law_bee
Dodd-Like
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2001
- Messages
- 6,391
Master B\'s take on WR\'s
http://pub210.ezboard.com/fthehivefrm1.showMessage?topicID=10832.topic
http://pub210.ezboard.com/fthehivefrm1.showMessage?topicID=10832.topic
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Subject: Pre-Spring Football Position Analysis: Wide Receiver
Posted By: Master B Registered User
Posted At: 3/3/03 9:30:52 am
Reply
In case you missed past discussions:
Offensive Line
Fullbacks
There is plenty to talk about with our basketball team having a disappointing season and our #1 and undefeated baseball team tearing up every team they face. But all I can think about is Football! Today the discussion turns to our wide receivers.
Wide Receivers
Players lost from last year:
Kerry Watkins
William Glover
Additions:
Chris Dunlap
Position Depth:
SE: Levon Thomas, Nate Curry, Xavier McGuire, Dennis Davis
FL: Jonathan Smith, LaKeldrick Bridges, Mark Logan, Chris Dunlap
Stats from last season:
Jonathan Smith: 12 games, 36 receptions, 430 yards, 3 TDs, 11.9 YPC
Levon Thomas: 12 games, 20 receptions, 222 yards, 1 TDs, 11.1 YPC
LaKeldrick Bridges: 09 games, 11 receptions, 198 yards, 1 TDs, 18.0 YPC
Mark Logan: 11 games, 06 receptions, 055 yards, 0 TDs, 09.2 YPC
Nate Curry: 10 games, 01 receptions, 007 yards, 0 TDs, 07.0 YPC
Comments:
Those familiar with my take on football know that I have a particular interest in the WR position. I pay closer attention to it than any other position and I'm usually most critical of it as well. With that said, this position is a real concern for me as we head into spring. We are parting with our top two receivers from last year Kerry Watkins & Will Glover. The two combined for 118 receptions, 1,484 yards, and 8 touchdowns. The 5 players that we return combined for 74 receptions, 912 yards, and 5 touchdowns. That means that we are heading into a real unknown area with this group of receivers. Certainly there is a good amount of talent there to begin with but the experience is lacking for the most part.
Our top returner at WR is Jonathan Smith. Next to Tony Hollings, I consider him to be the biggest "play-maker" on our offense. Last year he did some of everything. He played receiver, he ran the ball and even played some Quarterback. This is just a guy you want to get the ball to. Last spring "Fred" created daily highlight material. He made play after play and was the biggest surprise of the spring (along with TH). He sustained an injury in fall and never really showed the guy he was in spring, except for a few glimpses. Well now it's his time. He is the only senior on the receiving corps and he'll be looked to when we need plays. I suspect we will see some great moments from Fred in 2003; I just want to see him healthy (first of all) and then being consistent. He also put the ball on the ground a few times last year, so I'd like to see him take a little better care of the ball. No questions asked: He should be our top receiver next season.
You'll likely get many opinions on who will be our "number two receiver". Certainly it will come from the group of Levon Thomas, Nate Curry, and LaKeldrick Bridges. Xavier McGuire, Mark Logan, & Chris Dunlap round out the group but I expect lesser contributions from those three. And in Dunlap's case, a redshirt may be in the stars for him. As for my guess on #2, I'm going with the man that came on strong at the end of the season... Levon Thomas (in a close call).
Levon reminds me somewhat of Dez White. His hands are good but not great, but when he has the ball in his hands he's the most dangerous receiver we have in the open field. He's got good size, speed and strength and is tough to bring down. Although I don't see him as our best option for the deep ball, I see him as a guy that can take a lot of punishment and pickup a lot of "tough yards". Levon had 17 of his receptions over the final seven games of last season. It was encouraging to see that his 4 best games of the year were against UGA (best game), FSU, NCSU & Maryland, arguably the best teams on our schedule. With a lot of big games early on the schedule next season, I don't expect Levon to shy away from the challenge. I expect a big start for him. Hopefully he'll really get his confidence up with lots of reps in spring.
