Texas football has most productive returning WR corps in Big 12

The best position group for Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian heading into the 2023 season is wide receiver. Texas has the deepest and most talented wide receiver room in the three years Sark has been on campus. This wide receiver group is arguably the best in the last decade on the Forty Acres.

Sark should be able to really open up the offense with the abundance of skill weapons that Texas has on the roster that can stretch the field, grab those tough contested 50/50 balls on the boundary, and make things happen in space after the catch.

Texas has multiple NFL-caliber wide receivers on the roster this year, including junior Xavier Worthy, redshirt junior Isaiah Neyor, junior AD Mitchell, true freshman Johntay Cook II, and redshirt senior Jordan Whittington, among others that could develop into top talents at the position. Mitchell, Neyor, and Worthy could be first-round NFL Draft picks in the next couple of years if they have big seasons this fall.

Led by Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell, Texas football has best WR room in the Big 12 in 2023

Texas has a wideout group easily capable of being the best in the Big 12 this season as long as redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers effectively spreads the ball around the field. If Ewers can make that leap to become one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 12 this season, the sky is the limit for this offense.

Thanks in large part to the vast amount of skill weapons Ewers has at his disposal this year, Texas should have the best offense in the Big 12. Not only is this group of Longhorns’ receivers deep and talented, but they also have a lot of proven production at the collegiate level.

Including starting tight end, All-Big 12 junior JT Sanders, Texas has the most productive returning receiving corps in the Big 12 in almost every significant stat category in 2023. Among the top five returning receivers in the projected two-deep and the top tight end, Texas has the most returning production in four major stat categories in the conference this year.

We aggregated the career numbers from the top five returning wideouts and the top tight end on each Big 12 team’s projected two-deep depth chart heading into the fall in five major stat categories.

Of those five major receiver stat categories, Texas has the most returning receiver production in the Big 12 in receptions, receiving yards, yards after the catch, and contested catches. The only stat that Texas doesn’t lead in is receiving touchdowns.

The BYU Cougars led in that category by a measly margin of one touchdown catch over the Longhorns.

Here are the five receivers and the tight end we used for this returning production comp for the Longhorns.

• Xavier Worthy
• AD Mitchell
• Jordan Whittington
• Isaiah Neyor
• Johntay Cook II
• TE: JT Sanders

As a side note, it’s crazy that Texas could lead all these stat categories while one of the wideouts in the top five (Cook) is a true freshman.

Worthy and Whittington and two of the most proven receivers in the Big 12

Worthy leads the way for the Longhorns as the wideout that has the most career receiving yards (1,741), touchdowns (21), and yards after the catch (850) amid the top group at the position. He also leads all Big 12 returning wide receivers in 2023 in career yards after the catch.

If Worthy remains healthy this fall, his proven production shows that he’s bound to have a big-time bounce-back season for the Longhorns.

Whittington will also be a huge part of the offense this fall if he stays healthy for the second season. He showed what he could do when fully healthy for an entire season last fall, as Whittington registered a career-best 50 catches for more than 650 yards and one touchdown.

And with Whittington set to move back to his best and most natural position at wideout, out of the slot, full-time this fall, he’ll be a big weapon for Ewers in the passing game working the middle of the field.

Ewers has more help on the outside than last season

Texas unquestionably has the best top two at boundary receiver in the Big 12 this year in Neyor and Mitchell. Ewers has two big receivers on the outside with enormous catch radiuses that can go up and get those contested 50/50 balls.

That was missing from the offense last fall, as boundary receiver was a revolving door for the Longhorns after Neyor suffered an unfortunate season-ending knee injury in fall camp.

Neyor leads all Texas wideouts in career contested catches at 17. And Mitchell has nine under his belt in his career, despite only playing a season and a half with the Georgia Bulldogs due to lingering injury issues last fall.

Texas’ WR corps goes deeper than five top players

The returning production numbers aggregated for this ranking involved the top five returning receivers in each Big 12 team’s projected two-deep and the most productive tight end.

However, what separates Texas’ receiving corps from the rest of the Big 12 in an even more pronounced way is that the Longhorns’ WR room goes way more than five deep. While most of the teams in the Big 12 this year had trouble fielding five or six quality receivers on the roster, Texas has seven or eight that can all impact the passing game this fall.

Other talented wideouts such as true freshman DeAndre Moore Jr., redshirt sophomore Casey Cain, and maybe even true freshman Ryan Niblett can be quality contributors at wideout this fall for Texas.

Top-to-bottom, Texas has the best and most proven receiving corps in the Big 12. That should go a long way to helping Sark, Ewers, and the Longhorns elevate this offense to new heights compared to last season.