The Biletnikoff Award, given to the top receiver in the nation, has been a precursor of what’s likely to happen at the position in the NFL Draft in recent years. In fact, only once in the past eight years has the winner not gone on to be a first-round selection. Last year, the award went to Travis Hunter, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy and eventually become the second selection in the 2025 draft. Yet this will be an off year, as the receiver who wins the award won’t end in the first frame, at least in 2026.

The three finalists include Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State, Makai Lemon of USC, and UConn’s Skyler Bell. Here are my predictions for who will win the 2025 Fred Biletnikoff Award.

 3) Skyler Bell/UConn Huskies

Bell turned in an incredible season for the Huskies, who are on their way to the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, where they’ll face Army. He doubled his pass-catching totals from 50 receptions a year ago to 101 this season. His touchdown total went from five to 13, and he increased his receiving yardage by almost 400 yards to 1,276. Individually, his pass-catching totals ranked second in the nation across the board.

He was an important cog in a balanced UConn offensive attack, yet he played on a team that did not face great competition, or at least the same level of opponents as the other two finalists. UConn football was never on national television, which hurts Bell’s chances.

2) Makai Lemon/USC

Lemon is another coming off a breakout campaign, and his receiving yards (1,156) and touchdown catches (11) both ranked fourth in the nation, while his 79 catches were more than 50% better than a year ago, when he caught 52 passes.

Lemon was far and away the leader of the Trojans’ offense, a unit that loves to throw the ball under head coach Lincoln Riley. He ran hot and cold throughout the season, putting up some magnificent performances against Iowa (10 receptions for 153 yards) and Illinois (11 catches for 151 yards) but struggling against archrival UCLA (one catch), Nebraska (two catches), and Notre Dame (four catches).

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The Trojans face TCU in the Alamo Bowl, which should be a great challenge for Lemon, as the Horned Frogs have a terrific secondary.

1) Jeremiah Smith/Ohio State

At face value, it seems like a copout to predict Smith to be the winner of this year’s Biletnikoff Award, as he has the fewest receiving yards compared to the others and just one more catch than Lemon.

One could argue that, from a statistical point of view, Smith ranks third amongst the finalists, yet there are multiple reasons why I believe he’ll win the award. Smith was more consistent than Lemon, as he caught 10 or more passes in one game this season, yet every other Saturday, he was grabbing 7-9 passes.

His level of competition was sturdier than the other two, as Ohio State started off the season against Texas, played Washington, then Penn State, Michigan, and finally Indiana in the Big Ten title game, all teams with terrific talent in the secondary.

People are also very familiar with Smith, considering he jumped off the page with a sensational freshman season in 2024, and let’s face it, Ohio State is on national television more than any other school not named Notre Dame.

And besides being a household name at the position on the college level, Smith was a big factor in the Buckeyes returning to the College Football Playoff for a second year. Your winner of the 2025 Biletnikoff Award is Jeremiah Smith, likely a top-three pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, the first year he’ll be eligible.