Ranking the Pac-12’s best wide receivers heading into the 2023 season

The Pac-12 is home to some of the best QBs in the nation this season. It’s also home to some of the best WRs in the nation as well. We ranked the best of the best.

When looking ahead to the 2023 college football season, specifically in the Pac-12 Conference, it’s almost impossible to not start out with the quarterback play that we are expecting to see. Between USC’s Caleb Williams, Oregon’s Bo Nix, and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., you have three of the players with the best odds to win the Heisman Trophy.

On top of that, you’ve got Oregon State’s D.J. Uiagalelei expecting big things in Corvallis, while Cam Rising looks to finish his Utah career on a high note, and Washington State’s Cameron Ward is looking to take another step forward up in Pullman.

While the QB play is certainly strong, the guys have to have someone to throw to in order to reach their full potential. Fortunately for the top guys on our list of Pac-12 quarterbacks, some of the best wide receivers in the nation are right alongside them, ready to put up big numbers.

So who is the best of the best when we’re looking at pass-catchers out west? That’s something we wanted to find out.

To help develop the rankings, I looked at career TDs, career yards, average touchdowns per game, and average yards per game. Obviously, it’s too early to put any true or incoming freshmen on the list, so while guys like Oregon’s Jurrion Dickey and USC’s Zachariah Branch could eventually find their way onto the list, they will have to prove it first.

While the metrics I used may be weighted a bit towards veteran players with more accumulated stats, the per-game averages allowed a handful of young guys to skyrocket up the list.

After looking at past production, offseason changes — whether it be personnel or coaching — and QB combinations, we’ve got a definitive ranking of the top WRs in the Pac-12.

Take a look.

Troy Franklin one of 7 returning Pac-12 WRs ranked among top 25

Of the 25 best returning WRs in 2023, seven play in the Pac-12. Oregon’s Troy Franklin is one of those seven.

It’s no secret that the Pac-12 conference is going to be highly competitive in 2023, with an insanely stacked lineup of veteran quarterbacks taking the stage to go at it out west.

With guys like Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Michael Penix, Cam Rising, and Cameron Ward all returning for another season, there’s a good chance that the Pac-12 is among the best conferences in the nation. Of course, when you add in the fact that all of those quarterbacks will have some incredibly talented wide receivers to throw to as well, it makes it almost unfair.

This past week, 247Sports went through and ranked the top 25 returning wide receivers in college football for the 2023 season. Amazingly, seven of the top 25 all resided in the Pac-12. Here is the breakdown from all Power 5 conferences:

  • SEC — 8
  • Pac-12 — 7
  • Big Ten — 4
  • ACC — 3
  • Big 12 — 1
  • Other — 2

Here are all of the Pac-12 receivers who made the cut: