SARASOTA – When the Herald-Tribune listed the top 50 all-time greatest high school football players from the area, former Southeast High, FSU and NFL player Peter Warrick was selected No. 1. This season, a wide receiver with a similar skill set will be turning heads at Powell-Davis Stadium in Venice.
Winston Watkins Jr. is a five-star flanker who possesses all the tools any head coach would covet. Indeed, those players stationed farthest from the ball are the ones most likely to make the big play that gets fans on their feet. But on other teams around Sarasota and Manatee counties, a handful of receivers should make gridiron life a lot easier for their quarterbacks.
Here’s the Herald-Tribune’s list of the Sarasota, Manatee area’s top wide receivers:
Yahshua Edwards
Riverview
Vitals: 6-foot, 185 pounds; Sr.
College commitment: None
A dual-threat player, the Braden River transfer to Riverview, caught 37 passes for 443 yards and four TDs last season and rushed for 967 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Torrey Gilley
Manatee
Vitals: 6-foot, 160 pounds; Sr.
College commitment: None
Gilley finished second last season to Bon Bean in receptions with 47 and yards with 536. Gilley had two TD receptions. He also returned one kickoff for the Hurricanes.
Ryan Jensen
Saint Stephen’s
Vitals: 5-foot-10, 167 pounds; Jr.
College commitment: None
Last season the sophomore caught nine passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Mason Jordan
Cardinal Mooney
Vitals: 5-foot-9, 160 pounds; Jr.
College commitment: None
Last season the 5-foot-9, 160-pound wide receiver saw action in 11 games, catching 14 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan also returned 12 kickoffs for 260 yards.
Ryan Matulevich
Venice
Vitals: 6-foot, 180 pounds; Sr.
College Offers: 14 schools including South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCF, and USF
Last season Matulevich finished with 40 catches for 652 yards and six touchdowns.
Chris McCorkle
Cardinal Mooney
Vitals: 6-foot-1, 172 pounds; Sr.
College commitment: Indiana
At wide receiver, the 6-foot-1, 172-pounder caught 13 passes for 366 yards and seven touchdowns, including the winning TD catch in Mooney’s 31-27 state title win over Trinity Catholic. Receiving 30 offers, McCorkle has committed to Indiana.
Bo O’Daniel
Cardinal Mooney
Vitals: 6-foot, 165 pounds; Jr.
College commitment: None
In 11 games last season, the sophomore wide receiver caught 13 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. O’Daniel returned two kickoffs for 43 yards and was Mooney’s primary punt returner, returning eight for 123 yards.
Winston Watkins Jr.
Venice
Vitals: 5-foot-10, 175 pounds; Sr.
College Offers: 31 including Ohio State and Ole Miss
Last season, playing for First Baptist in Naples, the cousin of former NFL wide receiver Sammy Watkins caught 61 passes for 1,170 yards and 13 TDs, returned seven punts for 278 yards, a 39.7-yard average, with two touchdowns, and returned 10 kickoffs for 408 yards, a 40.8-yard average.
Dylan Wester
Booker
Vitals: 5-foot-10, 155 pounds; Jr.
College commitment: None
Now at Booker, the wide receiver last season for Palmetto caught 26 passes for 433 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed eight times for 33 yards, and returned a punt 90 yards for a score. At cornerback, Wester had seven tackles and an interception.
Tyren Wortham
Booker
Vitals: 6-foot, 165 pounds; Jr.
College Offers: Nine, including Miami, Marshall, East Carolina, and Howard.
Finished third last season in receiving for the Tornadoes, catching 15 passes for 272 yards and six touchdowns.
Kymistril Young
Cardinal Mooney
Vitals: 6-foot-3, 185 pounds; Jr.
College commitment: None
Last season as a sophomore wide receiver at Parrish, Young caught 22 passes for 433 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 2024 high school football wide receivers in Sarasota, Manatee counties
Herald-Tribune
