This Just In: We Need Some Help at Wide Receiver

Happy Halloween, y’all.

Want to know what is scary? The hands on our wide receivers.

Now, there is an exception, the guy pictured above is reliable as all can be, Jackson Anthrop. In fact, older brother Danny Anthrop, said this:

He ain’t wrong. Jackson is reliable.

But, what the heck is everyone else issues? Over the past two games, there has been 33 incompletions. I was counting, but I have lost track, but around half of those incompletions were actually drops. Sure, Sindelar needed to take some heat off at Rutgers, but they still hit them in the hands. Then you have a drop this past weekend, from Isaac Zico, hello, facemask.

It has been bad, the drops, as a fan are so frustrating, we get so upset at the quarterbacks but some responsibility has to fall on the guys getting hit in their damn hands.

So, what does it look like we have coming? Who is returning? Who do we lose? I am here to tell you, our guys need a lot of practice, these things can be fixed, but it is something that college coaches don’t want to have to teach for 30 minutes a practice. Show the diamond, look it in, tuck and run.

The Seniors:

Gregory Phillips

Anthony Mahoungou

Both of the seniors have played a bunch this season. They have helped fill the void for the first year of Coach Brohm’s career. I really like Mahoungou’s size, about 6’3”, 215 pounds, he is a big body receiver that blocks well, which will be missed. Phillips also is a good blocker, but has a serious case of the drops, a big reason he didn’t play much his first three years.

Returning for Senior Year:

Jarrett Burgess

Corey Holmes

Isaac Zico

Terry Wright

Before Brohm got here, Burgess would have been the only senior wide receiver for 2018-2019, which is fine if you have dudes younger. We lack that too. So, he went and got Holmes from Notre Dame, Wright from Junior College and Zico from Junior College. So far, this group has been disappointing. It has taken time for them to learn the playbook, as they got here in the summer. They are all lightning quick, so if the hands issue can be resolved, we might have another year of cushion at the wide out spot. Wright and Zico played quite a bit this past weekend, with the big face mask drop from Zico.

Returning for Junior Year:

Malcolm Dotson

So, if Brohm didn’t get those JuCo guys.. You see the depth problem here? A former walk on from Cathedral. Dotson does contribute as a special teams gunner though and even has a fumble recovery at Missouri.

Returning for Sophomore Year:

Benaiah Franklin

D.J. Edwards (Redshirting this year)

Tyler Hamilton (Redshirting this year)

Jackson Anthrop

KeyRon Catlett

Ryan James?

Noah Ellison

So, of this group, uh, you have Jackson Anthrop with game experience, outside of special teams. Franklin and Anthrop are both redshirt freshman and the other five are true freshmen with James and Ellison as walk ons. Are you guys seeing the issue here? Not much playing experience and a lack of depth. Of this group, I do believe that Franklin can be a guy that could help us, he is 6’2” and is pretty athletic. DJ Edwards is another guy, he was a January enrollee and could be our next outside wide receiver. Hamilton was a 4-star recruit by some services and could be a great slot receiver.

Incoming Freshmen:

Jordan Bonner

Cornelius McCoy

I think we need one more for this class of freshmen wide receivers. Bonner is a 6’3” wide out from Georgia, he could be the outside receiver of the future. McCoy, on the other hand, is a slot guy, he is a 4.4 forty type wide out and at 5’10” 165, his stature is meant for the slot.

There is no denying it. We need help at this position. The Legend and I were talking earlier, I would not be surprised if there is some JuCo help on the way, to help shore up that weak junior class of just Malcolm Dotson. This would help alleviate some growing pains for the young wideouts that we have coming up.

We have the coaching staff to develop these guys, they just need time. I know they will improve, but recruiting will also have to improve in this area from the old staff.