South Carolina did not have the fewest passing yards last year in the SEC, which also means it did not have the fewest receiving yards in the SEC.
But that number does not tell the whole story about the Gamecocks’ wide receivers considering that only 60% of South Carolina’s total receiving yards (2,904) actually came from wide receivers (1,752).
The top USC pass catcher was tight end Josh Simon, who reeled in 40 passes for 519 yards. Which means there is plenty of intrigue heading into 2025 about what Gamecocks wideouts will step up.
Here’s our early prediction at the five receivers we think will be the most productive next season:
1. Nyck Harbor Perhaps this is the simple answer. The returning wide receiver with the most yards should take the top spot and, well, Nyck Harbor’s 376 yards were better than all other USC wideouts. But to break down Harbor’s numbers is to get even more excited about his potential.
By now you’ve heard that Harbor decided to step away from the track team this year so he could commit himself 100% to becoming a better wide receiver. And that’s so important because everything about Harbor’s 2024 season was delayed.
He was doing spring practices essentially in the fall, which created a domino effect.
That also meant that the Harbor we saw toward the end of last season — after months of devoting himself fully to football — might be the closest version to what we’ll see from him in 2025.
If that’s the case, he should be USC’s top wideout. Over 70% (272 yards) of his total yards for the season (376) came in the final five games.
Now let’s assume the Harbor we saw at the end of the last season — the one who turned into QB LaNorris Sellers’ top target while getting open, making contested catches and holding onto the ball — is the one we see in 2025.
Well, over those final five games, he averaged nearly 55 yards a game. Extrapolate that to a 13-game season (including the bowl game) and Harbor seems more than capable of totaling over 700 yards this year.
2. Mazeo Bennett Jr. As a true freshman last season, Mazeo Bennett seemed like the Gamecocks’ top wide receiver at times. An incredibly-skilled route runner, he was able to create space against SEC cornerbacks and led South Carolina’s WRs with 30 catches. The only issue was that he was almost the antithesis of Harbor.
The majority of his production came early in the season, and over the final seven games his best contest only came with 23 receiving yards.
South Carolina wide receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr. (3) dodges the tackle of Missouri safety Joseph Charleston (28) during the first half of the Gamecocks’ game against Missouri at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia on Saturday, November 16, 2024.
Now it should be known: Right at the start of that dip, Bennett got hit incredibly hard by a Texas A&M DB and missed the second half of that game. Though he didn’t miss any full games the rest of the season, it’s unknown how much that affected him.
But Bennett returns as a sophomore with a year under his belt, great chemistry with Sellers and a relentless work ethic that will surely make him better this summer and into the season.
It would not be a shock if he breaks out as a 1,000-yard receiver, but the edge still goes to Harbor … for now.
3. Brian Rowe Jr. Our first true freshman! A lot has been, and will be, made of this freshman wide receiver class because, well, the Gamecocks signed six of them and felt so good about the bunch that they still haven’t signed a transfer receiver this year. And the best of the group might be Brian Rowe Jr., a four-star prospect from Concord, North Carolina.
A three-sport athlete in high school (he also played basketball and competed in track-and-field events), he looked like the top receiver during the spring game. That night, Rowe caught a game-high five passes for 45 yards and quickly became Sellers’ favorite target on the black team. He moved so well out of his breaks, was always coming back to the ball and tracking Sellers, and seems to have the athleticism to get open against great defensive backs.
He’s the favorite to be the top freshman wide receiver this season.
4. Donovan Murph That last statement might not sit well with Donovan Murph. A freshman out of Irmo High School, Murph — a four-star who reclassified from the Class of 2026 to 2025 — was the lone first-year wide receiver who didn’t enroll early and start practicing this spring. Which would lead you to believe it might take Murph some time to adjust — and maybe it will. But per multiple team sources, Murph was at almost every spring practice and, while he wasn’t allowed to participate, was watching intently.
He is not coming in like a normal first-semester wide receiver. And then, just consider the talent. At Irmo last year, the 6-foot-1, 188-pound wideout caught 96 passes for over 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns, displaying an incredible ability to snatch jump balls over defensive backs.
He might end up as South Carolina’s best receiver in a few years but, since we still haven’t seen him practice at USC, we’ll keep him at No. 4 here.
5. Vandrevius Jacobs As a transfer from Florida State last season, Jacobs was a bit disappointing. He was never able to string together consistent performances and was rarely a factor in the passing attack. He hauled in 12 passes for 181 yards.
The good news: Jacobs, heading into his redshirt sophomore season, is still incredibly young … and yet still among the most-experienced receivers in the Gamecocks’ WR room. In the spring game, he caught three passes for 85 yards, including a 51-yard deep ball from freshman QB Cutter Woods.
That night, Jacobs looked faster and more explosive than he was in 2024, which makes sense considering he came into spring practices weighing 13-pounds lighter than he did last year. Now at 182 pounds, Jacobs has the speed and experience that should elevate him into a top receiver for the Gamecocks.
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