I had a tough time picking Levon over LaKeldrick Bridges because I think he's probably our "big-play receiver". He could end up with more yards than Thomas over the course of the season but I expect Levon to be a guy we go to more often. Bridges is probably our fastest receiver and blew away the others last year with an 18 yard average per catch. He did a great job of coming down with the ball when thrown to him deep last season but I though he sacrificed some yards after the catch by leaving his feet too often to secure the ball. I certainly couldn't complain after a nice play like that but I always thought he was capable of bigger plays. Hopefully he will be helped out in that respect by having the throws keep him "in stride" more this year. If we stay in a lot of 3-receiver sets, I expect to see him a whole lot, but certainly he is also one of the favorites to be the starter in the 2-receiver formations. Speed kills baybee, and Bridges is the perfect change-up for a solid running game. His speed and wiry frame reminds me of former FSU receiver Snoop Minnis. One thing is easy to predict. With the opportunities available to them with Watkins & Glover graduating, either Bridges or Thomas (or possibly both) will be a break out player this year.
Next is the biggest wild card of them all. Here's a guy that could throw off all of my previous predictions if he returns healthy and to his form of two seasons ago. Nate Curry is a guy we really missed since his promising season of 2000, where he had 22 receptions for 298 yards and 2 TDs. He appeared to be on his way to a starting spot in 2001 but sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in preseason drills that August. After sitting out the season he came back in June of 2002 and broke his left kneecap. It's hard to believe Nate only has 1 catch in 2 seasons. He all hope he gets back close to the guy he was before the 2 injuries. How he fits into the rotation with the rest of the regulars in spring will be as interesting as any question posed about our receiving corp.
Probably the next most interesting question is how we use newcomer Xavier McGuire next year. X is easily our tallest receiver at 6'3". He took a redshirt last year because we had good numbers and 2 senior receivers that were able to carry most of the load. Now we see how he fits into the equation. Will he be a possession guy and someone that the QBs can lob the ball up to and take advantage of the smaller corners? Time will tell. From what I saw of him in fall practice, he needed some work on his consistency. He made some great one-hand catches on balls he had no business catching but then mishandled others he should have had. Hopefully he has grown with a season under his belt and will be a good contributor next season. This spring will be a big chance for X to show how far he's come.
Former QB, Mark Logan, rounds out the group of players we will likely rely on next season. He only had 6 catches last year but 2 of them came against Maryland. He's got good hands but is not as quick as some of our other options at receiver. Mark is starting to look more and more comfortable as a receiver. There just haven't been enough balls to go around to give him a lot of work.
Chris Dunlap is our lone WR recruit from this year. I was very happy with what I saw of him on the highlight reels from Signing Day. He and Adamm Oliver made the biggest impressions on me from their film. I'd imagine that we plan on redshirting Dunlap but if we sustain any injuries, our numbers at the position are where we may not be afforded the luxury of sitting him for a whole season. In film, he showed very good breakaway speed. He took a kickoff and a short pass the distance in those highlights. He's an interesting prospect but we'll just have to wait for fall to see what he can do.
Additional Rant (at no extra charge):
I think we have a pretty solid group of receivers right now from a talent level but we do not have the personnel right now to take it to "another level". We simply don't have the kind of playmakers at receiver that the Florida schools, for example, have had for years. We're really not even back up to the level of players that we've had here in the recent past. I'm not sure that we've properly replaced loses of Dez White, Kelly Campbell, & Kerry Watkins over the past couple of years. I think until we get more playmakers at receiver, we will be limited with what we can do offensively as far as getting back to being an offensive powerhouse. We've got receivers that can win games, but not quite the group that will win Championships. And that is the goal. The good thing here though is that this is an area that can be fixed quickly through recruiting. Talented freshman receivers have a good chance at making an impact early. We have a good base to work with but I'd really like to see us get that elusive consensus blue-chip player at receiver that we've come close on in recent years but have just missed. With these types of talents, you're going to have to win a recruiting battle against some great programs. I'd like to see a similar effort like the one Coach Nix pulled off with Kenny Scott this year. Next recruiting season though, I'd like to see him focus on one of the top receivers around. There will be plenty of PT that can be promised too because we'll be without Jonathan Smith the following season in addition to other recent loses. I think it really needs to be a priority with the next class and I have faith that Coach Gailey will really bring up the level of talent at this position in the near future.
I now open the floor for discussion on the wide receiver position!
*** Dennis Davis added ***
Davis should further add to the competition for the 2-deep positions and further make a case for redshirting Dunlap.
