Wyatt Young: The Most Underrated WR in College Football
Young dominated for North Texas in 2025. Now, he joins his quarterback at Oklahoma State, and should be on every Biletnikoff Award watchlist.
It’s crazy to suggest that the nation’s third-leading receiver in 2025 is underrated, but the world hasn’t fully discovered Wyatt Young. Young, a former three-star recruit, received precisely one Power-4 offer (Arizona) as a recruit in 2024. He racked up some Group of Five offers before landing at North Texas. A slow true freshman season kept him off everyone’s radar, but he was genuinely one of the best wideouts in the country as a sophomore in 2025. His 1,264 yards trailed only Danny Scudero and Skyler Bell (yes, he had more yards than Jeremiah Smith), his 10 touchdowns tied for 10th in the country, and, among players with at least 31 targets, he led the country with 3.69 yards per route run. His 11.0 yards after the catch per reception were fourth in the country, and he trailed only Malachi Toney in forcing missed tackles.
He was dominant. Now, he heads to Oklahoma State with his former teammate and coach (Drew Mestemaker and Eric Morris), hoping to build on his dominance. Only this time, he’ll be playing at the Power-4 level, working against a stronger collection of defensive backs, and testing his ability to impact the ceiling of the Cowboys’ offense.
I think he’s a borderline first-round pick with an elite array of skills that translate perfectly to today’s NFL. Here’s why.
Superpower: Creating Yards
While Young is an excellent route runner, has a great feel for zone coverage, and has strong, attacking hands, his No. 1 superpower is creating after the catch. His feel for leverage when tacklers are oncoming is that of some of the NFL’s best wideouts. Subtle movements put defenders in the blender, and his explosive lateral agility makes him more than just a one-trick pony as a yards-creator.
Catching this ball over the middle is impressive enough, but his spatial awareness in setting up the juke to get to the outside is special. He’s constantly pressing defenders one way before exploding in the opposite direction.
This is a much more subtle example, but it’s skillful, nonetheless. Angling his shoulders to the inside keeps the defender from attacking the sideline, and a short burst puts him in the end zone. This play results in a tackle short of the goal line for many wideouts, but Young has an excellent feel for where he is on the field. He often moves like a running back with the ball in his hands, which isn’t shocking considering how he was utilized in high school (he totaled just over 800 receiving yards, but had more than 2000 rushing yards).
While this play shows off his feel for finding the gaps in zone coverage, it also displays his high IQ. Most players turn vertically upfield, giving the safety an angle and bringing the player down for maybe five or six extra yards. Young seemingly understands where the safety help is coming from here and begins darting at a 45-degree angle toward the sideline into open space. He breaks the tackle from the safety and gains an additional 12 yards after that. Creating yards is a skill, and Young is one of the best in the country at it.
Kryptonite: Physicality
Young spent the majority of his time as a slot receiver in 2025, largely due to the scheme. Still, at 6’0 and 195 pounds, some of his reps against cornerbacks with strong upper bodies were concerning. Too often, Young is just off balance enough to get pushed off his stem, and all it takes is a zone chuck to get him on the ground. While there were times he kept his footing, those reps were essentially pointless because his lack of strength threw off the play's timing.
On top of that problem, Young just didn’t see much press-man coverage in 2025. The most interesting part of his evaluation is that he’s actually quite efficient against press when he sees it, provided he can use his footwork to get around and stack the cornerback. As soon as hands are on him, he starts having the same problems he does when hands are on him downfield. However, there’s enough to work with against press to feel optimistic about his continued development. He’s not a small slot receiver with no shot to dominate from the outside, though his skill set is probably still best used out of slot alignments.
