2026 Syracuse Football Preview: Wide Receivers

One-thousand six-hundred nine. That’s how many receiving yards are being washed away from Syracuse football’s departing 2025 wide receiver room.

The Orange’s top-two wideouts last season, Johntay Cook and Darrell Gill Jr., who combined for over 1,000 yards, remain teammates following their transfers to Ole Miss. Justus Ross-Simmons, who hauled in five touchdowns in 2025, is out of collegiate eligibility. Another pair of 100-plus-yard wideouts, Emanuel Ross and Jaylan Hornsby, are out the door.

These were the names starter Steve Angeli was throwing to in his first four games, when he led the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards. They also seemed to make up for NFL-bound Jackson Meeks and Trebor Peña, who nearly combined for 2,000 yards in 2024.

With quarterback deficiencies after Angeli went down, SU plummeted to the third-worst passing offense in the Atlantic Coast Conference, supplying a meager 217.3 yards a game.

Hope may seem bleak, but under position coach Josh Gattis, the Orange might have one of their most talented players in program history at the position who can restore a high-quality wide receiver standard.

Man of the Hour

It’s been two-dozen years since Syracuse secured a five-star recruit. That changed, as the Orange landed wide receiver Calvin Russell III, who had his pick of any school.

His resume speaks for itself. 247Sports named Russell the No. 2 wide receiver in the 2026 class with the same rank among all Floridians, regardless of position. In fact, the Opa Locka, Florida, native is the 23rd-ranked player in the entire class.

Russell tore up South Florida football at one of its most prestigious preparatory schools, Miami Northwestern, where he spent time learning under former head coach and NFL first round pick Teddy Bridgewater. Russell accrued 1,162 yards and 18 touchdowns in a two-season span.

It seems like Angeli has his true first-string wide receiver who can work out wide, in the slot and all of the above. That’d be a fair statement, but that’s a fantasy for the early stretch of the season, as the 6-foot-5 wideout will be sidelined with an Achilles tendon tear.

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“The day (the injury) happened, I was sick to my stomach,” Angeli said. “I couldn’t even sleep.”

In late March, SU head coach Fran Brown said late October was a fair time to anticipate a return, and he’s currently feeling more encouraged.

“He’ll be back this season.” Brown said at the ACC Kickoff on July 16. “You’ll see No. 5 on offense on the field.”

The Returners

It might be crazy, but Syracuse’s top returning wideout actually didn’t play for it in 2025, entered the transfer portal this offseason and withdrew to come back.

That’s Umari Hatcher, who actually had more yards than Ross-Simmons in 2024 at 273 and was responsible for the Orange’s longest play from scrimmage, a 67-yard touchdown against Stanford.

“A guy that you guys probably saw in 2024 was Umari Hatcher, a guy that was a little banged up last year,” Angeli said. “This guy’s going to be an electric player for us this year.”

While Hatcher figures to be the safest target, a trio of receivers that combined for 230-plus yards in 2025 could be primed for larger roles.

Syracuse native and Christian Brothers Academy alum Darien Williams posted eight catches for 101 yards and scored a 35-yard touchdown against Colgate. In his first season at SU after two years at South Carolina, Tyshawn Russell accrued 83 yards on nine catches. Darius Johnson, who attended high school with Russell, caught six passes for 48 yards.

Nate Edwards, Julian McFadden and Terrell Wilfong also return but never caught a pass last year. Perhaps starting cornerback Demetres Samuel Jr. enters the mix, too, like he did briefly last year.

“All our pass catchers, all our skill positions, those guys are going to be electric,” Angeli said. “We have a plethora of playmakers all around.”

Fellow Freshmen

In a 2026 class that placed 35th in the country, the group’s second-ranked player was another wide receiver, Amare’ Gough. At Thomas Jefferson (Virginia), Gough amassed 33 receptions for 494 yards and five touchdowns as a senior. A top-10 player in Virginia’s latest senior class and a four-star recruit, he could be Angeli’s top explosive wideout when Russell is out.

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There’s another influx of Year 1 SU receivers in BJ Garrett and Phoenix Henriquez. Garrett played at Middletown High School (Delaware), where he helped the Cavaliers to back-to-back championships and was ranked the fourth-best player in the class from Delaware. Henriquez was the seventh-best player in Delaware. In his past three seasons at Smyrna, he amassed 3,000-plus receiving yards and over 40 total touchdowns.

The Transfers

Ending the regular season on a sour note where wide receiver production was hard to come by, Syracuse didn’t appeal to transfers. The fact Nixon constructed the nation’s top passing offense in 2024 and one on track to repeat the feat with Angeli remained encouraging enough.

The most productive incoming wide receiver is Cole Weaver, who last played at Miami (Ohio). As a redshirt sophomore, he caught 45 passes for 642 yards — more than any SU receiver last year — and a touchdown. Weaver figures to be a reliable, physical target at 6’3” and 220 pounds.

The Orange also rounded up a couple former four-star wideouts from Power 4 programs. Matthew Outeen was Penn State’s top class of 2025 receiver but never caught a pass. It’s a similar story for Elijah Moore from Florida State, who’s sparsely played throughout the past two years.

Perhaps a JUCO product like Zamondre Merriweather factors in, posting 961 yards and 15 touchdowns there last year.

“There’s a really deep group of receivers that I can’t even name, but all those guys have done a lot for us,” Angeli said.

There’s a mix of unproven talent at top programs and production from less competitive situations. So when Russell is gone, it’s possible SU’s top wideout is from this group.

That remains to be seen when Syracuse hosts New Hampshire on Sept. 5.