Tennessee football over Georgia? Our ranking of SEC East wide receivers | Adams

This is the third in a series ranking SEC East teams by position groups.

Defending national champion Georgia already has the best group of running backs in SEC football. Now, it could have the best group of receivers in the East division, too.

Starting with the Bulldogs, here’s how the SEC East stacks up at receiver.

1. Georgia: The Bulldogs receiving corps begins with Brock Bowers, who can be whatever the team needs him to be – a tight end, wide receiver or running back. But last season as a sophomore, he established himself as the nation’s best tight end by catching 63 passes for 942 yards.

Ladd McConkey has emerged as one of the SEC’s best receivers. He had 58 catches for 762 yards despite missing time with injuries. Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint added 29 catches for 337 yards.

The Bulldogs bolstered their receiver group with the addition of Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett, who caught 56 passes for 846 yards last season. Georgia also added Mississippi State transfer RaRa Thomas, who had 44 catches for 626 yards.

More help is on the way since Georgia added three 4-star receivers in its No. 2-ranked recruiting class.

2. Tennessee: The Vols lost two All-SEC receivers in Cedric Tillman and Jalin Hyatt. But as long as coach Josh Heupel is in charge, don’t expect the Vols to come up short at the position.

Bru McCoy (52 catches, 667 yards) and Ramel Keyton (31-562) both have starting experience. Squirrel White looked like a future All-SEC player in catching 30 passes for 481 yards as a freshman.

And the Vols added Oregon transfer Dont’e Thornton, a tall, fast receiver who turned heads in the spring.

Tight end Jacob Warren will give Tennessee experience at tight end. And the Vols signed four-star tight end Ethan Davis.

3. Kentucky: NC State transfer quarterback Devin Leary should be happy with his receiving corps. The Wildcats will return their top three receivers.

Barion Brown had 50 catches for 628 yards; Tayvion Robinson, 40-497; and Dane Key, 37-519. Tight end Jordan Dingle (20-220) also returns. Coaches have made it clear they expect more from Robinson. He had only 16 catches for 121 yards in SEC play last season.

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4. South Carolina: Quarteback Spencer Rattler again will have Antwane Wells as his go-to receiver. Wells had 68 catches for 928 yards last season.

A pertinent question: Will Wells have enough help?

Ahmarean Brown and Xavier Leggett all have experience but will need to step up their production. Memphis transfer Eddie Lewis caught 41 passes for 603 yards last season and will give the Gamecocks a proven punt returner. Dakereon Joyner practiced at running back this spring but is an experienced receiver.

More help could come from 5-star signee Nyckoles Harbor, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound wide receiver/tight end. He has been timed at 10.21 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Harbor can play multiple positions.

5. Vanderbilt: Will Sheppard has become one of the SEC’s best receivers. He had 60 catches for 776 yards last season. Also returning are Jacob McGowan (44-453) and Quincy Skinner (17-238).

The Commodores will count on three signees – London Humphries, Junior Sherrill and Duran Parish – to provide more depth.

6. Missouri: Losing Lovett was a blow to the Tigers passing game. With his departure, Luther Burden becomes the Tigers’ No. 1 receiving threat.

Burden had 45 catches for 375 yards but averaged only 8.3 yards per reception. He also had 88 yards rushing on 18 carries.

Ohio State transfer Mookie Cooper should get more opportunities following Lovett’s departure. He had 25 catches for 297 yards last season. The Tigers also added a couple of transfers – Oklahoma’s Theo Wease (19 catches for 378 yards) and Ole Miss transfer Dannis Jackson, who didn’t play last season and has only 19 career catches.

7 Florida: The Gators will return their top two receivers – Ricky Pearsall and Xzavier Henderson – but still need help at the position. Pearsall had 33 catches for 661 yards while Henderson had 410 yards on his 38 receptions.

A lack of depth at the position could create immediate playing opportunities for Florida’s three 4-star wide receiver signees – Aidan Mizell, Andy Jean and Eugene Wilson.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee and Georgia football: Ranking SEC East wide receivers