Purdue Football: Position Groups – Template

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Note: I’m using the same intro for all of the articles in this series. Here are the links to the other articles in this series:

Quarterback

Tight End

Running Back

Offensive Tackle

Interior Offensive Line

The NCAA announced they are moving forward with a rule change that eliminates redshirts and allows five seasons of eligibility as long as you are enrolled by the time you’re 19. This, in part, was a reaction to the influx of European professionals into college basketball last season. It also clears up the eligibility issues regarding junior college recruits after Diego Pavia received an additional year of eligibility through a court injunction. In theory, these new rules will take effect for any player who enrolls on or after January 1, 2027, while players who enroll before next year will get whichever set of rules is most beneficial for them.

To boil that down to its essence, athletes who played as “true freshmen” under the old system will get an extra year of eligibility, and JuCo players who spend 2 years in JuCo get 3 seasons of eligibility instead of 3 seasons to play 2.

You can read the press release from the NCAA here.

Wide Receiver

Eligibility Changes

Ricky Sampson, a junior college transfer, will have three seasons of eligibility instead of two.

Corey Smith played as a true freshman at Tulsa; he essentially gets that season back. He has three seasons of eligibility instead of two.

Thoughts

Purdue’s three leading receivers in 2025, Michael Jackson III, Nitro Tuggle, and EJ Horton, were all similar receivers. They were around 6’0”, 190, give or take an inch and a couple of pounds either direction. Those three have either graduated or left to seek their football fortunes elsewhere. Tiggle is a talented player; losing him hurt, but overall, Purdue will have a more diverse and significantly more talented group of receivers in 2026. I see this as a major area of improvement.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed Purdue’s lack of size on the outside last season. It looks like the coaching staff was well aware of that shortcoming and brought in a couple of big bodies for the outside in 2026. Bisi Owens is a 6’4”, 215-pound security blanket for Ryan Browne. The former Penn standout has 26 starts under his belt in the Ivy League and is looking to add 12 more in the Big 12. He’s more of a possession receiver than a downfield burner, but his ability to go up and get the ball allows him to be both a downfield and redzone threat.

On the other hand, 6’4”, 210-pound junior college transfer Ricky Sampson could very well be the downfield burner. Sampson is a former quarterback who started seven games for Webber International before transferring to Victor Valley College and taking up wide receiver. He had 49 receptions for 606 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first season of being a pass catcher instead of a pass thrower. Note that 2 of those 3 touchdowns were good for over 50 yards. He gets an extra season to work on his craft with the new eligibility rules, making him an even better pickup for both the short and long term. He has the ability to scare opposing defenses on the outside with his combination of size and speed.

Jaylan Hornsby started three games for Syracuse last season as a redshirt freshman. He’s listed at 6’3”, 215, and similar to Bisi Owens in terms of style of play. He’s got a big frame, and he uses it to box out defenders both on the sideline and over the middle. He’ll be part of the rotation in some fashion this season and could be more of a factor moving forward in his career.

While the portal guy / juco guys should help right away, Purdue could also get an injection of talent from their own roster if former 4* receiver Jalil Hall can come all the way back from a knee injury he sustained in the season opener against Ball State last season. At 6’4”, 185, Hall was going to get significant action on the outside in 2025 if he stayed healthy, which, of course, he did not. Bringing Sampson in allows the staff to work Hall back in at his own pace. Hall has WR1 potential in the future.

Purdue made it a point to get bigger on the perimeter, but their most experienced signings operate out of the slot. Xavier Townsend was UCF’s starting slot receiver and punt returner in 2023. He caught 33 passes for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran the ball 15 times for 163 yards. He only played in 4 games at UCF in 2024 before shutting things down, taking a redshirt, and transferring to Iowa State in 2025. Things didn’t work out for Townsend in Ames. He appeared in 10 games, starting 1, and was mostly a non-factor in the offense. One of the reasons Townsend picked Purdue is current Boilermaker quarterback coach Darin Hinshaw. Hinshaw was the offensive coordinator at UCF in 2024 and should help incorporate the shifty wideout into Purdue’s attack both in the air and on the ground.

