Here we go! Time to work our way through the summer we’re back to our Big 12 position rankings. With these posts we give our opinions on each of the offensive and defensive position groups and rank them from first to worst. We only defend our top three and bottom two in the rankings and while we’re sure to say something that’s out of this world crazy it’s also a great way to get football conversations going. So, enjoy and make sure to sound off with your opinions in the comments section below.
This time around the Heartland Sports writers give their take on the pass catchers across the conference, ranking them from first to worst. Then they are asked to defend their top three and bottom two rankings.
The consensus rankings below come from a points system. A first place selection is worth 10 points, second place is 9 points, and they continue in descending order with tenth place equaling 1 point.
Heartland Sports Consensus Pass Catcher Rankings
| RANKING | POINTS |
|---|---|
| 1. Texas | 29 |
| 2. Iowa State | 23 |
| 3. TCU | 21 |
| 4. Oklahoma | 20 |
| 5. Kansas State | 19 |
| 6. West Virginia | 16 |
| 7. Oklahoma State | 14 |
| 8. Texas Tech | 9 |
| 8. Baylor | 9 |
| 10. Kansas | 5 |
Unanimity – If you’ve been following these posts throughout the summer then you won’t be surprised to know that once again there was no unanimous agreement among the three of us.
Almost Agreed – We came really close to Texas being a unanimous #1 but one of us had the Longhorns ranked #2. We were also close to having West Virginia at #7 but one of us thinks way more highly of the Mountaineers than the other two. Baylor and Kansas also came in close as unanimous selections at #10 and #9.
All Over The Place – We gave three separate sets of rankings on five of the ten schools.
Individual Thoughts And Rankings
Craig
1. Texas – The Longhorns have one of the most talented wide receiver duos in college football in Xavier Worthy and Isaiah Neyor. Last season Worthy had 12 touchdowns and nearly 1,000 yards. Neyor transfered in from Buffalo where he recorded 12 touchdowns and 878 yards in his sophomore season. It’s safe to say that Texas will have a couple of weapons in their receiving group.
2. Oklahoma – Oklahoma will rely on Marvin Mims to lead the way in 2022, but he isn’t the only pass catching threat the Sooners have on the roster. He will be accompanied by Theo Wease, Jalil Farooq, and Brayden Willis.
3. Iowa State – The Cyclones make into my top three because of the return of Xavier Hutchinson. He finished second in the Big 12 in receiving yards last season with 987. Iowa State will also look to Darren Wilson Jr. and Jaylin Noel.
4. Baylor
5. Oklahoma State
6. Kansas State
7. West Virginia
8. TCU
9. Texas Tech – Texas Tech will look to replace Erik Ezukanma who caught a majority of the passes for The Red Raiders last season. They’ll need some help from juniors Loic Fouonji and Myles Price if they plan on having much success through the air.
10. Kansas – The Jayhawks are in a similar situation as Texas Tech as they try to replace Kwamie Lassiter who left for the NFL draft. Time to find out who is the next man up in Lawrence.
Zack
1. Texas | The Longhorns have a legit receiving corp, and it’s hard to see anyone else being ranked above them entering this season. They return their top two pass catchers from last season in Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington, and they have added Isaiah Neyor, a transfer who is on the preseason watchlist for the Biletnikoff Award alongside Worthy.
2. Iowa State | The Cyclones tout the top receiver in the conference in Xavier Hutchinson. In just two seasons so far, Hutchinson has hauled in 147 catches for over 1700 yards and 9 touchdowns. Don’t be surprised if he’s a finalist for the Biletnikoff Awards. Oh, and Jaylin Noel is no slouch either. He had an impressive freshman year last season with 39 catches and 269 receiving yards.
3. TCU | The Horned Frogs return their top two receivers in Derius Davis and Quentin Johnston, and Johnston is on the preseason watchlist for the Biletnikoff Award. These two are quite the dynamic duo, and they will be a tough cover for any secondary to face.
4. Kansas State
5. Oklahoma
6. Oklahoma State
7. West Virginia
8. Texas Tech
9. Kansas | The Jayhawks bring back some experience, but they haven’t had an efficient offense in years. I wouldn’t expect these guys to do too much to impress.
10. Baylor | Reigning Big 12 Champs or not, the Bears come in at the bottom of my receiver rankings due to their inexperience. Gavin Holmes is a senior who has started a handful of games, but he’s coming off a second missed season due to injury, and this is definitely the area where the Bears are likely to struggle, at least to start the season.
Matt
1. TCU | I know that I’ll be going against the grain here are little bit because Texas is widely viewed as the top receiving corps in the Big 12. However, TCU has more proven depth in my opinion. Led by Quentin Johnson (634 yards, 6 TDs, 19.2 YPC) the Frogs have three pass catchers who ranked in the Top 16 in the Big 12 when it came to receiving in 2021. Johnson was #4, Derius Davis was #16, and Taye Barber was #17.
2. Texas | I have no problems giving the Longhorns their due. Xavier Worthy is the Big 12’s leading returning receiver and the only pass catcher returning who produced over a thousand yards last season (1,081 yards, 15 TDs). He’ll be complimented by Jordan Whittington who was 11th in the Big 12 last season in receiving.
3. West Virginia | Bryce Ford Wheaton was knocking on the door of the Top 10 in the Big 12 receiving stats (575 yards, 13.7 YPC) and will be looking for bigger and better in 2022. He’ll have Sam James opposite of him to draw some of the attention away.
4. Kansas State
5. Iowa State
6. Oklahoma
7. Texas Tech
8. Oklahoma State
9. Kansas | Luke Grimm is a good building block for KU but the Jayhawks are going to need to find him some help, and do so rather quickly.
10. Baylor | The Bears are the only team not to return a pass catcher who was in the Top 25 in receiving stats among Big 12 players in 2021.
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