Ole Miss Football Lands Trio on Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List; Rebels Tied for Most Selections on List in Nation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – (Release) Three Ole Miss football wide receivers – junior Cayden Lee and seniors De’Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace III – have been named to the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, as announced by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation on Wednesday morning.

Ole Miss is tied with defending national champions Ohio State for the most Biletnikoff watch list selections at three apiece, ranking ahead of Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, Penn State and Texas Tech – which each have two honorees.

Those three Rebels are among 47 total pass catchers nationally on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given out annually to college football’s outstanding FBS receiver. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football’s outstanding receiver, not merely college football’s outstanding wide receiver.

The award is named after Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame who was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978, and was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI.

Cayden Lee

Lee – a junior native of Kennesaw, Georgia – enters his third season with the Rebels and is Ole Miss’ top returning receiver from the historic 2024 passing attack that set school records in total yards (6,845), yards per play (7.3), passing yards (4,561) and passing yards per game (350.8). Lee hauled in 874 yards and two touchdowns on 57 catches, and ended the season as PFF’s top-rated FBS receiver in terms of drop rate with a season grade of 93.2. Lee played all 13 games and started 12 for the Rebels in 2024, and his 57 receptions last fall finished 16th in Ole Miss single-season history. Lee’s 20 catches of at least 20 yards ranked second in the SEC and seventh nationally, while he also finished the year ranked SEC top-10 in receiving yards per game (8th, 67.2), receptions per game (8th, 4.4) and receiving yards (9th, 874).

De’Zhaun Stribling

Stribling joined Ole Miss this spring after two-year stints with Washington State and most recently at Oklahoma State, where he tallied 41 career appearances. He’s hauled in 161 catches in four years at the NCAA Division I level, for over 2,000 total yards. Stribling enjoyed a breakout season for the Cowboys in 2024, where he paced the team with 882 receiving yards while bringing in six touchdowns. At Washington State, he led the team in every receiving category as a sophomore in 2022. He was a 2021 All-Pac-12 honorable mention after leading all Pac-12 freshmen in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Harrison Wallace III

Wallace came to Ole Miss after a four-year career at Penn State. The Montgomery, Alabama, native made 84 catches for the Nittany Lions while hauling in six touchdowns. Wallace is coming off a career-year which saw him rank second for Penn State in receptions (46) and receiving yards (720). Wallace was the No. 54 ranked player in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports, and the No. 16 receiver. Wallace’s best performance at Penn State came against West Virginia in the 2024 season opener, where he hauled in a career-high 117 receiving yards with a pair of touchdowns.

The Biletnikoff Award’s semifinalists, three finalists, and award recipient are selected by the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of 600 prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, Biletnikoff Award winners, and other former receivers. Receivers are frequently added to the watch list as their season performances dictate. Actual, not potential, performance is the basis for inclusion on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.

Semifinalists will be announced Nov. 17, with finalists unveiled on Nov. 25 and the winner announced live on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards show on Dec. 11.

The Biletnikoff Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients since 1935.

Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2025 preseason watch list calendar:

Thu., Aug. 7 – Davey O’Brien Award
Fri., Aug. 8 – Mackey Award / Rimington Trophy
Mon., Aug. 11 – Bednarik Award

Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics