2026Q1: WRs
Let's discuss WRs.
I float like a ghost when I ride.
- Gunna, musician
*The scoring system I’m referring to is full PPR.
Jeremiah Smith (OSU) — It can be either Malachi Toney or Smith at the top spot as far as I’m concerned. Smith just feels that bit more locked in to have a good season compared to Toney because we have more data points on the former five star, but we’re talking marginal differences here. Interestingly, both players hail from high schools that are essentially a 20 minute drive from each other: Chaminade Madonna Prep for Smith, and American Heritage for Toney. It’s just different in Florida, what can I say?
Malachi Toney (MIA) — As mentioned above, Toney and Smith are interchangeable here. In Smith's case, there is an OC change, but we've also seen him dominate for two seasons straight, and this is his (likely) final year of collegiate football making it a consequential campaign. In Toney's case, he holds a historically lucrative position in Shannon Dawson's slot receiver role in the offence. Well, there isn't much to say that the audience doesn't already know. Both players are excellent options.
Easton Messer (FAU) — Similar to Dawson’s, we know Kittley’s offensive system is typically a lucrative one for the slot receiver. Messer is one of four WRs returning to the same team who averaged 20+ PPG last season. Two of the others are listed above, and the only other player who is returning to CFB but not to the same team is Danny Scudero, who we’ll talk about later. Again, there isn’t much to say about Messer at this point that the reader doesn’t already know.
Beau Sparks (TXST) — Sparks is the fourth of the aforementioned 20+ PPG WRs returning to the same team in 2026, so naturally I think this is an appropriate spot to rank him. Of course, we are ranking with the future in mind, not ranking players based on 2025, but at this juncture in the offseason it's probably a good idea to just default to who the highest scorers were a season ago, at least, at the top end. As future iterations of this article are released, there will be some shakeup.
Amare Thomas (HOU) — Originally, I wasn't high on Thomas' move to Houston given that he'd be participating in the typically anemic Willie Fritz/Slade Nagle WR system, but he bucked the trend in 2025 finishing the season at 18 PPG. Now, both he and his QB return for 2026, and so do both the play callers (HC & OC). They did bring in Trent Walker from Oregon State, so he might commandeer a significant role in the team target share, along with others. Thomas was a TD magnet in 2025, and that bolstered his numbers. Was it by design? Or just coincidence? Probably something in between. TD production becomes a concern when it doesn't have the matching input volume; in Amare's case, he had the corresponding target share in 2025, and he'll (probably) have it again in 2026.
KJ Duff (RU) — Duff is the beneficiary of RU's WR room clearing out around him, namely Ian Strong's transfer to Cal. Even with Strong in the lineup, Duff finished 2025 with over 17 PPG averaged, which is pretty great if you ask me. It would once be something bordering on heresy to suggest RU receivers are valuable in CFF, but they've done a complete 180 over the past few seasons and so here we are. The QB from the previous three seasons is moving on, however, which introduces some uncertainty. Still, I like the Duff-man to continue the trend of RU receivers being cool in CFF.
Isaiah Sategna (OU) — The logic here is clear: OU’s OC Ben Arbuckle traditionally emphasizes the slot receiver role in his system, and the prevailing wisdom is that Sategna will be that player in 2026. I believe Sategna already operated in that role last season when he saw 109 targets. If that wasn’t the case, then the target volume is even more impressive. Add in Deion Burks moving on, and a returning QB, this is an easy top WR rank for me.
Cam Coleman (TEX) — I may be higher on Coleman than the general CFF cognoscenti this offseason. The fact that Texas were as aggressive as they were signals a want and perhaps a need that they identified at WR. They also let several players walk out the door, again signalling dissatisfaction with the 2025 room. Ryan Wingo returns, but I don’t think he’s a better player than Coleman, who was not far off from Jeremiah Smith from a ratings perspective coming out of high school. One of those two players chose wisely in terms of an offensive system to feature his skillset, the other, Coleman, has been grossly misused in his first two years of CFB. That’s probably going to change this fall—lest we forget that the last heisman winning WR played under Steve Sarkisan as OC at Alabama. I don’t know if Coleman can monopolize the offensive share as much as Devonta Smith did, but I do view him as the favourite to be WR1 at Texas.
Chris Dawn (TXST) — Like his teammate Sparks, Dawn returns to Texas State for another year of carnage with QB Brad Jackson at the helm. It’s kind of a miracle that the Bobcats retained all three if you really think about it. Anyways, when I look at Dawn I feel like he’s a safe pick to at least average around 14-16 PPG this upcoming season given that he did that last year and not a lot has really changed. There’s also always the possibility that he usurps Sparks this season but given that he was WR2 in 2025, I’m defaulting to that ordering for 2026.
Jordan Dwyer (TCU) — Dwyer was already pretty good last year even with another player hogging a lot of target share (and EMac has since left). The QB will be different, so that’s something that is changing, but Dwyer appears to be another receiver around this range who is a safe bet to at least net around 15 PPG like he did last year. Incoming from Harvard is QB Jaden Craig, who threw for nearly 3000 yards and 25 TDs in 11 games at the FCS level last year, and he offers little to no value in the run game. Thus, he is a very similar commodity to the previous QB, Josh Hoover, who is now at IU. WR Terry Shelton is a player who is getting some buzz in camp, so this is probably a good time to say that it’s always possible Dwyer stays in his role, and someone else ascends into WR1.
SleeperCFB@SleeperCFBTCU WR Terry Shelton will be a guy to watch in 2026 🐸6:13 PM · Mar 26, 2026 · 8.49K Views8 Reposts · 58 LikesNick Marsh (IU) — It felt like Marsh was being held back at his previous stop (Michigan State), and now he's upgraded his situation significantly, at least, on paper. At QB is the aforementioned Josh Hoover from TCU, at IU returns Charlie Becker and also brings in former Alabama/Tulane receiver Shazz Preston. In the mind of this writer, Becker and Marsh easily stand out as the most compelling options and the most likely to be the top two receivers next year. I don't feel too strongly about having Marsh over Becker; with the current level of info we have it's hard to discern between them, but Marsh seems like the better overall talent, so I'll give him the nod for now. Bonus points: he showed up to practice with gold cleats and got his ass ripped by Cignetti. We're off to a good start.
Jared Kelly@Jared_Kelly7Indiana WR Nick Marsh wore gold cleats to IU's first spring camp session. Curt Cignetti was not pleased to see that. "He learned what getting your ass ripped is all about. I don't know if that happened to him very often at Michigan State." #iufb4:16 PM · Mar 26, 2026 · 1.94M Views215 Replies · 507 Reposts · 14.2K Likes
