Recruiting Notebook: 2024 WR Ryan Wingo

Inside Texas takes a closer look at the fit and evaluation for St. Louis (Mo.) St. Louis University and On3 Industry Ranking five-star Ryan Wingo.

How he fits at Texas:

Wingo is an elite athlete with pretty rare proportions for a wide receiver. At about 6-foot-2 and 210 while still in high school, he’s the sort that would have played running back in most eras and quarterback for most teams today. But he plays receiver so his fluidity and long speed have already been put to work in executing double moves and various route running skills. With a 10.64 100m time to his name Wingo has deep threat speed and is clearly very comfortable playing like a Xavier Worthy type, moving around in space and torching people with pure speed. He could play at any receiver position, and probably will before he’s done as his team moves him around to find matchups. He could probably also play anywhere in the secondary including cornerback. The interesting dynamic to his game to monitor will be how well he uses his size to play up on the line of scrimmage in the boundary against a press-cornerback. There’s good reason to believe he could be very good at it and be a deep threat who commands a safety over the top at all times, either freeing up teammates or getting moved around so he can get involved. – Ian Boyd

Coach Says

Strengths — Excellent height and weight for the position. Size-wise can play now. Carries most of the weight in the upper body/chest. Longish arms (need a measurement). A fluid long-strider with excellent acceleration who just blows past people. Has some hip explosiveness evident in route running which is quite good at times. Route tree is well-represented on his film. Featured at every WR position on his HS film, he has a smooth and balanced get off with rarely a false-step. He destroys the cushion of the off-defender and constantly challenges the leverage. Gather steps and snap down are relatively smooth. Keeps good, consistent eye level and always selling the deep ball. Tracks the ball well over the shoulder and does well to track the poorly thrown ball (of which there seem to be more than a few). Has a nice, fluid catching motion with soft hands. He secures the ball quickly. As a runner after the catch is very competitive. A threat to score from anywhere with sprinter’s speed. Featured as a wildcat QB which speaks to the trust his coaches have in him and that he’s the best athlete on his team. Has an OC that knows how to get him the ball in every conceivable way. Plays defense flat-footed because he can. As a returner will track and field the ball cleanly. Eyes come down quickly and sets up the return. Sees the creases early. Gets upfield easily and looks like he could contribute on specials day one.

Areas for Improvement: Run blocking is unknown. Would like to see some agility work to refine his cuts. Is so much better than the competition, I’m not sure his weaknesses would stand out.

How this affects Texas

The Longhorns’ 2024 class needs a playmaker at wide receiver. The staff prefers Wingo takes that spot. Coming off a fantastic unofficial visit weekend in Austin that stretched from Friday to Sunday, Wingo left with a strong appreciation for the Texas program and a good idea of where he might play college football at the next level. Texas has two receivers in this cycle committed in Parker Livingstone and Freddie Dubose. The number appears to be three this cycle, Wingo would be a great No. 3. – Justin Wells

On3 PERSONAL LIFE

Ryan Wingo is the youngest in the successful Wingo family from St. Louis. In the Class of 2009, Ronnie Wingo Jr. was one of the nation’s most coveted athletes. Wingo had a solid career with Arkansas, rushing for more than 1,090 yards. He played pro football with the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Then in the 2014 class, Raymond Wingo was a four-star defensive back that played at Missouri. Next in line is Ryan, and many believe little brother has the biggest upside. “Ronnie was tremendous, and Ray had big potential, too. But Ryan is special,” a veteran B1G coach told On3. SLUH recruiting coordinator Adam Cruz played with Ronnie in high school. He said it’s impossible to compare the siblings. All Cruz knows is that Ryan is one of a kind. “On the football field, he can do whatever he wants,” Cruz said. “His receiving numbers and skills speak for themselves. He threw a 75-yard touchdown pass (as a sophomore). Ryan took three back in the return game. He was our punter and was named all-conference at receiver and punter. He was also top five in the area in net punting average. There were so many times this past year he would just do something, and I’d be like, ‘Man, you are incredible,’ and he’d just laugh.”

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