LSU’s Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas have been selected among the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation announced on Monday.
In its history, LSU has had two wide receivers win the Biletnikoff Award. The first was former Rayne High star Josh Reed in 2001 and then Ja’Marr Chase in 2019.
LSU is the only program in the nation with two players named to the list of semifinalists.
Nabers and Thomas are college football’s top combination at wide receiver as they have combined to catch 135 passes for 2,445 yards and 26 touchdowns. Their 2,445 yards and 26 TDs are the most among any wide receiver combination in the FBS.
Individually, Nabers leads the nation in receiving yards with 1,424 and his 12 touchdowns rank fourth nationally. The former Comeaux High star has 80 receptions to his credit, which leads the SEC and ranks No. 5 nationally.
Nabers has eight games with at least 100 receiving yards, which includes a 13-catch, 239-yard, two-touchdown effort in the win over Mississippi State. His eight 100-yard games in 2023 ties Justin Jefferson for No. 3 in school history, while his 1,424 yards is the fourth-highest total at LSU.
Nabers enters the Texas A&M game with 2,861 yards on 180 receptions. He’s looking to join Reed as the only 3,000-yard receiver in school history. Nabers currently ranks No. 2 on LSU’s career receiving list for yardage and needs only four receptions to break Wendell Davis’ school record of 183 career receptions.
Thomas meanwhile has caught a TD pass in eight games and leads the nation with 14 touchdowns. He has 55 receptions for 1,021 yards.
It’s only the third time in school history LSU has had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in the same season as they join Jarvis Landy and Odell Beckham Jr. in 2013 and Chase and Jefferson in 2019 in accomplishing the feat.
Nabers and Thomas are joined on the list of Biletnikoff Award semifinalists by Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III, Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman, Oregon wide receiver Troy Franklin, Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette, Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze, and Virginia wide receiver Malik Washington.