The 2023 Biletnikoff Award will be handed out in December, and it will go to one of a group of star-studded pass-catchers from all corners of the country. While one is pressing to be included in the Heisman Trophy race, the race to win the Biletnikoff is as close as they come.
2023 Biletnikoff Award Semifinalsts
Awarded to the nation’s top pass catcher, the Biletnikoff Award will be awarded during the year-end Home Depot College Football Awards Show. As of Monday, November 20, 2023, we know it will go to one of the following players:
- Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
- Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
- Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State
- Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon
- Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
- Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina
- Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
- Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
- Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
- Malik Washington, WR, Virginia
Harrison Jr. is vying for his inclusion into the Heisman Trophy race and an invite to New York, but it’s not set in stone that he’s the lock to win the Biletnikoff. However, Harrison Jr. does indeed have the best stretch of games available to cement his status as the best receiver in the country.
The Ohio State Buckeyes play against Michigan in the regular-season finale and if they win, they will play Iowa in the Big Ten Championship. Harrison Jr. has two potential marquee games against stout defenses to prove his place as the leader for the Biletnikoff.
For the rest of the field, the road is a bit dicier. Both LSU receivers — Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. — have one game left, against Texas A&M, but Nabers leads the country in receiving yards. Yet, Thomas leads the semifinalists with his 18.6 yards per catch.
Here are the statistics on each receiver as they have one game left in the 2023 regular season:
- Bowers – 51 receptions, 661 yards, 13.0 yards/catch, 6 touchdowns
- Burden – 77 receptions, 1,142 yards, 14.8 yards/catch, 8 touchdowns
- Coleman – 45 receptions, 615 yards, 13.7 yards/catch, 11 touchdowns
- Franklin – 68 receptions, 1,221 yards, 18.0 yards/catch, 13 touchdowns
- Harrison Jr. – 62 receptions, 1,093 yards, 17.6 yards/catch, 13 touchdowns
- Legette – 65 receptions, 1,187 yards, 18.3 yards/catch, 7 touchdowns
- Nabers – 80 receptions, 1,424 yards, 17.8 yards/catch, 12 touchdowns
- Odunze – 66 receptions, 1206 yards, 18.3 yards/catch, 11 touchdowns
- Thomas Jr. – 55 receptions, 1,021 yards, 18.6 yards/catch, 14 touchdowns
- Washington – 96 receptions, 1,311 yards, 13.7 yards/catch, 9 touchdowns