Am I the only person worried about receivers this season? I'm confident in the running game with Coleman returning and I'm expecting big things from Edmunds (he's looked good in the spring so far) and hopefully with the addition of Harris in the fall. The receiving game is scaring me though. Coles provides leadership, but he is coming off injury. I know he is reliable to catch the ball, but with his size and lack of speed, I'm a bit worried. Knowles is quick, but other than the GT game last year, he wasn't too much of a factor. I know Caleb is supposed to be a good edition, and Stanford has looked good so far in the spring as well. Asante did pretty well last year, too. I'm just nervous though, Fuller kinda came out of nowhere last year and did a wonderful job, and although Davis had the whole blocking ordeal, he made big plays when it mattered for the most part. What do you guys think about these young receivers stepping up?
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I think there is a lot of guys about the same level. That should produce a great deal of competition. My expectations:
- Assuming Coles stays healthy, I think he will be the primary option. Much like Davis (in the games he cared) last year or Wilford his last year, I expect Coles to push to break some VT receiving records this year. Davis had 51/953/5 last year. A healthy Coles could put up 60/1050/10.
- I'm too have reservations about Knowles, but if you see him as a complementary piece and not the next Andre Davis, then he fits well. He had 19 catches for 240, 1 TD last year. I could see 25/300/3. Same with Asante, he's a complementary piece.
- Stanford and Caleb provide the upside. It usually take a year or two for our receivers to come into being, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were #2 and #3 by the end of the year. Either or both should be in the Dyrell Roberts range from last year, 33/398/1.
- Guys like Smiling/Byrn/Meyer/Irick could also blossom and end up with 15-20 catches, especially if there are injuries. I could see Byrn being the 4th guy, the safety valve, all year.
But I think the big improvement will be in RB/TE catches. My guess is Malleck and McCray end up being the two guys. I could see either/both in the Andre Smith 2010 category with 20/200/5. I also think we'll see JCC surpass his 23/132/1 from last year....and...wait for it....maybe a functioning RB screen play that all RB's use for success.
The big worry is Coles health. If he's healthy, our worst case is Coles/Asante/Knowles get all the catches. Our best case is Coles is 1st team All-ACC, Stanford/Caleb are FR-AA and the TE/RB's are dangerous....with Asante/Knowles being the 4th WR's.
I think Thomas was locked onto Davis too much last year, which hurt the passing game (I know he set passing records, but not as efficiently as the year before.) Throwing to the RBs and H-backs will help Thomas move the chains and get that completion percentage up. McCray may see a lot of passes, and Coles/Caleb/Stanford will be great threats over the middle (Thomas likes to throw over the middle; maybe easier footwork for him?) And with Asante and Knowles stretching the field I think this year's group will spread the numbers around efficiently. With a ball control mentality (and an easier schedule than last year) I can see Thomas putting up 3000+ yds, but I don't expect anyone to go over 800 yds receiving. The improvement should be in the overall scoring, with lots of running the ball, short completions, and grinding down the clock in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Unfortunately this does not help the overall passing numbers.
Agreed with the Davis lock-on comment. You wonder how much of that was possibly due to Davis being in LT3's ear (get-me-the-ball kind of stuff). Constantly being in his ear could have caused him to give him more/longer looks than he should have received, forced throws, etc.
I am nominating Willie Byrn for the Corey Fuller 'where the heck did that guy come from' award this season.
I expect a better group than last year, better prepared and with much more consistency. Moorehead seems to hold these guys to a higher standard, which should help Thomas as well. Last year's passing game didn't materialize until the 4th quarter (if at all.) I think that was lack of preparation, consistency and understanding from both the WRs and the QB. There is no doubt our receiving corps has always had the physical talent to be an efficient passing team. No, the problem has always been preparation and execution, something I expect this year's group to be better at.
Speaking of wrs, it looks like carlis parker is in between qb and wr. Last week he was working with Loeffler and the qbs, this morning I just him running routes inside cassell. Hope they make the right choice for the kid, because he has some speed and athleticism and then some.
I get the feeling we will be surprised by the wide receivers this fall. I think the tight ends are going to be utilized more this fall, more so than just as run blocking and pass blocking, but as a legitimate receiving threat. Thomas to Drager plays have bailed out the offense often, and last season, there wasn't a real threat from the tight ends to consistently force the defense to take account of it.
Morehead sounds like he is keeping the receivers accountable. He is demanding a lot from them, and I think the more a coach demands, the more likely some will really embrace it and shine. Morehead fits Beamer's vision of a blue-collar, no-nonsense type of coach who will kick butt when needed, but offer encouragement and constructive feedback to improve the receivers.
We may not see much of a 3 or 4 WR sets from Loeffler, but I feel that Loeffler have some plays in his book to keep defense honest.
Obligatory #Dragerbomb
I kind of feel that having all these inexperienced WRs will help Moorehead shape them as he wants to. Blocking needs to be stressed.
It would be awesome if we could utilize the TEs more this year. Especially in the red zone.
If the TEs are used correctly they will open up the field and make the safeties honor the routes up the middle which will free up the outside for some one on one coverage. That will also mean that the RBs will be one on one with a LB which against most teams will favor the RBs that we have!