Senior wide receiver Jared Richardson had quite the senior year for the Quakers, leading the squad in receiving yards with 1,033 — good for second in the Ivy League. Richardson became the sixth Quaker in history to crack 1,000 receiving yards in a season and the first to do so in eight seasons.
The senior was third in NCAA Division I in receiving yards per game, averaging an elite 103.3 yards per contest, making him one of only three players across both the FBS and FCS to average over 100 yards last season.
The wideout also led Penn in receiving touchdowns, racking up 12 on the season — a mark that led not just the Red and Blue but the conference as a whole.
Richardson’s path to Ivy greatness was as unorthodox as they come. The receiver was a quarterback in high school, but received no Division I offers to play signal-caller at the collegiate level. Penn reached out to Richardson, recruiting him to play receiver — a position change that would prove to make its mark on Penn football history.
After not seeing the field his freshman year, Richardson exploded for 788 receiving yards in his second year, nabbing eight touchdowns in the process — the start of what would be a legendary Ivy career. The senior went on to accumulate a total of 2,505 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns.
Richardson is no stranger to awards. The senior was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and became the first Penn player to be recognized for Preseason First-Team All-America honors since former Penn wide receiver and 2017 Wharton graduate Justin Watson in 2017.
Richardson has committed to Duke for the 2026 football season, where he will use his final year of eligibility.
Honorable mentions: senior high jumper Kampton Kam (men’s track and field); senior guard/forward Ethan Roberts (men’s basketball)
Check out the rest of the end-of-year awards for the 2025-26 season here.
