Rivals.com – How things stand with the top 10 WRs, TEs in the 2025 class
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With the 2024 recruiting class in the books, we turn our complete focus to 2025 and beyond. Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney is taking a look at the recruitments of the top 10 players by position in 2025. Next up are the wide receivers and tight ends.
1. DAKORIEN MOORE
LSU scored a massive win in August when the five-star receiver from Duncanville, Texas, committed to the Tigers over Texas, Oklahoma, USC and others. With five-star Ryan Williams reclassifying to 2024, Moore is the No. 1 receiver in the class and is still being heavily pursued especially by the Longhorns.
The five-star has shown no signs of flipping and his only planned visit so far in the spring is back to LSU next month. But Texas is not going to give up – especially with Duncanville teammate Colin Simmons playing there – so it will be something to monitor. Still, maybe nothing could outweigh LSU’s receiver history when it comes to luring Moore.
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2.
WINSTON WATKINS JR.
Following early commitments to Texas A&M and Colorado, the five-star receiver is back on the market and it looks like he could take his time making his next decision. The Naples (Fla.) First Baptist Academy standout is supremely talented and electric with the ball in his hands and that’s why so many programs are back after him.
New coaching staffs at Syracuse and Indiana are trying to make a splash with Watkins while Ohio State, Texas, Florida, Oregon and others are involved.
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3.
CALEB CUNNINGHAM
Ole Miss, LSU, Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, Miami, Florida and Texas A&M will all get visits from the athletic four-star receiver but the feeling is that another program right now has the edge in his recruitment.
The Ackerman (Miss.) Choctaw County standout lives about 30 minutes from Mississippi State and the Bulldogs are loaded up at receiver in the 2024 class. Cunningham is close to his family so playing down the road could be a draw in coach Jeff Lebby’s offense.
More high-profile SEC programs will be a factor, but Mississippi State will be right in there.
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4.
JAIME FFRENCH
Ffrench was committed to Alabama but after coach Nick Saban retired, the four-star from Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin reopened his recruitment and now it looks like a two-team race between the two programs that finished second and third earlier in his recruitment.
Ohio State definitely appeals to Ffrench because of the receiver history plus some former South Florida Express teammates are there. But there is also a major draw to just driving across Interstate 10 to Tallahassee and playing a few hours away at Florida State.
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5.
DALLAS WILSON
Florida State, Florida, Auburn and Clemson are all trying to flip the four-star Oregon commit from Tampa (Fla.) Tampa Bay Tech but the biggest threat to the Ducks could be Miami. The Hurricanes’ coaching staff is making Wilson a major priority and a recent visit to Coral Gables impressed him a few weeks ago.
Wilson committed to Oregon in January but several programs are after him, so it will take a lot of effort to keep the Ducks on top.
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6.
TALYN TAYLOR
Notre Dame and Georgia are battling it out for the four-star receiver from Geneva, Ill., although Wisconsin could be a sneaky contender in his recruitment as well, especially since the Badgers are moving to a more pass-happy offense.
Still, Taylor has been drawn to Notre Dame for a long while and the Irish continue to pursue him. There is definite intrigue in the Bulldogs, though. He loved his visit to Athens and the big-time feel around the program.
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7.
ANDREW MARSH
There are still a lot of teams in the mix with Marsh as he takes visits, sees a ton of programs and hasn’t seriously narrowed anything down yet.
Texas is going to play a huge role in his recruitment with Texas A&M, Oklahoma, LSU and others. Being close to his mom could play a major factor for the Katy (Texas) Jordan four-star so those schools have to like their chances.
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8.
ELYISS WILLIAMS
The Kingsland (Ga.) Camden County four-star tight end – who could end up a Darnell Washington clone – has been committed to Georgia since April and the Bulldogs continue to make him a top priority in their 2025 class.
But Florida State has not backed down in trying to flip Williams and there has been significant interest from the four-star to get back to Tallahassee often.
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9.
CAMERON SPARKS
There are many other programs involved with the two-way standout from Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor School and numerous SEC programs are in the mix, including Georgia.
But it would be a surprise if Sparks – who draws comparisons with JuJu Smith-Schuster – doesn’t end up at Tennessee. The Vols have made him a top priority in this class, he has said great things about the program and it looks like he could be headed to Knoxville.
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10.
NAESHAUN MONTGOMERY
Months ago, the Miami (Fla.) Central four-star said LSU could be tough to beat in his recruitment and the Tigers remain a major contender. However, it now looks like Miami could be in the best shape to land him.
The Hurricanes have come on strong in recent months for the local standout, especially as they put together a top 2024 class and look poised for big things ahead.
LSU, USC and Georgia are others to watch but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Montgomery ended up down the road at The U.
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