Hey All,
For Wide Receiver heading into 2021 we know Tayvion Robinson and Tre Turner are returning as starters, we know Kaleb Smith can be called on to make some catches. Assuming Payoute is healthy, we should get a decent glimpse of him as well.
What are your overall thougts on Wide Receiver?
Who surprises you?
Which Freshmen will contribute?
Here is a position breakdown by Roanoke Times on WR
Fuente is usually cautious about praising inexperienced players to prevent them from facing additional pressure as they develop.
That hasn't been the case with Da'Wain Lofton.
The hype surrounding Lofton started in the spring and has continued in recent weeks with him being identified as a freshman to keep an eye on through the offseason. Lofton's teammates on the offensive side of the ball and offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen have echoed that sentiment.
Fuente has also been complimentary about Lofton's fellow early enrollee Jaylen Jones.
Comments
Sometimes I forget that Tre is only a Junior, so I'd love to see him break out this year and give us two great years of having a dangerous WR1.
I guess he is technically a junior with COVID eligibility, but that doesn't mean he is planning on executing it as such. He's a three year starter and might be looking for this to be his "normal circumstance" senior season before the NFL or whatever is next in his life.
tldr; I think it's unwise to assume he will play two more years.
It would be highway robbery to steal away our fourth and fifth year of this glorious progression, though...
You fool, this isn't even my final form.
Man they didn't even take a new picture this year
I'm really curious to see what Payoute can do-his stock skyrocketed his senior year. He could be the deep threat we need (though not sure BB's arm could get the ball to him)
I think Kaleb Smith has a chance to stand out but we just need someone who can create some separation opposite of Turner. If we have Turner, Robinson/Lofton in the slot, Mitchell at TE, and another WR who can make some space, then we will be very formidable. Payoute, Jones, or Smith. Doesn't matter who, just need 1 to step up.
Kaleb Smith is slept on. I think he's really good in all facets of thenposition
At this point Lofton has been talked up so much that I don't think his contributions would be viewed as a "surprise," at least for me. Same goes for Payoute as we have been waiting for him to breakout for a few offseasons.
Jaylen Jones has also been talked up quite a bit, but he or Dallan Wright would be the ones who I would welcome "surprising" me this Fall. That little tidbit from JHam in the podcast about Wright wreaking havoc on the defense all offseason is something I really enjoyed hearing.
probably says more about me than anything else, but lofton and payoute have been talked up so much that i will be more surprised if they break out like gangbusters. like there's been so much chatter that i've been intentionally tempering my expectations
Daylen Wright
I think it will be pretty boring. Tre and Robinson will keep getting the majority of the snaps. Two or three others will share about 500 yards receiving in the rotation. Mitchell is the one I am most curious about. We have under utilized the tight end in the passing game in the past. Is that scheme or lack of getting through progressions? If BB creates time with his feet, I would like to see Mitchell targeted more.
Good take-we have the weapons (on paper)-a lot will rely on the Braxton's decision making and play calling (duh). If the defense is better (not sure how they could be worse) we have to have a better season...right....erm, right?
Right. The only position on defense taking a step back is Deablo's vacancy. Since then we are hearing that the starting transfer from Vandy is competing for playing time at safety. That is a good sign to me. I expect two steps forward from the D.
Disagree, this year I think we're gonna see a little bit more with the deep passing game then in the past. This is the best QB they've had for the system so far according to some of the coaches. Health is key, as we all know it's not the deepest behind QB1.
Our WR s need to get separation from their defenders. This seems to be the most glaring issue from our WR group from last year. Whoever can get separation will be in demand for the ball. Hoping we have someone step up for this season .
What would surprise me is 1. Tre Turner staying healthy all season, and 2. Corny really using Mitchell as a weapon in the passing game more effectively. Other than that, I'll be pleasantly surprised if Payoute and Lofton are major contributors- that would mean our offense would be pretty deep and effective.
If Corny is half the coach he is supposed to be (to be a D1 OC), he should have watched how UF used Kyle Pitts and taken some ideas and concepts.
I feel like Mitchell was used pretty well last year and expect to see him get more targets when teams run man coverage on us.
I think the most innovative play he has come up with for Mitchell in the past is that quick hand-off inside the 5 yard line. It has had such a high success rate on scoring touchdowns. I hope to see some more unique ways to get the ball in his hands.
Turner, Robinson, Mitchell, Payoute, and Lofton all have more than 10 carries each
me: he means receptions
me: eh
We have a lot of bodies - jury's still out on how good they will be - the WR room has been under construction since Fuente arrived and we haven't seen any real WR threats develop in his first five years so my expectations are heavily tempered.
If any receiver breaks out and has at least 800 yards and more than 8 TDs I'll be pleasantly surprised. Doubly surprised if we get 2 such breakouts. I suppose the smart money would be on Tre, Robinson or Mitchell. Their yards and TD stats for 2020 were, respectively, (529,3), (592,3), and (435,4). The last time we had a WR close to these types of stats was Hazleton in 2018 (802,8) so it's not at all an unreasonable benchmark to hit.
