Ranking the 10 best wide receivers in college football for 2021

College football rankings: Top 10 wide receivers of 2021

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 28: Chris Olave #17 of the Ohio State Buckeyes is congratulated by his teammates after his touchdown reception against the Clemson Tigers in the second half during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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Due in no small part to the passing boom in football at large, we have seen an inordinate number of elite wide receivers grace college football with their presence in recent years. Heck, we just watched the first wide receiver in decades win the Heisman Trophy after DeVonta Smith proved to be unstoppable for even SEC or College Football Playoff opponents with Alabama.

Smith is gone, though, and so too are the likes of Rashod Bateman, Elijah Moore, Kadarius Toney, Jaylen Waddle and many, many other highly talented wide receivers. Luckily for college football fans, though, there is another crop of potential stars who are ready to take centerstage and either become stars or become even bigger stars.

Some players like Zay Flowers (Boston College), Jaquarii Roberson (Wake Forest), Calvin Austin III (Memphis) and Xavier Hutchinson (Iowa State), among others, just missed the cut, but we’ve ranked the 10 best wide receivers coming into the 2021 college football season.

10. Justyn Ross, Clemson

Fans outside of South Carolina may have forgotten about Justyn Ross as the Clemson wide receiver was forced to miss the entire 2020 season due to a spinal injury that required serious surgery. His football career seemed in jeopardy but, after a full recovery, he’s ready to retake the field for the Tigers and prove he can still be an elite weapon for young D.J. Uiagalelei.

Playing with Trevor Lawrence in 2018 and 2019, Ross proved to be one of the premier deep threats in college football and put up some monster numbers for a young player. Over 28 career games with Clemson, Ross has hauled in 112 receptions for 1,865 yards (16.7 yards per catch) and has made 17 trips into the end zone.

While Ross may not be a speedster or overly athletic freak at the wide receiver position, his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame combined with surprisingly crisp routes and good footwork at the line of scrimmage allows him to consistently break open downfield in addition to making spectacular catches in traffic.

The fact that Ross is coming back from such a serious injury and that we haven’t seen him on the field in over nearly two years is the only reason he sits at the back-end of the top 10. If he comes back as the player he was prior to his injury, he’s a top-five player at the position in the country.