included intra-conference transfers like Kevin Coleman (Mississippi State to Mizzou) and Nic Anderson (Oklahoma to LSU) because while they’re not new to the SEC, they’re being tasked with the same thing: Walking into new surroundings and becoming an impact player in the SEC.

These 10 SEC transfer receivers have the best chance of doing that:

10. O’Mega Blake, Arkansas

Previous team — Charlotte

Blake, who started his career at South Carolina, blossomed into a big-play machine this past season at Charlotte with QB Deshawn Purdie. Blake was No. 2 in FBS with 24.8 yards/catch, and he was No. 3 in FBS with 8 catches of 40 yards. He’s going to stretch the field for Arkansas QB Taylen Green, who developed a reliable connection with NFL-bound Andrew Armstrong. Blake was buried on the depth chart during his South Carolina days (2021-23), but his return to the SEC could allow him to become what Matt Landers was for Arkansas as a field-stretcher in 2022.

9. Isaiah Horton, Alabama

Previous team — Miami

Alabama needed to make some moves to help Ryan Williams on the outside. As special as Williams was in 2024, having a 17-year-old (in case you haven’t heard) be your go-to receiver had some drawbacks that we saw play out after the Georgia game. Horton helped take the heat off Xavier Restrepo by being a reliable possession receiver. Think like what Bru McCoy was to Tennessee the past few seasons. Alabama could use a glue guy like that, and Horton has all the makings to check that box.

8. De’Zhaun Stribling, Ole Miss

Previous team — Oklahoma State

Stribling won’t be Tre Harris 2.0, but that’s fine. He can still line up on the outside and make people miss after the catch, but his real strength will be contested catches. He had 11 of those catching passes for Alan Bowman (via PFF), who loved trusting his receivers in those spots, even in a lost season for Oklahoma State. That’ll be a friendly sight for Austin Simmons, who will work with a mostly new cast of receivers. Stribling, who had 4 100-yard games, should give Ole Miss a much-needed veteran presence in a post-Harris world.

7. Barion Brown, LSU

Previous team — Kentucky

It’s not easy to go into the transfer portal and pluck an electrifying receiver who has 3 years of starting experience in the SEC. That’s what LSU got in Brown. He watched his production dip in each of the past 2 seasons, though with how much Kentucky struggled at quarterback, there should be some grace. Brown will be a nice complement to fellow transfer Nic Anderson (more on him in a minute), as well as LSU’s leading returning receiver, Aaron Anderson, who operates almost exclusively out of the slot. He can be one of the SEC’s scariest players in space … if he’s used correctly.

6. Noah Thomas, Georgia

Previous team — Texas A&M

Thomas checked a major box for Georgia after coming over from Texas A&M. The Dawgs desperately lacked reliable outside receivers who could make contested catches. The 6-6 Thomas had 15 of those the past 2 seasons in College Station, where he was the Aggies’ leading receiver in a run-heavy offense. That was a year removed from Thomas finishing 6th in FBS with a 146.7 QB rating when targeted. Even better for Georgia, Thomas only dropped 4 of his 117 targets during his 3 seasons at A&M. He should be able to take advantage of smaller outside corners and allow Gunner Stockton to have a safety valve outside the hashes.

5. Kevin Coleman, Mizzou

Previous team — Mississippi State

You could make a case that Coleman deserves to be even higher after he was 5th in the SEC in receiving this past season and he was 3rd in receiving yards in conference play. Even more impressive, he finished 5th among FBS wideouts with 26 missed tackles forced. Coleman was a bright spot for the 2-10 Bulldogs, who had a transition year in the first season of the Jeff Lebby era. Coleman operated extremely well in space — he had 11 contested catches even though he played 88% of his snaps in the slot — and should become Beau Pribula’s top intermediate target. Luther Burden III’s replacement was No. 2 in the SEC in YAC (yards after catch) behind only … Burden.

4. Eric Singleton, Auburn

Previous team — Georgia Tech

I’d like to think that Singleton looked at the SEC’s best transfer receiver of 2024, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and said “where do I sign to follow in his footsteps?” Singleton was a huge addition to an Auburn team that’s packed to the gills with young receiver talent, most notably Cam Coleman. Singleton will complement him well. He already has 1,468 receiving yards on 104 catches through his first 2 seasons as a versatile, slippery pass-catcher. Singleton could be to Jackson Arnold what a healthy Deion Burks should’ve been for him at Oklahoma. That is, a tough, consistent chain-mover that elevates the floor of the offense.

3. Nic Anderson, LSU

Previous team — Oklahoma

Anderson’s 2024 season was lost to injury, but go back to the last time we saw him play regularly. In 2023, he was the only FBS player who averaged 20 yards/catch with 10 touchdown grabs. Anderson became Dillon Gabriel’s favorite downfield target at Oklahoma. That season, he was 7th in FBS with a 146.5 quarterback rating when targeted (min. 30 targets) and the Texas-game hero had 7 catches of 40 yards (No. 11 in FBS). The 6-4, 219-pound wideout can still improve with using his frame to win 50-50 battles, but he’s got All-SEC potential if he can stay healthy and develop a rapport with Garrett Nussmeier.

2. KC Concepcion, Texas A&M

Previous team — NC State

If Concepcion had been able to catch passes from a healthy Grayson McCall at NC State, his sophomore season probably would’ve resembled his freshman season when he was 5th in the ACC in receiving (839) and 2nd in touchdown catches (10). But the dynamic slot receiver saw his production dip in 2024, and ultimately, he opted for a new home. Concepcion can make something out of nothing like few can in the sport. As a freshman, he had 20 missed tackles forced, which ranked No. 15 among FBS receivers. If Marcel Reed can take that next step as a passer in Year 2 in Collin Klein’s offense, Concepcion can be to A&M what 2021 Wan’Dale Robinson was to Kentucky.

1. Zachariah Branch, Georgia

Previous team — USC

Most freshmen who earn All-America honors don’t eventually wind up in the transfer portal. Let’s be clear. Relative to those All-America expectations, Branch had a disappointing season, albeit for a USC team that made a midseason quarterback change. But there’s still reason to believe that he can walk into Georgia and become as electrifying of a player as there is in the sport, which he flirted with in 2023. He still finished No. 1 in the Big Ten with 8.3 YAC/reception — that was actually an improvement from his 7.8 YAC/reception in 2023 — so there’s plenty of reason to believe his explosiveness didn’t fade amid his dip in production. Branch is perhaps just more quarterback-dependent than what his blistering true freshman season with Caleb Williams suggested. But don’t get it twisted. He’s No. 1 on this list because he plays at a different speed than anyone he shares a field with.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.

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