Top 5 Wide Receiver Performances of Week 3 College Football: Malik Nabers, Robert Lewis, more

Justin's NCAA college football top wide receivers from Week 3 of the 2023 season. Top WR performers include Malik Nabers and Robert Lewis.

Week 3 of college football is over and we saw a number of impressive performances this week. That includes two wide receivers who went over 200 yards, plus another five with over 150 yards. Some big-time performances from the wide receiver position this weekend.

One thing I want to do every week here (since there's not an article specifically for them) is shout out the top tight end of the week. This week, that honor goes to Colorado State's Dallin Holker, who caught six passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' overtime loss to Colorado. Washington's Jack Westover deserves a mention as well after catching three touchdown passes in a win over Michigan State.

Below are the top five wide receiver performances from Week 3 of the college football season. These are judged through a combination of statistics, fantasy scoring, and game context, with consideration also given based on the team's offensive systems. Let's take a look at this week's top performances.

5. Javon Harvey - Old Dominion

Javon Harvey had the weirdest stat line of the day on Saturday. He caught just three passes but finished with 166 yards and a touchdown, an average of 55.3 yards per carry.

What makes this even more interesting: Harvey didn't have a single reception coming into this game. An electric player, Harvey had two 100-yard receiving games last season and was expected to be a key piece of this Monarchs offense.

But maybe Saturday's game was an indication that Harvey's back on track. I mean, he made plays like this:

He also had catches of 57 and 41 yards in the close loss to Wake Forest. I expect to see a lot more big plays out of him as the season goes along.

4.  Nate McCollum - North Carolina

UNC wide receiver Nate McCollum missed UNC's first game of the season and had just one catch for eight yards in the team's second game against Appalachian State. Things weren't looking great for McCollum having a breakout campaign in his first season in Chapel Hill. The fourth-year wideout spent his first three seasons at Georgia Tech, catching 60 passes for 655 yards and three touchdowns last year.

But Week 3 was the breakthrough game for McCollum, who was just a target hog all game long. He ended up catching 15 passes in the game for 165 yards and a touchdown.

McCollum's 15 receptions were the second-most by any player this season. Interestingly, the only player with more happened this week as well, as Colorado State's Tory Horton caught 16 passes for 133 yards in the team's overtime loss to Colorado.

3. Eric McAlister - Boise State

Last season as a redshirt freshman, Boise State's Eric McAlister caught 11 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns. This season, he's already surpassed the reception number from 2022 and is well on his way to bettering the other numbers as well.

On Saturday against North Dakota, McAlister had the best game of his college career, catching six passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He's now up to 15 receptions on the season for 238 yards and two scores. He's been Boise State's top receiver, surpassing last year's No. 2 and No. 3 receivers, Billy Bowens and Stefan Cobbs.

2. Robert Lewis - Georgia State

Georgia State's offense has really excelled this season. The Panthers are 24th in FBS in scoring offense, averaging 39.3 points per game. A lot of that has been because of the legs of Marcus Carroll, but this week it was the passing attack that made an impact.

After passing for under 200 yards in each of the first two games of the year, quarterback Darren Grainger had 466 passing yards in Saturday's win over Charlotte. He threw three touchdown passes.

Two of those touchdowns went to Robert Lewis, who finished with six catches for 220 yards. Lewis, in his third season with the Panthers, had one career 100-yard game coming into this one. There have been signs that a breakout was coming, albeit not one at this level. In the season opener against Rhode Island, he caught seven passes for 97 yards and a score. He also found the end zone against UConn in Week 2.

1. Malik Nabers - LSU

LSU moved the ball down the field with ease on Saturday as the Tigers defeated Mississippi State 41-14. And the passing offense was a huge part of that performance.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 88.2% of his passes in the win, throwing for 361 yards and two touchdowns. And of that yardage, a whole bunch of it went to Malik Nabers.

Nabers, who had six catches for 67 yards against Florida State and five for 87 against Grambling, caught 13 passes on Saturday, finishing with 239 yards. He caught both of LSU's passing scores.

Near the end of last season, Nabers started to look like the next great LSU wideout. He finished with over 100 receiving yards in three of the team's final four games, including catching nine passes for 163 yards against Purdue in the Citrus Bowl. That had been the best game of Nabers' career. Now, this one is.

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