The spring practice schedule is getting underway across college football, so now is the time to do a hard reset on depth charts and player rankings. We'll be spending the coming weeks looking at the top teams, biggest questions that need to be answered and position battles of note. But it's also important for us to establish a starting position as the next wave of stars step into college football's spotlight.
Ole Miss got the conversation started, actually, when they shared a social media video boasting quarterback Jaxson Dart and wide receiver Tre Harris as the best returning quarterback-wide receiver duo in college football. That got us thinking: With all the quarterback and wide receiver talent that's now gone to the NFL Draft, who are the best duos heading into 2024?
There are some cases where identifying a duo is difficult at this stage in the offseason because we have questions about a position group and how things will sort out. There is a ton of buzz around Drew Allar's Year 2 at Penn State after the hire of Andy Kotlenicki as offensive coordinator, Nico Iamaleava getting the reins of the Tennessee offense after flashing in the Volunteers' bowl win and what Riley Leonard might be able to bring to the Notre Dame offense now led by coordinator Mike Denbrock. But, in each of those cases, the wide receiver battle is a key spring practice question to be answered and thus makes it difficult to pick out candidates for a star duo. You can make a similar arguments for the cases at Alabama, Clemson, Texas A&M and Utah, where the presence of a returning starter gives some level of confidence yet there's more to learn before we can zero in on our expectations.
That's not to say we didn't have to incorporate a good amount of projection for this list. Half of the duos highlighted involve at least one transfer and several include new starters at quarterback. But given what we've seen and heard so far, here's our outlook for the 10 best quarterback-wide receiver duos in college football heading into 2024
Best QB-WR duos for 2024
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| Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan: Some of the duos listed here involve projection on the part of the quarterback or wide receiver. But like Dart and Harris at Ole Miss or Brady Cook and Luther Burden at Missouri, we know what things look like when this pair is in sync. Fifita took hold of the QB1 duties in late September last season and connected specifically with McMillan for 6+ receptions in eight of the final nine games, contributing to more than 1,000 of his 1,402 receiving yards on the season. The former high school teammates had an opportunity to transfer after former coach Jedd Fisch bolted for Washington, but both reaffirmed their commitment to Arizona in the wake of Brent Brennan's hire. Now they're the engine driving Arizona's offense into the program's Big 12 era. If we see a full season of the production the pair provided in 2023, the Wildcats should be in the conversation for a spot in the Big 12 title game by the time we get to November. | |
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| Carson Beck and Dillon Bell: Though there is not an established go-to guy among Georgia's pass catchers in the wake of Brock Bowers' departure, Beck's performance in Year 1 as starting QB sets up for someone to emerge in that role. All the talk of a Georgia three-peat and the Bulldog fatigue left many fans overlooking a passing attack -- and an offense in general -- that transformed with Beck's ascension. The 2023 season was the first since 2013 that Georgia averaged more than 300 passing yards per game (305.3), a figure that was second only to LSU in the SEC. The offense as a whole ranked in the top five nationally in yards per game (496.5) and yards per play (7.26) yet rarely got mentioned alongside their peers in those categories for having one of the best offenses in the country. If Beck can stay on course, look for Bell to emerge as a new star for the Bulldogs. Bell is a multi-purpose threat who got moved all around the offense in his sophomore season, where he showed not only unique athleticism but the ability to make tough catches against quality competition. | |
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| Garrett Nussmeier and Kyren Lacy: With Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas all in the mix for first-round spots, the LSU offense has gotten a lot of attention during this NFL Draft cycle. One thing Cover 3 Podcast co-host Tom Fornelli (who has his most recent mock draft here) has pointed out is how impressive Lacy looks on tape. Lacy arrived at LSU prior to 2022 with three years of eligibility, and he has chosen to use his fifth year leading the Tigers' wide receiver room. Lacy started the final nine games of the 2023 season, had two 100-yard performances and showed out in the bowl game against Wisconsin with Garrett Nussmeier starting in place of Daniels. The positivity for Nussmeier's outlook as he steps into shoes of a Heisman Trophy winner comes from those who've been around LSU and often noted his readiness to take the next step. Now, Nussmeier's moment has come, and he not only has Lacy but Liberty transfer CJ Daniels as well as a handful of talented younger options to fill out what should be another big year for the LSU offense. | |
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| Cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo: Ward spurning the NFL Draft and landing with Miami has dramatically changed the outlook for the ACC title race. Mario Cristobal is heading into Year 3 with expectations of significant progress, and though his recruiting efforts have built up the lines of scrimmage to levels that rank among the best in the conference, the Hurricanes were lacking in game-changing talent at quarterback. Enter Ward, who transfers in after totaling 61 touchdowns (48 passing, 13 rushing) in two seasons with Washington State, which followed his electric debut at the FCS level with Incarnate Word where he was the player of the year in the Southland Conference. Picking Restrepo as his partner the QB-WR duo was fairly simple; the fourth-year junior is coming off one of the best seasons by a wide receiver in Miami history. Restrepo set a single-season program record with 85 receptions and recorded only the sixth 1,000-yard receiving season in Miami history (1,092). But, aside from his All-ACC bonafides, Restrepo often does his damage as a high-volume inside receiver. Last season, Ward was often connecting with slot receiver Lincoln Victor at Washington State, doing so 89 times while no other Cougars pass catcher had more than 61 receptions. | |