Asaad Waseem is another interesting slot receiver who put up big numbers in his first real college football action last season. Waseem signed with Colorado out of high school, spent two seasons on Coach Prime’s bench, transferred to FAU, and put up 66 receptions for 699 yards and five touchdowns in 2025. He’s a pure slot receiver, adept at getting open in tight spaces. He had 12 receptions for 109 yards against UConn. He had 4 receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown against Maryland in his debut. Most people have Bisi Owens as the favorite to lead Purdue in receptions in 2026, but don’t sleep on Waseem. Getting open is a skill, and he got open last season at FAU. He could do the same thing at Purdue.

Returning wide receiver Corey Smith was useful in 2025, bringing in 14 receptions for 237 yards and a touchdown in 2025. His stats should look better, but he had a couple of nasty drops. If he fixes the drops, he’s a perfectly serviceable receiver capable of playing in the slot or kicking outside to the boundary. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that Purdue should have significantly better options this season. Smith is going to have to fight for his playing time in fall camp.

One of those other options is true freshman Brandon Kinsey. The 6’1”, 190-pound receiver out of Miami Central High School was the talk of spring practice. He’s not the biggest guy on the field, but when he hits the gas, it looks different. The coaching staff thinks they have a steal on their hands after plucking Kinsey out of Florida. I’ve heard the spring hype before, but keep an eye on Kinsey; he’ll have every opportunity to prove spring wasn’t a fluke in fall camp. If he does, there’s nothing keeping him off the field in 2026.

The coaches love 5’9”, 155-pound Jesse Watson. He had 8 receptions for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns last season and could be in line for more action both in the slot and on “gadget” plays in 2026. He has game-breaking quickness in the open field and turns faster than any defensive back trying to cover him on an option route. It’s up to offensive coordinator Josh Henson to find him some space. If Henson does his job, Watson can make the first man miss.

Finally, De’Nylon Morrissette and Chauncey Magwood are back for one last go at things. Morrissette, a transfer from Georgia in 2023, has yet to live up to his 4* high school billing, mainly due to a series of injuries. He didn’t play at all last season, and I have no idea what you can expect from him in 2026. If he’s healthy, he’s talented enough to make a difference, or at least he was before all the injuries. He needs to make a statement in camp, and that statement is “my legs work.”

The same can be said for Chauncey Magwood, the former Kentucky and UCF receiver, who was supposed to help out last season but couldn’t get healthy. He would have helped last season, but this group of wide receivers is significantly deeper. Like Morrissette, he’ll have to prove it in fall camp if the member of the class of 2021 wants to end his college football odyssey on a high note.

Overall, this group is head and shoulders above last season’s receivers in both talent and depth. They’ve brought in size on the perimeter and some quick guys to work inside the hash marks. Hats off to new wide receiver coach Bilal Marshall, who helped put together a coherent collection of players with solid upside. The only thing missing is for one of these guys to step up and declare themselves the “alpha” receiver. If someone emerged from fall camp as “the Man,” it would make Ryan Browne’s job significantly easier. I have a few suspects on who that might be, but I’m going to need to see some evidence first.

Moving Forward

It’s impossible to say. Kinsey sounds like a potential star, which brings up possible retention issues moving forward, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Incoming freshman JoJo Johnson is another 6’4” outside receiver with upside who could be a long-term solution at the boundary. Ricky Sampson getting an additional year of eligibility is nice and could also pay long-term dividends, and Tre’Mar Smith was one of the highest-ranked players in Barry Odom’s inaugural 2025 recruiting class. Will any of them work out?

Probably! (Just don’t ask me who!)

Overall, I think the two receivers with the highest upside are Hall and Kinsey, and they’re both freshmen. Hopefully that bodes well for the program in the future. I’m honestly more worried about staunching the bleeding in the present at the moment.

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