Monday Measure: Why 2024 could be the year of the freshman wide receiver

The first two weeks of the college football season have shown just how good this crop of freshmen wideouts is. Players like Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams have been the best wideouts at their powerhouse programs, and other freshmen haven't been slouches either.

Smith was the top player in the class of 2024 according to Rivals and has stepped into a loaded Ohio State team and become an immediate star. Granted, the Buckeyes have played Akron and Western Michigan over the past two weeks, but Smith is the only Ohio State player with double-digit catches and multiple touchdowns. After grabbing five passes for 119 yards and a score against the Broncos, the Miami native has 11 catches for 211 yards and three touchdowns through two games.

Williams, meanwhile, is just 17 years old. The Alabama native reclassified to be a part of the 2024 recruiting class and joined the Crimson Tide a year early. Despite his young age, he ranked as the No. 2 receiver in the class behind Smith and has shown gamebreaking speed through his first two college games.

Williams had two catches for 139 yards and two scores in Alabama’s Week 1 blowout against Western Kentucky. Saturday night, Williams had four grabs for 68 yards and helped break the game open in the fourth quarter with a 43-yard TD.

Williams has 207 yards through the first two weeks of the season. No other Alabama player has more than 77 receiving yards.

They aren't the only standouts so far either. Cam Coleman, the No. 3 receiver in the class, had four catches for 115 yards and a score for Auburn, while four-star recruit Ryan Wingo was Texas' leading receiver in Week 1 and had a 55-yard run against Michigan on Saturday. Clemson's Bryant Wesco Jr., also a four-star recruit, had three catches for 130 yards and a TD in the Tigers' blowout win of Appalachian State.

It used to be more common to see freshman running backs make immediate splashes, but the performances we’re seeing from these receivers could be a sign of how football has evolved over the past two decades. As college and professional teams have thrown the ball more frequently, the passing game at the youth level has improved and 7-on-7 football has proliferated. Wide receivers are getting more opportunities to hone their skills at a young age and it’s a much more desirable position for a kid to play.

If the excellence of Smith, Willams and others is part of football’s 2000s shift, what we’re seeing so far may not be an aberration going forward. Star freshman wide receivers could start to become more common.

Boise State is still in the thick of playoff contention

Boise State wasn't eliminated from playoff contention with its 37-34 loss to No. 9 Oregon late Saturday night. In fact, the Broncos might have bolstered their playoff case.

After Liberty went 13-0 against a very weak schedule in 2023 and was subsequently blown out by the Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl, we’re certain the College Football Playoff committee is going to look much more at schedule strength when deciding which Group of Five team will make the expanded postseason this year.

That gives a team like Boise State a big edge. The Broncos went toe-to-toe with the Ducks on Saturday night as RB Ashton Jeanty showed why he’s one of the best running backs in the country. Boise State also played the second half without star safety Alexander Teubner after he was ejected for a targeting penalty.

The Broncos are big favorites to win the Mountain West and if they win the conference at 12-1 or 11-2, the loss to Oregon could be seen as a positive. Liberty has the best chance of any non-power conference team to go undefeated again this season but Conference USA is perhaps the weakest league in the country and the Flames’ best non-conference opponent is Appalachian State, a team that lost 66-20 to Clemson and was down 56-0 in the second quarter.

Missouri pitches back-to-back shutouts

Missouri moved up to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday on the heels of a 38-0 win over Buffalo. The Tigers' victory over the Bulls came after Mizzou beat Murray State 51-0 to start the season. It's the first time a team has posted back-to-back shutouts to open the season since 2019 when Wisconsin shut out Central Michigan and South Florida to begin the year.

The competition hasn’t been stellar, but it’s still a big start for new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon in his first season in Columbia. Mizzou hired Batoon from South Alabama after coordinator Blake Baker went to LSU.

No. 24 Boston College will present a much tougher test in Week 3. The Eagles have run the ball well in the first two games of Bill O’Brien’s tenure and overpowered Florida State’s defensive front in Week 1.