Texas Longhorns WR Ryan Wingo Ranks High Among Biletnikoff Award Favorites

The wide receiver position is stacked across all of college football, with the two best undoubtedly being second-year receivers, Ohio State's Jerimiah Smith and Alabama's Ryan Williams. The pair is projected as the heavy favorites battling for the Biletnikoff Award in 2025, but the Texas Longhorns have a wide receiver of their own who could enter the conversation for the coveted award.

That being sophomore Ryan Wingo, who is tied with Georgia's Zachariah Branch for the ninth-best odds to win the Biletnikoff at +2500 per ESPN's Sportsbook. Wingo is slated right ahead of LSU's Aaron Anderson to round out the top ten and behind Virginia's Malachi Fields with the eighth-highest odds. Fellow Longhorn DeAndre Moore Jr. ranks closely with +3000 odds for the award.

Although Wingo didn't see the field much as last season compared to first-year phenoms Smith and Williams, when Wingo did, he showed flashes of his potential with 29 receptions for 472 yards and two touchdowns. He also showed that he could be a difference maker on the ground with just five carries; he compiled 100 rushing yards.

What is Ryan Wingo's Role in the Longhorns' Offense This Season?

Ryan Wingo's role in the Longhorns' offense headed into 2025 is scheduled to widely differ from his role as a freshman, as he will be looked upon to be Texas's No. 1 wide receiver. Even the media looks at Wingo to be a potential breakout candidate in year two, as he was touted as a preseason All-SEC Second Team selection.

Texas loses a pair of talented wide receivers from a season ago, who were the Longhorns' starters ahead of Wingo in Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond. Now Steve Sarkisian's offense will flow through Wingo, being the new No. 1 option for starting quarterback Arch Manning. With Wingo's size and stature currently being listed at 6'2, 214 pounds, the sophomore's frame translates easily to a prototypical X wide receiver as the primary target in most offensive sets.

However, Wingo won't be the only returning wide receiver from the Longhorns' 2024 team as DeAndre Moore Jr. settles in for his junior season. Compared to Wingo, who will more than likely always line up on the outside, Moore does his damage in the slot, where he was quite productive in 2024 with 39 receptions for 456 yards and seven touchdowns.

Aside from Wingo and Moore being the solidified No. 1 and 2 options for the Longhorns at the wide receiver position, the spot for a third receiver in the Texas offense is wide open. Texas brought in several options who could step in and take that role through the transfer portal and with their 2025 recruiting class. Sarkisian could go with experience in a second-year player and former Stanford wide receiver Emmet Mosely V, or a pair of talented freshmen in five-stars Kaliq Lockett or Jaime Ffrench.

Wingo will also grow into a leadership role as the second-longest tenured wide receiver in the room, next to Moore, as Steve Sarkisian recently discussed with 3rd and Longhorn about the growing role the pair will have as leaders on the team.

“Then I look over and there’s DeAndre Moore and Ryan Wingo. In their own rights, great leaders.” Sarkisian said.

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