Monday Measure: Why 2024 Could Be the Year of the Freshman Wide Receiver

The first two weeks of the college football season have shown just how good this group of freshmen wideouts is. Players like Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams are the best wideouts in their powerhouse programs, and other freshmen have been no slouch either.

Smith, rated the top prospect in the 2024 class by Rivals, has stepped onto a loaded Ohio State team and become an instant star. Granted, the Buckeyes have played Akron and Western Michigan in the past two weeks, but Smith is the only Ohio State player with double-digit catches and multiple touchdowns. After catching five passes for 119 yards and a score against the Broncos, the Miami native has 11 catches for 211 yards and three touchdowns through two games.

Williams, meanwhile, is just 17 years old. The Alabama native reclassified as part of the 2024 recruiting class and committed to the Crimson Tide a year early. Despite his young age, he was ranked as the No. 2 receiver in the class behind Smith and has shown game-breaking speed in his first two college games.

Williams had two catches for 139 yards and two scores in Alabama’s Week 1 blowout of Western Kentucky. Saturday night, Williams had four grabs for 68 yards and helped break the game open in the fourth quarter with a 43-yard TD.

Williams has 207 receiving yards through the first two weeks of the season. No other Alabama player has more than 77 receiving yards.

They’re not the only outliers so far. Cam Coleman, the No. 3 receiver in the class, had four catches for 115 yards and a score for Auburn, while four-star recruit Ryan Wingo was Texas’ leading receiver in Week 1 and had a 55-yard run against Michigan on Saturday. Clemson’s Bryant Wesco Jr., also a four-star recruit, had three catches for 130 yards and a TD in the Tigers’ blowout win over Appalachian State.

It used to be more common to see freshman running backs make an immediate impact, but the performances we’re seeing from these receivers may be a sign of how football has evolved over the past two decades. As college and professional teams have thrown the ball more often, the passing game has improved at the youth level and 7-on-7 football has become more widespread. Wide receivers have more opportunities to hone their skills at a young age and it’s a much more desirable position for a kid to play.

If the excellence of Smith, Williams and others is part of the shift in football in the 2000s, perhaps what we’re seeing now isn’t an aberration of the future. Star freshmen wide receivers could become more common.

Boise State still in the thick of the playoff battle

Boise State wasn’t eliminated from playoff contention with its 37-34 loss to No. 9 Oregon late Saturday night. In fact, the Broncos may have bolstered their playoff chances.

After Liberty went 13-0 against a very weak schedule in 2023 and then got blown out by the Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl, we’re confident the College Football Playoff committee will be looking much more at the strength of schedule when determining which Group of Five team will advance to this year’s expanded postseason.

That gives a team like Boise State a huge advantage. The Broncos went toe-to-toe with the Ducks on Saturday night as RB Ashton Jeanty showed why he’s one of the best running backs in the country. Boise State also played the second half without star safety Alexander Teubner after he was ejected for a targeting penalty.

The Broncos are heavy favorites to win the Mountain West, and if they win the conference with a 12-1 or 11-2 score, a loss to Oregon could be seen as a positive. Liberty has the best chance of any non-power conference team to go undefeated again this season, but Conference USA is arguably the weakest league in the country, and the Flames’ best non-conference opponent is Appalachian State, a team that lost 66-20 to Clemson and trailed 56-0 in the second quarter.

Missouri throws two straight shutouts

Missouri climbed to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday after a 38-0 win over Buffalo. The Tigers’ victory over the Bulls came after Mizzou defeated Murray State 51-0 to open the season. It’s the first time a team has posted back-to-back shutouts to open the season since 2019, when Wisconsin shut out Central Michigan and South Florida to start the year.

The competition wasn’t great, but it’s still a great start for new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon in his first season in Columbia. Mizzou hired Batoon from South Alabama after coordinator Blake Baker went to LSU.

No. 24 Boston College will face a much stiffer test in Week 3. The Eagles have run the ball well in the first two games of Bill O’Brien’s tenure and overwhelmed Florida State’s defense in Week 1.