1) Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State
When making this list, the easiest pick was the one at the top. Blackmon holds onto this spot after winning the Biletnikoff Award and consensus All-America honors as a sophomore.
There are improvements, and then there are Blackmon improvements. As a redshirt freshman, Blackmon caught 20 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. He obliterated that as a sophomore, catching 111 passes for 1,782 yards and 20 touchdowns. Perhaps most impressively, he put up those numbers despite sitting out the Kansas State game via suspension. Had he not been suspended, Blackmon would have had a shot at Michael Crabtree's high marks.
He already holds the NCAA record with 12 straight games with 100 yards and a touchdown, a string that shouldn't end any time soon. His 1,782 yards marked the sixth-highest mark in NCAA history. And he did it via explosive plays, averaging 16.1 yards per catch and boasting at least a 29-yard reception in each game last year. He had eight scoring plays of longer than 40 yards, and six of 62 or more yards.
Just how dominant was he? Well, his 148.5 yards per game was 14 yards per game better than anybody else in the country. Had he not been suspended, and had the Cowboys closed out the season with a win, putting themselves in the Big 12 title game, Blackmon would have had a legitimate shot at a 2,000-yard receiving season.
Over last season, Blackmon earned comparison to the man whose records he was chasing, because of similar size and a penchant for great route-running. But while Crabtree spent the year after his huge season banged up and not quite reaching expectations, a healthy Blackmon could imprint his name all over the Big 12 record books.
2010 Stats: 111 catches for 1,782 yards and 20 touchdowns
No. 2: Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles
No. 3: Baylor QB Robert Griffin III
No. 4: Oklahoma QB Landry Jones
No. 5: Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden
No. 6: Oklahoma LB Travis Lewis
No. 7: Texas DT Kheeston Randall
No. 8: Iowa State OL Kelechi Osemele
No. 9: Texas A&M RB Cyrus Gray
No. 10: Oklahoma State OL Levy Adcock
No. 11: Texas A&M WR Jeff Fuller
No. 12: Texas LB Keenan Robinson
No. 13: Oklahoma DE Frank Alexander
No. 14: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill
No. 15: Oklahoma DB Tony Jefferson
No. 16: Texas LB Emmanuel Acho
No. 17: Oklahoma DB Demontre Hurst
No. 18: Baylor WR Kendall Wright
No. 19: Oklahoma OL Ben Habern
No. 20: Oklahoma State OL Lane Taylor
No. 21: %%MATCH_34%% State LB Jake Knott
No.22: Oklahoma State S Markelle Martin
No.23: %%MATCH_60%% DL %%MATCH_50%%
No. 24: Missouri WR %%MATCH_59%%
No. 25: Texas Tech OL %%MATCH_46%%
No. 26: Missouri TE %%MATCH_42%%
No. 27: Texas A&M CB %%MATCH_45%%
No. 28: Texas DB %%MATCH_48%%
No. 29: Oklahoma DE/LB Ronnell Lewis
No. 30: Texas A&M RB Christine Michael
No. 31: Kansas OL %%MATCH_40%%
No. 32: Texas Tech OL %%MATCH_38%%
No. 33: Missouri DE %%MATCH_41%%
No. 34: Oklahoma WR %%MATCH_52%%
No. 35: Texas WR %%MATCH_56%%
No. 36: Texas DE %%MATCH_35%%
No. 37: Kansas State DB %%MATCH_43%%
No. 38: Oklahoma OL %%MATCH_57%%
No. 39: Texas Tech RB %%MATCH_47%%
No. 40: Baylor OL Philip Blake
No. 41: Missouri LB %%MATCH_44%%
No. 42: Texas DL %%MATCH_54%%
No. 43: Texas A&M DL %%MATCH_36%%
No. 44: Kansas RB %%MATCH_58%%
No. 45: Texas Tech S %%MATCH_55%%
No. 46: Iowa State CB %%MATCH_37%%
No. 47: Kansas State S %%MATCH_53%%
No. 48: Baylor DE/LB %%MATCH_49%%
No. 49: Kansas State DE %%MATCH_39%%
No. 50: Kansas DE %%MATCH_51%%