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| Jaxson Dart and Tre Harris: The pair who kickstarted this conversation do in fact deserve a spot among the best quarterback-wide receiver duos for 2024. Dart had the second-best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the SEC (23 touchdowns, five interceptions) beyond only Heisman winner Jayden Daniels, and Harris is one of just two returning players in the entire conference to total at least 900 receiving yards in 2023. A transfer from Louisiana Tech prior to last season, Harris exploded in some of Ole Miss' biggest games with eight catches for 153 yards in a five-point win against LSU and 11 catches for 213 yards in a three-point win against Texas A&M. Dart also brings plenty of his own buzz after showing marked year-over-year improvement from 2022 to 2023, and could now could be shaping up for his best season yet in Year 3 as starter. | |
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| Brady Cook and Luther Burden: The secret sauce of Missouri's offense during last season's Cotton Bowl run might have been running back Cody Schrader, but Cook and Burden were just as productive as one of the top QB-WR duos in 2023. Burden was one of just 10 players to finish the year with at least 1,200 receiving yards, and if he had been able to maintain his blistering pace from the start of the year (seven-plus receptions and 96+ receiving yards in each of the first six games), it could have been even more. Cook also is coming off his best season as a Tiger, ranking third in the SEC in total offense (279.69 yards per game), and now the St. Louis native has a chance to cap his college career with another impressive campaign thanks in part to his connection with Burden. | |
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| Will Howard and Emeka Egbuka: Both the quarterback and wide receiver positions are loaded with talent at Ohio State, so there's always the potential that we see a young star emerge, but we're siding with seniority here. Howard had 27 starts across four seasons of action with Kansas State, helping guide the Wildcats to a Big 12 title in 2022 and picking up All-Big 12 honors in 2023. If Ryan Day does indeed pick Howard, he'll enjoy the spoils of the country's top collection of pass catchers. While breakout candidate Carnell Tate or potential Day 1 freshman starter Jeremiah Smith raise the ceiling for what the Buckeyes could be, there's an extremely high floor thanks to Egbuka, who played a key role in Ohio State's run to the College Football Playoff in 2022. A midseason ankle injury dampened his production last season, so with a full recovery behind him, the expectation is for Egbuka to be a reliable option as the offense gets used to having a new coordinator (Chip Kelly) and new starting quarterback (Howard ... we think). | |
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| Jackson Arnold and Deion Burks: This one features a good bit of projection as Arnold has mostly shown us one disjointed bowl start and Burks arrives as a transfer from Purdue. Burks was named second team All-Big Ten by the coaches after a strong 2023 showing, and Arnold's ceiling combined with Oklahoma's offense suggests these two will be quite productive in 2024. Arnold threw for 361 yards and two touchdowns against Arizona in the Alamo Bowl, but he also threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and completed just 57.8% of his passes. The former five-star prospect showed the arm talent and mobility that made him such a coveted recruit, and if maturity and development has him tightening up on the mistakes, he'll be leading one of the top passing attacks in the SEC. Burks plays a key role in that prediction; the explosive wideout should be a nice compliment to Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony with his speed and ability to stretch the field. | |
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| Dillon Gabriel and Evan Stewart: In his first season as Ducks offensive coordinator, Will Stein set up an offense that allowed Bo Nix to have a historic completion percentage (77.4%) while also producing two 1,000-yard receivers for a program that had not seen a single player accomplish that feat since 2018. Nix excelled at getting the ball out quickly, hitting his receivers in stride and allowing them to create explosive plays in the rhythm of an aggressive offensive attack. All of that sets up well for Gabriel, whose experience leading the offenses at UCF and Oklahoma makes for an easy style fit. Stewart, the former five-star prospect transferring in from Texas A&M, flashed as a freshman in 2022 en route to All-SEC honors. Nagging injuries limited his contributions last season, however. 247Sports had him as the No. 1 wide receiver in the transfer portal with a 98 score and five-star rating, so if his talent combines with the proven production of Oregon's offense, these two are going to make a splash in Year 1 of Big Ten play. | |
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| Quinn Ewers and Isaiah Bond: The exits of Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington, JT Sanders and even Jonathan Brooks leave a ton of receiving production to be replaced heading into 2024, but Steve Sarkisian and his staff made sure that Ewers won't be without capable options. Portal pickups Silas Bolden from Oregon State and Matthew Golden from Houston help provide speed options that can help on offense and special teams, and this was a group already loaded with athleticism from players like sophomore Johntay Cook and freshman Ryan Wingo. But we're projecting Isaiah Bond, Alabama's leader in receptions last season, as the one to note. After a bumpy start to the season for the Tide's passing attack, Bond was a big part of the in-season turnaround that sparked an SEC Championship run. The proposition for this exercise at Texas is much like it is for Ohio State: We're really highlighting the entire wide receiver room because there's so much talent that it's far-fetched to omit the group from any conversation highlighting excellence at the position. | |
Others receiving votes: DJ Uiagalelei and Hykeem Williams (Florida State), Grayson McCall and KC Concepcion (NC State), Miller Moss and Zachariah Branch (USC)
