The 20 most underrated high school wide receivers in the East

These sticky-handed stars put up big stats last season but thus far don’t have a bunch of stars next to their names in the recruiting world

High school football has been up and running throughout most of the East for several weeks, with Connecticut and Massachusetts being the last two U.S. states to start their seasons this week.

SBLive Sports will spend the week leading up to Friday's games featuring high school football players from the Eastern United States who might not be big names in the recruiting world — but could be soon if they keep showing out on the football field.

As the hype around top prospects grows, high school football players who don't get flooded with D1 offers keep grinding away.

We started by featuring some standout quarterbacks, and now here are 20 wide receivers from the East who are poised to boost their recruiting stock this season.

Dominick Collins, sr., Princeton (West Virginia)

Collins is coming off a monstrous junior season, catching 58 passes for 1,036 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown, a pick-six and two kickoff returns for touchdowns.

Corey Dawson, sr., New Rochelle (New York)

Dawson set a single-season school record last season with 1,019 receiving yards. He finished with nine touchdown receptions and averaged more than 100 yards receiving per game.

Kaiden Drinkwater, so., Tabor Academy (Massachusetts)

Drinkwater exploded onto the scene as a freshman for Leominster, making 46 catches for 783 yards and 11 touchdown receptions. He transferred to Tabor Academy in the offseason.

Payton Dykas, sr., Clay (Florida)

Dykas was the biggest weapon for the Blue Devils in 2022, making 57 catches for just over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior.

Jaylen Etheridge, sr., Long Reach (Maryland)

Etheridge is working with a new quarterback this season after the graduation of Brice Koontz, but he should continue to be Long Reach’s top target on offense. He averaged over 23 yards per catch last year and caught eight touchdown passes.

Reese Gaughan, sr., Riverside (Pennsylvania)

The Lackawanna Football Conference’s all-time leader in career receptions, Gaughan enters his senior season with 171 catches for 2,265 yards and 22 touchdowns. The two-time Class 2A all-state selection also ran for 663 yards a season ago while scoring four times on special teams.

TyDarion Grier, jr., Fairfield Central (South Carolina)

The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder caught a state-best 73 passes for 1,110 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore for Fairfield Central. Grier was also on the Griffins’ state champion 4x100 relay team.

Carter Hays, sr., First Presbyterian Day (Georgia)

Hays caught 75 passes for 1,362 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2022, and once again he has four-star dual-threat QB Jakhari Williams throwing to him. 

Bishop Heard-Samuels, jr., Fredericksburg Christian (Virginia)

Heard-Samuels was a TD machine as a junior, catching 13 touchdown passes in 11 games with 897 yards. He also excelled at safety, where he notched another TD with a pick-six. 

Teddy Hoffmann, jr., St. Andrew’s School (Florida)

Hoffmann was a revelation as a sophomore last year, catching 54 passes for 862 yards and 15 touchdowns in 11 games. He’s off to a hot start in 2023, with 12 catches for 194 yards and two TDs through two games.

Davien Kerr, sr., Bloomfield (Connecticut)

Kerr co-stars with his twin brother Davion on both sides of the ball. Davien Kerr finished his junior year on offense with 992 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, plus another 855 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. He averaged 23.6 yards per catch and 12 yards per carry.

Justin Klotz, jr., Hopewell Valley Central (New Jersey)

Klotz set a single-game state record last season with 300 yards receiving, and he tied the state record with six touchdown catches in a game.

Austin Koslow, sr., Delaware Hayes (Ohio)

Koslow earned second-team all-state honors in Division I last season when he finished with 48 receptions for a program-record 1,092 yards and 11 touchdowns. Koslow helped the Pacers finish 7-4 for their first winning season since 2018.

Austin Knowles, sr., Medina (Ohio)

Knowles was the second-leading receiver on a pass-happy squad that had three 1,000-yard pass catchers last season. He finished with 1,366 yards and 17 touchdowns and is off to another hot start in 2023.

Tanner Mullins, sr., Community School of Davidson (North Carolina)

Mullins has the most receiving yards of any returning player in North Carolina, going for 76 receptions for 1,403 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior. 

Dionte Neal, so., Reidsville (North Carolina)

Neal, a two-sport star for Reidsville as a freshman, had 53 receptions for 730 yards and 10 touchdowns as the Rams advanced to the 2A state title game. He also starred as a point guard on the varsity basketball team.

Ashton Sensibaugh, sr., Dresden Tri-Valley (Ohio)

Sensibaugh finished with 43 catches for 1,047 yards and 15 touchdowns while earning second-team all-state honors in Division III as the Scotties went 9-3.

Thomas Smyser, sr., Dover (Pennsylvania)

Smyser was voted Class 5A all-state after catching 59 passes for 1,170 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior. He was also a defensive standout who piled up 61 tackles and four interceptions.

Jackson Sumner, jr., Brooks (Massachusetts)

Sumner earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors in Vermont last season as a junior after piling up 1,271 all-purpose yards and 23 touchdowns. He reclassified to the Class of 2025 in the offseason and transferred to the Brooks School in Massachusetts.

Blake Wallace, jr., Spanish River (Florida)

Wallace fell just short of a 1,000-yard receiving season as a sophomore, but he’s on pace to get there as a junior. Through three games he has 15 catches for 331 yards and four touchdowns.

(Payton Dykas photo by Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports