Who are the best returning Pac-12 receivers? The Pac-12 has a lot of questions about its future as a conference. What is not a question is the talent at wide receiver in the conference. This is despite losing talented players like Drake London, Calvin Johnson Jr., Travell Harris, and many more. The conference will see an influx of new players at the position because of the transfer portal, but there are plenty of great players returning as well. Here at Last Word on College Football, we continue looking at the best returning players in college football for the 2022 season. Today we breakdown the best returning Pac-12 wide receivers.
Best Returning Pac-12 Receivers
#3: Tahj Washington, USC
The USC Trojans will be loaded at wide receiver this season. A big part of that is Lincoln Riley bringing in the talents of Mario Williams (Oklahoma), Brenden Rice (Colorado), and Terrell Bynum (Washington) by way of the transfer portal. Tahj Washington is one of the few returning skill position players on the team. He will be a great weapon for new quarterback Caleb Williams to take advantage of. In 2021, Washington was sixth in the Pac-12 with 54 receptions. He was the second leading receiver for the Trojans with 602 yards behind London. He only found the end zone once though. This was after scoring six touchdowns in 2020 as a member of the Memphis Tigers. In Riley’s offense, Washington could return to the big-play form he showed at Memphis. During that season he averaged 17.3 yards per catch, but the numbers dipped last season to just 11.1. Perhaps his best performance of 2021 was in a 41-34 victory over Arizona on October 30th. In that contest, he had eight receptions for 87 yards.
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#2: De’Zhaun Stribling, Washington State
With so many big names gone from the conference, it will be a good opportunity for new stars to shine. Look for De’Zhaun Stribling to be one of those players. He led all Pac-12 freshmen in the most important statistics at the position. Last season he caught 44 passes for 471 yards and five touchdowns. The five scores were tied for eighth in the conference. He showed his great ability early in the season against the Utah Utes. Despite a 13-24 loss, Stribling caught six passes for 93 yards and one touchdown. The Cougars are welcoming in a new quarterback Cameron Ward. The new signal caller comes in with much anticipation after putting up video game numbers at the FCS level with Incarnate Word. He is coming off a season throwing 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns. This is a major step-up in competition and having a receiver like Stribling will help ease the transition.
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#1: Gary Bryant Jr, USC
As stated earlier, the USC Trojans are stacked at the wide receiver position. Outside of Washington, the only other returning starter at the position is Gary Bryant Jr. Bryant was second on the team last season with seven touchdown receptions. That number was also tied for fourth in the Pac-12. Seven was also the same number of scores for London last season. The rest of his stats were solid with 44 receptions and 579 yards. He had a yards per catch average of 13.2 as well. Bryant Jr. had a couple of standout games that should make signal-caller Williams smile. In the 41-34 win over Arizona, Bryant Jr. had just three catches for the Trojans. However, he did have 89 yards off of those three receptions and made it to the end zone twice. Late in the season against UCLA, Bryant caught nine passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. That was an impressive performance despite the 62-33 loss.
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