NCAA Division I FBS receiving leaders

The NCAA Division I FBS receiving leaders are the career, single-season, and single-game leaders in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and receptions. The lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:

• Since 1955, the length of the regular season has expanded from 10 games to 11 and later to 12 games, with some programs now playing additional postseason games, including conference championship games, bowl games, and the College Football Playoff.
• The NCAA did not permit freshmen to compete in varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of World War II–era seasons), preventing earlier players from accumulating statistics over four full seasons.
• Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002. As a result, many pre-2002 players are underrepresented; for example, Trevor Insley had 98 receiving yards in the 1996 Las Vegas Bowl, which would have brought his career total to 5,103 yards if counted.
• Beginning with the Southeastern Conference in 1992, FBS conferences introduced championship games, which have always counted toward official single-season and career statistics.
• The NCAA ruled that the 2020 season, which was heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, would not count against a player’s athletic eligibility, effectively granting an additional year of eligibility to players active that season.
• Since 2018, players have been allowed to participate in as many as four games in a redshirt season; previously, playing in even one game "burned" the redshirt. Since 2024, postseason games have not counted against the four-game limit. These changes to redshirt rules have given very recent players several extra games to accumulate statistics.
• Only statistics accumulated while a player’s team competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) are included. For example, only one of Randy Moss’s two seasons at Marshall (1997) counts toward these lists because the program was previously in the FCS.

Statistics are accurate as of the end of the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

Receiving yards

Career

The career leader in receiving yards is Corey Davis of Western Michigan. Rather than having a single standout season, Davis accumulated a remarkably consistent four-year total, posting 941, 1,408, 1,429, and 1,500 yards. He broke the previous record held by Trevor Insley of Nevada. Before Insley, the record was held by a pair of Wyoming receivers: Ryan Yarborough and Marcus Harris.

Single season

Insley holds the single-season record as the only player to ever catch for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He edged out the record set by Troy Edwards the previous season.

Single game

Edwards holds the single-game record for 405. Of particular note is a 1967 game in which two different Tulsa receivers had over 300 yards.

Receiving touchdowns

Career

The career leader in receiving touchdowns is Rice's Jarett Dillard, who in 2008 broke a 20-year-old record set by Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards in 1998. Edwards remains third on the list despite only having played for 3 seasons.

Single season

Edwards tops the list of single-season touchdowns with 27.

Single game

The single-game record is held by Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods, who caught 7 touchdown passes in a 2003 game against SMU. Many players have had 5 touchdown receptions in the same game.

Receptions

Career

The career leader in receptions is East Carolina's Zay Jones, who broke his former teammate Justin Hardy's record in 2016. The first players to catch at least 300 passes in their careers were Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield and Marshall's Josh Davis, both of whom passed 300 catches in 2004.

Single season

Jones also set the single-season record in 2016, passing Bowling Green's Freddie Barnes, who in 2009 broke a 20-year record held by Houston's Manny Hazard.

Single game

The single-game record of 23 is shared by UNLV's Randy Gatewood and Eastern Michigan's Tyler Jones. Many players have had 18 receptions in a single game.

References