Cortez Hankton’s final wide receiver room at LSU is well-represented at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine.
LSU has four wide receivers at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine: Aaron Anderson, Barion Brown, Chris Hilton Jr. and Zavion Thomas. Hankton’s unit produced the most wide receivers of any school (and tied for the most players at any position group from one school) at this year’s combine.
Now that Hankton is the wide receivers coach at Ohio State, those receivers expect Hankton’s success to continue in Columbus.
“They're getting everything they need,” Thomas said Friday during his media interview session at the combine. “From an off-the-field standpoint, he's always somebody you can pick up the phone and call when you have off-the-field problems. And on the field, his résumé speaks for itself.”
Asked to name someone who’s played a key role in helping him prepare to play in the NFL, Thomas identified Hankton.
“He guided me this whole way. He taught me things that I didn't know. Showed me the ropes. And he had guys before me, guys that played a long time and still in the league right now,” Thomas said. “So just understanding that he's going to lead me in the right direction, I always pick up the phone and call him.”
Thomas, who caught 23 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns in his first season at LSU after transferring from Mississippi State in 2024, but made 41 catches for 488 yards and four touchdowns in 2025, credits Hankton’s coaching with taking his game to a new level.
“Compared to my junior year to my senior year, he turned me into a whole different receiver,” Thomas said.
Anderson, who led LSU with 61 catches for 884 yards and five touchdowns in 2024, said Hankton always coaches his receivers hard on the field but shows them he cares about them off the field.
“His coaching style, it reminds me of the coaches I had in high school,” Anderson said. “He's not going to let up; even if you understand what's going on, he's still going to be hard on you. And he's going to give his 100% on and off the field. He's always going to be there.”
LSU WR Aaron Anderson on new Ohio State wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton: Hes not going to let up; even if you understand what's going on, he's still going to be hard on you. And he's going to give his 100% on and off the field. Hes always going to be there. pic.twitter.com/HChoiJ3cQd
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) February 27, 2026
Hilton, whose five-year career at LSU started before Hankton’s arrival in 2022, said Hankton helped him develop a more advanced knowledge of the game.
“Understanding the fine details of things, like not knowing just the surface level stuff,” Hilton said. “Being in his room, I've been more of the guy to ask the questions like, ‘OK, I understand the route structure, but what's the quarterback’s read on this particular play?’”
“He turned me into a whole different receiver.”– Former LSU Wide receiver Zavion Thomas on Cortez Hankton
Like Thomas and Anderson, Hilton also talked about the impact Hankton made on him off the field when asked about his former position coach.
“Really just an all-around good guy, fun guy to be around, and it's bigger than football with him,” Hilton said. “So he wants you to be successful not only on the field but off the field, too.”
LSU WR Chris Hilton on Cortez Hankton: Really just an all-around good guy, fun guy to be around, and its bigger than football with him. So he wants you to be successful not only on the field but off the field.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) February 27, 2026
Hilton said Hankton taught him the fine details of playing WR. pic.twitter.com/X0fgg2P9H9
Anderson, Brown, Hilton and Thomas – all of whom are projected as potential late-round draft picks – look to join three other receivers coached at LSU by Hankton who were selected in the NFL draft: 2024 first-round picks Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., and 2023 sixth-round pick Kayshon Boutte. From 2018-21, Hankton also coached four NFL draft picks at Georgia: 2022 second-round pick George Pickens, 2019 second-round pick Mecole Hardman Jr., 2019 fourth-round pick Riley Ridley and 2019 seventh-round pick Terry Godwin.
Now, Hankton is tasked with continuing the tradition of elite wide receiver play built by Brian Hartline at Ohio State, where Carnell Tate is poised to become the sixth Ohio State wide receiver drafted in the first round in five years.
