Who will Arch Manning throw to? Diving into Texas' 'special' wide receiver room ahead of Ohio State opener

Wide receivers will be in the spotlight when No. 1 Texas travels to No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday for the showcase season-opening event on the college football calendar.

Arguably the sport's best player, Jeremiah Smith, stars for the Buckeyes. He was the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class and emerged as a supernova as a true freshman last year. The guys who will start with him at receiver aren't bad either: Former five-star Carnell Tate and former top 50 recruit Brandon Inniss. And it's not like the talent stops there for Brian Hartline's loaded wide receiver room with blue chips scattered across the depth chart.

But what about Texas? After all, this is Arch Manning's national stage introduction.

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It'll look a lot different than who Quinn Ewers threw to last year. The Longhorns' top three pass catchers from last year are gone, including first-round pick Matthew Golden and all-SEC tight end Gunnar Helm.

Texas will be young at receiver. The only upperclassman projected to be part of the rotation is junior DeAndre Moore. Not that those around Austin are worried. There's a ton of confidence in the young room entering Columbus.

"The standard is the standard," All-American safety Michael Taaffe said. "Yeah, we lost a lot of catches. But these guys are really special, too. I believe in those guys. The reason I believe in them is they've made my life hard in fall camp. And whatever you think you're good at, they prove you wrong."

You know all about Manning. These are the guys he'll be throwing to on Saturday.

Ryan Wingo, WR

247Sports Rank: No. 32 overall, No. 7 WR in the 2024 class

A massive recruiting win for Texas over Missouri last cycle, Wingo emerged as an immediate contributor as a true freshman. He finished the year with 29 catches for 472 yards and two touchdowns.

The 6-foot-2, 214-pound Wingo combines 10.5-second 100-meter dash speed with the size and explosiveness in the open field that makes him incredibly difficult to tackle. Texas didn't make it complicated for Wingo last year, designing many of his touches on screens or reverses. Texas also asked him to stretch the field a lot with 82 of his 286 routes run being go or post routes.

Expect Texas to utilize Wingo in more varied ways in 2025. The Longhorns are counting on him to emerge as a difference maker in Year 2.

"These guys come in and you can't get them ready to do everything, so you just put them in position to do some of the things they do well," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. "Ryan is great example of that a year ago. We ran reverses and shots down the field with him. All the while we're trying to develop his game and make him a more complete player. To his credit, the most important thing in Ryan Wingo's life is being a great football player. He pours into it every single day. The result is he's becoming a great football player. Now it's our job to put him in more positions to have success."

DeAndre Moore Jr., WR

247Sports Rank: No. 121 overall, No. 19 WR in 2023 class

A member of Manning's 2023 recruiting class, Texas flipped Moore last minute from Louisville during the Early Signing Period. He spent most of his freshman year on scout team with Manning. But he emerged as a significant contributor as a sophomore, reeling in 29 catches for 456 yards and seven touchdowns.

Moore's initial breakout came with Manning under center during the two-game stretch he replaced an injured Ewers as the starter. Moore posted four catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns against Mississippi State, including 50-yard touchdown on a perfectly executed go ball.

Moore mainly operated out of the slot and showed to be a problem in contested catch situations, reeling in 63.6% of those passes on 11 attempts.

In a room full of younger players, expect Moore to be a down-to-down favorite for Manning. They have a very strong connection and those around the program consider Moore to be the leader of the wide receivers.

Emmett Mosley V, WR

247Sports Rank: No. 253 overall transfer, No. 47 WR in 2025 cycle

A post-spring addition for Texas in the transfer portal this April, Mosley brings proven experience to Austin following a very successful freshman debut with Stanford. Mosley finished his freshman year with 48 catches for 525 yards and six touchdowns in just nine games.

Mosley has dealt with a lower-leg injury during fall camp, so he's been limited, which might stretch into early in the season. But Texas views Mosley as a player who can emerge as a big piece of the offense as the season goes along.

"He's a very good football player who had an immense amount of production in only nine games at Stanford a year ago," Sarkisian said. "For him the growth is as the season continues to go. I almost think back to Matt Golden last year. I don't think I ever fielded a question about him until the first couple of games, but by the end of the year he was a topic of discussion. His evolution as the season goes on, I think is going to be really important as he gets more comfortable with us."

Parker Livingstone

247Sports Rank: No. 106 overall WR in 2024 class

Could we have another Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley situation on our hands? That might the case with Livingstone and Manning, who live together in Austin. Livingstone didn't record a catch last season as a true freshman, but he's drawn steady praise this offseason.

The 6-foot-4, 191-pound redshirt freshman has taken a large share of first-team reps in fall camp, especially with Mosley missing time. He might even start on Saturday as Mosley works his way back.

Livingstone is a field stretcher at his size with several sub-22-second times in the 200-meter dash. He fell a bit off the radar his senior year of high school due to a foot injury, but he could end up being a three-star steal for the Longhorns.

Jack Endries, TE

247Sports Rank: No. 131 overall transfer, No. 4 TE in 2025 cycle

Don't forget about tight end. That's been a huge part of Sarkisian's offenses the last few seasons with Texas producing back-to-back draft picks at the position.

Endries comes to Austin from California, where he went from walk on to all-conference level player. He finished last season with 56 catches for 623 yards and two touchdowns. He was the ultimate safety blanket for Fernando Mendoza, catching 56 of his 61 targets with only a single drop.

The behind-the-scenes hype for Endries is strong. Texas believes it got a steal and someone who can help the offense a great deal.

"This new tight end, Jack Endries, is going to be a good player," Manning said in June. "I probably shouldn't say that."

Don't sleep on a quartet of freshmen

Other than second-year pass catcher Aaron Butler, the rest of Texas' wide receiver depth chart will be made up of 2025 recruits. Texas signed four blue-chip receivers this cycle, including a trio of top 100 recruits. 

• Kaliq Lockett: No. 21 overall, No. 2 WR
• Jaime Ffrench Jr.: No. 52 overall, No. 9 WR
• Michael Terry III: No. 85 overall, No. 2 ATH
• Daylan McCutcheon: No. 190 overall No. 21 WR

Don't sleep on McCutheon, by the way. He may be the lowest ranked of those four pass catchers, but he's had an outstanding offseason. He could push his way into the two-deep for the season opener along with Lockett. 

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