By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Some wide receivers can beat you with their speed, while others can use their size and footwork as an advantage.

To be a productive wide receiver in the SEC, you have to be able to catch, block, and run crisp routes.

The SEC has produced first round wide receivers in 2019 with Jerry Jeudy (Alabama), Henry Ruggs (Alabama) and Justin Jefferson (LSU). The next class of future pro wide receivers in the SEC is ready to strike.

Here are my top five returning wide receivers in the SEC.

5.Elijah Moore, Ole Miss: Elijah Moore is more than just that guy who “pretended to pee on the field” at the Egg Bowl. Moore led all Ole Miss’s wide receivers with 67 receptions, 850 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Ole Miss’s seven other wide receivers combined for 55 catches.

With Lane Kiffen now running the show in Oxford, Moore should get even more opportunities to show he is one of the top SEC wide receivers.

4.Jaylen Waddle, Alabama: Jaylen Waddle has blazing speed. In two seasons at Alabama, Waddle caught 78 passes for 1,408 yards and 13 touchdowns, and had a breakout performance in the Iron Bowl with 230 all-purpose yards and 4 touchdowns.

Waddle’s prowess in the return game is electric. He led the nation in punt return average at 24.4 yards per return with 20 returns for 487 yards and a touchdown. He also returned five kickoffs for 175 yards and a touchdown.

3.George Pickens, Georgia: George Pickens may not have the same 2019 stats as the others on my list, but there are few receivers with his upside heading into 2020.

Pickens posted a stat line of 49 catches, 727 yards and 8 touchdowns (all SEC best for freshmen in 2019).

Pickens took his game to another level in the Sugar Bowl, making a game high 12 catches for 175 yards and a touchdown.

With new offensive coordinator Todd Monken and new quarterback Jamie Newman, Pickens’s game is about to get a lot more exciting.

2.DeVonta Smith, Alabama: It is hard to believe DeVonta Smith is already entering his senior season at Alabama. It seemed like yesterday when Smith wrote his name in college football history when he hauled in that 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime to seal a national title victory over Georgia.

In 2019, Smith caught 68 passes for 1,256 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He is a six foot one, 175-pound receiver who knows how to earn yards after the catch. Smith earned second team All-SEC and All-American honors in 2019.

Smith was one of the best playmakers in the country in 2019, with two first round draft picks on his roster. In 2020, Smith has a chance to be a bigger focal point in the offense and the opportunity to become a household name.

1.Ja’Marr Chase, LSU:  The best returning wide receiver in the SEC is also last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner.

Ja’Marr Chase led the country in receiving yards with 1,780 and ended his season receiving 20 touchdowns.

Chase broke both the SEC single season receiving yards and touchdown catches, while earning unanimous All American and All SEC honors as a true sophomore.

In 2020, Chase won’t have Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow throwing to him, but nevertheless he should still have another monster season.

Just outside the top 5:Terrace Marshall, LSU; Seth Williams, Auburn; Jhamon Ausbon, Texas A&M. Break out player Osirus Mitchell, Mississippi State.