Presley, Owens Named to Biletnikoff Preseason Watch List

The Biletnikoff has been awarded annually since 1994, and Cowboys have picked up the hardware on three occasions, which ties Alabama for the most of any school.

The Cowboys have a chance to pass the Crimson Tide this year, as the Pokes have a pair on the award’s preseason watch list in Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens. For what it’s worth, Alabama doesn’t have a player on the preseason list in this race for wide receiver superiority. The Cowboys are one of six teams to have multiple players on the watch list.

The Biletnikoff is awarded to the best receiver in college football. James Washington is the most recent Cowboy to win the award, doing so in 2017. Before that, Justin Blackmon joined Michael Crabtree as the only player to win the award twice, as Blackmon did so in 2010 and 2011.

Entering his fifth year with the program, Presley is a 5-foot-8, 175-pound slot receiver out of Bixby. He had a career year in the Cowboys’ 2023 campaign, catching 101 passes for 991 yards and six touchdowns — all career highs. He also had the two best single games of his career last season from a receptions and yardage perspective. He caught 15 passes for 189 yards in the Cowboys’ win at Houston. Then when the Cowboys returned to H Town for the Texas Bowl, Presley caught 16 passes for 152 yards against Texas A&M.

Presley has a knack for going off in the postseason. In the four bowl games he has played in to this point, Presley has gone over the 100-yard mark three times — going for 137 and a touchdown in OSU’s Fiesta Bowl win against Notre Dame and 118 yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman in 2020 against Miami.

Owens started the 2023 season as a depth piece in OSU’s receiving room, but when he got his shot because of injuries around him, he didn’t look back. A 6-2, 230-pound receiver, Owens finished 2023 with 63 catches for 895 yards and five scores. He had just one receiving touchdown in his career before last season, and his catch total more than doubled his career tally going into the season. What’s more impressive is Owens did all that despite catching just four passes for 37 yards in the Cowboys’ first four games.

Owens enters 2024 coming off an offensive MVP performance in the Texas Bowl. Against the Aggies, Owens caught 10 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

As good as Presley and Owens are, there is an argument to be made that the best receiver in the Cowboys’ room this year could be De’Zhaun Stribling, who was injured four games into last season. Stribling on Wednesday was named to the Comeback Player of the Year watch list.

Here is a look at all 50 players on the Biletnikoff watch list:

Kelly Akharaiyi, Mississippi State
Nic Anderson, Oklahoma
Andrew Armstrong, Arkansas
Lawrence Arnold, Kansas
Pofele Ashlock, Hawaii
Sean Atkins, USF
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
Demeer Blankumsee, Memphis
Samuel Brown, Miami
Luther Burden III, Missouri
Kevin Concepcion, North Carolina State
CJ Daniels, LSU
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame
Malachi Fields, Virginia
Jacolby George, Miami
Tre Harris, Ole Miss
Ashtyn Hawkins, Baylor
Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
Joey Hobert, Texas State
Tory Horton, Colorado State
Kobe Hudson, UCF
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Daniel Jackson. Minnesota
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
Tez Johnson, Oregon
Josh Kelly, Texas Tech
Caullin Lacy, Louisville
Robert Lewis, Auburn
Colston Loveland, Michigan
Ja’Mori Maclin, Kentucky
Eric McAlister, TCU
Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
Kris Mitchell, Notre Dame
Jordan Moore, Duke
Jaylin Noel, Iowa State
Rashod Owens, Oklahoma State
Will Pauling, Wisconsin
Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State
Jamaal Pritchett, South Alabama
Xavier Restrepo, Miami
Kaedin Robinson, App State
Jalen Royals, Utah State
Elijah Sarratt, Indiana
Roc Taylor, Memphis
LaJohntay Wester, Colorado
Squirrel White, Tennessee
Ricky White, UNLV
Kyle Williams, Washington State

More on OSU’s receivers

Receiver notebook with updates on Presley’s goals and newcomers to the room
Gavin Freeman discusses his decision to transfer from OU to OSU