30 best college football wide receivers of the 21st century

17. Dez Bryant – Oklahoma State Cowboys

Dez Bryant is still toiling around the NFL. However, more than ten years ago he was giving Big 12 defenses fits at Oklahoma State. His college career is another example of outside forces ruining what could have been an epic career, but his sophomore season is the stuff of legends.

It’s not often a player becomes at consensus All-American at a skill position while also being named his conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year. That’s what Bryant accomplished in the 2008 season. He had 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns receiving while also recording 305 kick return yards and two touchdowns on just 15 total returns. He also posted a punt return average of 25 yards.

He did this while Oklahoma State faced one of the most insane schedules of all time. At different points of the season, they faced the No. 1 (Texas), 2 (Texas Tech), 3 (Missouri) and 3 (Oklahoma) ranked teams (not a typo, they faced the third-ranked team twice on the season). Bryant faced some of the best competition any top wide receiver could face.

He went into his junior year as the best wide receiver in football. Bryant was absolutely untouchable, but he was ruled ineligible after just three games. There was a transaction with former NFL great Deion Sanders that ended his college eligibility on the spot. He started that season with a two-touchdown performance against then-13th ranked Georgia. His last college game ended up being a 161-yard and two-touchdown performance against Rice.

Bryant was expected to be so much more. Getting All-American status as a sophomore showed his junior season could have been Heisman worthy. NCAA sanctions derailed his college career. That hurts his legacy overall.