Predicting stats of LSU football's top wide receivers for 2025 college football season
LSU also secured the return of Aaron Anderson, LSU's leading receiver. Expectations are high for the group entering 2025. With Garrett Nussmeier at quarterback, the LSU passing attack should be one of the most prolific in college football.
That's the standard at LSU. The program that produced Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas, and Odell Beckham expects its wide receiver room to be top notch. LSU might not have a bonafide superstar in this group, but its loaded with talent.
Here's a look at how we expect LSU's wide receivers to produce in 2025.
Barion Brown
Brown, who spent the first three years of his career at Kentucky, was one of the top-ranked players in the transfer portal. According to the On3 Industry Rankings, Brown was the No. 16 overall player and No. 5-ranked wide receiver in the transfer class.
This is a guady projection for Brown. He didn't put up big numbers at Kentucky, only catching 29 passes for 361 yards in 2024. But Kentucky's passing game was dormant with poor quarterback and offensive line play. Now at LSU, Brown is surrounded by talent.
Garrett Nussmeier is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and Brown will have a chance to be LSU's feature wide receiver. Brown's talent was obvious when he burst on the scene with 625 yards as a true freshman in 2022. With elite speed in an aggressive offense, Brown will surpass 1,000 yards in 2025.
Aaron Anderson
Anderson is LSU's top returning wide receiver after a breakout campaign in 2024. Anderson caught 61 passes for 874 yards and five scores. The former five-star recruit, who began his career at Alabama, was one of the SEC's best slot receivers. Anderson was a trusted target, and Nussmeier looked his way in key moments.
As LSU's offense looks to take a step forward, so does Anderson. The 5-foot-8 speedster might be LSU's best wide receiver, and a 1,000-yard season is on the table. We'll be conservative for now and project Anderson finishes just under that total, with 69 catches for 987 yards.
Anderson averaged 14.3 yards per catch last year. Given that most of his work comes from the slot, he doesn't always get the chance to run go-balls, but Anderson creates big plays with the ball in his hand. Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan will find ways to get Anderson the ball in space.
Chris Hilton
Chris Hilton is back for his fifth-year of college football. He signed with LSU as a four-star recruit in 2021. The talent is obvious, but Hilton's first four years were marred by injuries. Hilton tore his ACL in 2022 and missed a large chunk of 2024 as he recovered from an offseason shoulder surgery.
Hilton started to figure it out late in the year and LSU's offense took off.
Hilton caught six passes for 198 yards and three scores in LSU's final two games. LSU found the downfield passing attack it had searched for all year. If Hilton is healthy, that's the version LSU will get in 2025. We're projecting 17.0 yards per catch and Hilton to be one of the top deep ball threats in the SEC.
Nic Anderson
Along with Brown, Anderson was LSU's second highly-touted receiver addition from the transfer portal. Anderson spent three years at Oklahoma before arriving in Baton Rouge, not playing much as a freshman before breaking out in 2023.
Anderson caught 38 passes for 798 yards as a redshirt freshman, catching 10 touchdowns. His 21 yards per catch was one of the best marks in the SEC. Injuries kept Anderson off the field in 2024 and he wasn't a full participant in spring practice, but the ability is there.
These are conservative projections for Anderson. He's capable of a 500+ yard season in this offense, but I don't know how many targets there are to go around. Still, expect Anderson to come through in some big moments this year.
Zavion Thomas
Thomas' pass catching stats don't describe his impact. He's a gadget player, involved in the run game and special teams.
After transferring to LSU, Thomas caught 23 passes for 218 yards and two scores. He ran the ball nine times for 76 yards, averaging 8.4 yards per carry. I think Thomas' receiving numbers are in that range again, but he'll make a bigger impact in the run game as LSU puts an emphasis on creating big plays with its playmakers.
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