I'm not sure how you define contribute - I think at least a couple freshmen will play and have a few catches - perhaps even a TD or two. I think it's unlikely any freshmen have more than 400 yards and 4 or 5 TDs
This will be one of the TKPC previews starting next week (it has been in the can since early July.)
The full lineup:
1) Complete breakdown of Braxton B as a passer
2) Close look at the defensive line
3) Young WRs roles
4) UNC Defensive Preview
5) UNC Offensive Preview
via GIPHY
Our WR's stats will depend on how much progression BB has made this offseason and if he can stay healthy. If he goes down with an injury it might not matter if we have Julio Jones as a wr, we need a qb that can get them the ball. My prediction is Robinson leads the group in catches/yards, then Tre, Mitchell, Smith, Lofton, Gallo, Jones
Yep. Hard to draw conclusions from the camp footage, but seeing underthrows where the WR is slowing down on uncovered vertical routes is not super inspiring
CornFu QB development has been the island of misfit toys. Willis can throw bombs but can only throw bombs and makes way too many risky throws/turnovers. Quincy Patterson can only be trusted to be a battering ram, huge arm but can't hit the broad sign of a barn. BB super fast, has the quicks and instincts to be a threat in the read option game, but questionable arm strength at this point. Can he get the ball down the field consistently?
I'm excited about Burmeister using his 23mph speed to get behind the defense on some trick plays and covert those in to some wide-open 50+ yard scores.
Echoing sentiments above, I'd just be surprised if we get 4 guys with more than 20 catches.
You're gonna be shocked then
in 2020 we had 3 guys with 20 receptions - Robinson(38), Turner(34), and Mitchell(26)
in 2019 we had 5 guys with 20 receptions - Turner(34), Hazleton(31), Robinson(31), Keene(21), and Mitchell(21)
in 2018 we had 6 guys with 20 receptions - Hazleton(51), Kumah(42), Grimsley(31), Keene(28), Turner(26), and Peoples(21)
in 2017 we had 3 guys with 20 receptions - Phillips(71), Savoy(39), and Kumah(28)
in 2016 we had 4 guys with 20 receptions - Ford(79), Phillips(76), Hodges(48), and Rogers(24)
Over Fuente's first 5 years he's averaging just over 4 guys per season with 20 receptions or more. I think there is a fair chance we'll get 4 guys with 20 receptions if BB is healthy and accurate. I'm not convinced that BB has the arm talent that previous QBs have had and given his athleticism I'm sure it will be tempting for the coaches to use him more heavily as a weapon on the ground. If we don't get 4 guys to 20 receptions in 2021 I think it'll be because either BB doesn't throw it that much, or accurately, or he gets hurt part way through the season.
I do think it will be interesting to re-visit this after the season and do a post-
mortemseason analysis on the throwing gameFuente has been bullish on this team's passing game. Coaches do not typically blow smoke and are more likely to be guarded than speak of strengths. Last year, he was speaking very highly, in similar tone, about the rushing game. That panned out ok. So, I tend to lean toward trusting that the staff expects improvement passing whether by better receiving targets or a more elaborate passing structure. I do not think we will see any gunslinging from BB but I also tend to believe arm strength is an overrated skill at the collegiate level. I agree that if the passing game implodes, it will be in some way related to injury which could be to receivers, linemen, or qb. Another thing that could take away from the passing game is if we do not produce a respectable rushing attack out of the backfield. It should be interesting.
This is fair but I'm choosing not to buy that the passing game is viable until I see it first
This is an interesting point - conventional wisdom says that the running and throwing games need to complement each other - they both need to be threats in order to open up the other. Last year, though, we had a pretty good running game despite not having much of a passing threat (how much of that, though, is just on pure talent in KH?) so I suppose it is possible that we could have a solid passing offense without having much of a running threat. I tend to side with you, though, that a good running game will be important to open up the passing game. I don't have a lot of confidence in the rushing attack with the departures of some of the OL and, obviously, Herbert.
Fuente et al can be bullish on the passing game all they want - I still think this team has a bunch of question marks - I'm not comfortable with anointing BB as a real passing threat based on one game (against UVA, of all teams). QB is a big question mark for me. Could BB be the real deal? Yeah, sure. But he could just as easily not be. We're also razor thin so if he gets hurt (and history tells us there's a good chance he will) where do we stand? WR has been a big question mark for me ever since Phillips graduated and I haven't been impressed with how the WR room has looked in a long time. I hope they prove me wrong but I'm not holding my breath. RB is also a big question mark for me - Herbert seems to be the only RB who has looked really good in this offense. We have 85 RBs in the room but none of them have showed promise of replacing KH without much drop-off. We'll see. OL is the only group that I feel reasonably comfortable with and that's based solely on the job Vice has done in recent years. It hasn't been pretty at times but that has been the best unit on our offense for a few years now.
According to Corny on the new podcast Laze is doing with him and Hamilton, Payoute is dealing with an injury in camp already....and it doesn't sound like it's the old one lingering.
Hammy, nothing too serious, taking extra precautions to make sure nothing long term
I sure hope so. Hammy injuries can linger for a season