30 best college football wide receivers of the 21st century

2. Michael Crabtree – Texas Tech Red Raiders

Michael Crabtree sits between Wes Welker and Jakeem Grant for most receiving yards in Texas Tech history. Both those players played for four seasons. Crabtree played for two. It’s wild to think that Texas recruited him but lost him because they refused to let him play offense. They ended up paying for it, as he led the Red Raiders to their second win against Texas as a ranked opponent in the 90-year history of the rivalry.

Texas Tech was 7th in the country and Texas was the number 1 team in all the land. Crabtree had 127 yards and a touchdown. The only catch that mattered came at the end. With mere seconds left, Crabtree caught a ball in double coverage near the sideline, shook off two defenders and ran it into the endzone to give the Red Raiders a 39-33 win.

That game was a legacy builder for Crabtree. His Red Raiders were ranked second in the nation before a late-season loss to Oklahoma. That was his second year. His first year was somehow even better. That’s right, he had one of the best receiving seasons of all time in his first season in college football.

In his redshirt freshman season, he had 1,962 yards (3rd all-time for any player), 22 touchdowns (6th all-time) and he added 128 receptions. It’s the best freshman season of any receiver ever. He dealt with some injuries during his sophomore season, but he was still incredible. Crabtree’s college performance will always be considered one of the best of all time.

He’s the other player to win the Biletnikoff twice. Texas Tech has never won more than the 20 games in a two-year span that they won with Crabtree in the lineup. It’s hard to find a more impactful freshman outside the quarterback position. It’s even harder to find a wide receiver that impacted a program as much as Crabtree did. That’s what makes him the best wide receiver of this generation.