West Spotlight: Superlatives for the region's top WRs
The West region is loaded with talent at wide receiver in the next few recruiting classes. Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney hands out superlatives for a handful of different positional-related categories.
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BEST HANDS: Xavier Jordan
The new Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon receiver is not the fastest or the biggest but he catches everything thrown his way. Everything. At the OT7 Phoenix and at other events this offseason, Jordan has been phenomenal, so consistent and after moving up to No. 101 overall nationally that still might not be enough.
The USC commit has speed - he’s definitely not slow - but even in contested situations where the cornerback stays with him through his route, all the quarterback has to do is throw the ball into Jordan’s catch radius and the four-star is coming down with the ball.
There’s no doubt Jordan is pushing to be the best receiver in California by the time the 2024 cycle finishes.
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BEST SIZE: Kwazi Gilmer
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, on paper Gilmer does not seem like the best-sized receiver in the West. But he’s big, he’s thick and he can box out defensive backs trying to compete for him on balls down the field.
What makes the Chatsworth Sierra Canyon standout most special is that he doesn’t sacrifice fluid movement or decent speed because of his size and mass as an outside receiver. After transferring from West Hills (Calif.) Chaminade, Gilmer and Jordan should make up a dynamic - and unstoppable - duo in their senior seasons.
UCLA has the edge here, with Stanford right there along with Oklahoma, Michigan State, Washington and Cal making up his top six.
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BEST SPEED: Gatlin Bair
Bair beat 2023 five-star Nyckoles Harbor in a race this offseason, and Harbor landed a five-star ranking in part because of his incredible track times. Bair, a high four-star from Burley, Idaho, also beat California’s fastest man, Rodrick Pleasant, a 2023 four-star who signed with Oregon.
What’s most surprising about Bair is that despite his awesome track performances the four-star plans to stop participating in the sport when he gets to college and focus solely on being the best receiver he can be - which is already a pretty good one.
Last season, Bair finished with 73 receptions for 1,073 yards and 18 touchdowns. Of course, it was against Idaho competition, but everybody knew the ball was coming his way and no one could stop him - or catch him.
Nebraska, Michigan, TCU, Boise State and Oregon are in his top five and despite more high-profile offers coming in recently Bair remains focused on those five, with the Wolverines possibly having an edge.
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BEST ROUTE RUNNING: Jordan Anderson
It’s a cliche, but Anderson takes what the defense gives him all the time, remains patient and consistently wins against almost any cornerback.
The new Newport Beach (Calif.) Newport Harbor standout loves going deep and making really difficult catches look easy as he has the speed, concentration and playmaking ability to stretch the field. If the cornerback is giving way too much cushion, Anderson is happy taking a short pass and moving the chains.
Whenever Anderson is on the field, the Oregon commit - who has shown no signs of looking at other programs - has the potential to make something big happen and at the very least be a productive and consistent receiver.