Ranking the Big Ten: Wide Receiver

As the 2019 season draws nearer by the day, it’s time to start taking a look at some of the top players to watch in the Big Ten Conference.

We continue our annual Ranking the Big Ten series today with the wide receivers, which include some of the most dynamic and versatile playmakers in the country.

Related: QB | RB

No player in the Big Ten fit the role of the do-it-all playmaker better than Moore, who emerged as one of the most electric true freshmen in college football last season.

Moore ended up breaking the Purdue record for all-purpose yards (2,215) with a whopping 114 catches for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns to go along with 21 rushes for 213 yards and two more scores. His play earned him the Paul Hornung Award (given to the nation's most versatile player) and he became the first true freshman ever to be named a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection.

The accolades didn't stop there, either, as Moore was a near consensus first-team All-American and won the conference's Receiver of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards.

What's scary is that Purdue's coaches have tasked themselves this offseason with trying to find even more ways to get the ball in Moore's hands in 2019, meaning his impact has likely only just begun.

A strong case could be made that Johnson might be one of the most underappreciated players not only in the Big Ten, but also in college football.

All the senior did last season was rank second in the conference only behind Moore in receiving yards (1,169), placed third with 78 receptions, and tied Moore for the league lead at 12 touchdown catches.

Returning as the Gophers' top target in 2019, Johnson has a chance to solidify himself as the most productive receiver in program history. He's currently in the school's top 10 in catches (127, 10th), yards (1,987, 7th), touchdowns (20, 4th), and career 100-yard games (9, T-3rd).

At 6-2, 200, Johnson is an NFL prototype that will surely hear his named called early in the 2020 NFL Draft.

In a position full of youth and inexperience entering the 2019 season, Spielman is the one proven weapon Nebraska knows it has at wide receiver.

Even playing in the shadow of the record-setting Stanley Morgan Jr. last year, Spielman ranked second on the team with 68 catches for 818 yards and hauled in a team-high eight touchdown grabs. Despite that production, the Eden Prairie, Minn., native only earned third-team All-Big Ten honors for his efforts.

Looking ahead to the second year of Scott Frost's offense at Nebraska, though, the sky is the limit for what Spielman could do as a redshirt junior. Spielman has proven capable of being a dynamic performer as a receiver, runner, and returner on special teams, and he could very well break a number of Morgan's school records set by the time his college career comes to a close.

Ohio State lost some significant firepower from last season, but it does return its top receiving threat in Hill.

The redshirt junior led the Buckeyes with 56 catches and ranked second with 549 yards in 2019, all while also serving as the team's primary punt returner.

A former four-star recruit out of Little Rock, Ark., Hill is expected to be a critical piece to Ohio State's offense this year and could see an even bigger boost to his numbers and Big Ten profile.

A five-star prospect who was ranked as the nation's No. 1 wide receiver in the 2017 class, Peoples-Jones came to Michigan with some enormous expectations set for him.

After a modest true freshman season, the Detroit native looked more like the budding star Wolverine fans were expecting in 2018. He hauled in 47 catches for 612 yards and eight touchdowns while also returning 25 punts for a 10.0-yard average (including a 60-yard runback for a score vs. Nebraska).

Peoples-Jones was named a third-team All-Big Ten selection as both a receiver and punt returner, and he enters his junior campaign poised for his biggest breakout year yet as the go-to target in Michigan's passing game.