Wednesday July 11, 2007

Opponent's Wide Receivers

Opponent’s Wide Receivers
Louisiana Monroe
The Warhawks were very young and inexperienced at wide out last year and took its medicine and played the young wide outs. This year they will benefit from having their top three wide outs return. LeGregory Sapp did not red-shirt and played sparingly as a freshman in 2005 but he gained from the experience and had a very good year last season. Sapp led ULM in receptions, yards and touchdowns a year ago. He is perhaps the biggest of the wide outs there. Darren McNeil had 25 catches for 256 yards and a couple of scores last season as a freshman. He made a nice transition after coming to the Warhawks as a quarterback.

Furman
The Paladins have become more balanced under Bobby Lamb but the running game is still what makes them go. They will miss Justin Stepp at receiver but return the other top two wide outs from last season. Patrick Sprague caught 33 balls for 481 yards and two touchdowns a year ago. R.J. Webb is a good looking athlete from Pickens that had 28 catches for 407 yards and a score last season.

Central Michigan
The Chippewas had one of the most productive freshmen receivers in the nation last year in Bryan Anderson. He was a first team all-conference player after recording 73 receptions for 867 yards and five touchdowns. Anderson is a long, lean wide out with terrific hands. He is a big-play guy as well. On the other side Central Michigan will start Justin Gardner who had a solid campaign last season with 36 catches for 476 yards and five touchdowns.

South Carolina
The Gamecocks will miss Sidney Rice in 2007. In my opinion Rice was one of the top two or three wide outs in school history. I would put him in the same class as other top USC receivers like Sterling Sharpe, Robert Brooks and Freddie Ziegler. Rice left Columbia after two outstanding seasons.

Kenny McKinley developed into one of the best number-two receivers in the nation last year. As a sophomore he had 51 catches for 880 yards and five touchdowns. McKinley is tough and hard-nosed. He has excellent hands as well. Now the question is can he step up and become the number-one guy in this offense and think he will prosper.

After McKinley USC has a bunch of guys that have showed signs of doing good things but none have proven a lot at this level yet. Freddie Brown surprised many when he had 14 catches for 147 yards last season. He is a possession receiver with good hands.

Moe Brown played a lot early in his true freshman season and caught nine balls for 74 yards.

Jared Cook looks the part but had crucial drops last season. The same can be said for Mike West, a former linebacker. West has great speed but has been inconsistent.

The staff felt like Larry Freeman would be Rice’s replacement but the spring resulted in mixed reviews from the JUCO wide out.

USC recruited several of the top receivers in the south in this class including Chris Culliver, Jason Barnes and Dion LeCorn.

Between Brown, Brown, Cook, Freeman, Culliver, Barnes and LeCorn USC should be able to develop a couple of compliments to McKinley.

SEC Wide Receiver Rankings
1. Florida-This is one of the most talented groups in the country. In my opinion Percy Harvin is a Heisman candidate and one of the most exciting players in America. Andre Caldwell and Jared Fayson are two of the top receivers in the SEC. This group is deep and talented.

2. Alabama-I love the duo of D.J. Hall and Keith Brown. Hall had over 1000 yards receiving last season and Brown also had a good season. Both are seniors and both have NFL potential. Bama is not deep here but their top two are as good as any in the SEC.

3. Arkansas-Some feel Marcus Monk is the best wide out in the SEC and I would only argue because of Earl Bennett of Vanderbilt. Monk is a freak of nature who had almost 1000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns as a junior. There is a drop off in talent and experience after Monk but Hog fans are interested to see former quarterback Robert Johnson’s transition to wide receiver.

4. Vanderbilt-Earl Bennett might be the best in the league. He has over 160 catches in his two seasons in Nashville. He is a star. George Smith is another very talented wide out.

5. Kentucky-Some think Arkansas’ Monk is the best in the league and some feel Vandy’s Bennett is the SEC’s top wide receiver but people in the Bluegrass State think its Keenan Burton. He is yet another receiver that had over 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Dickey Lyons is solid here as a number-two guy.

6. LSU-Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis are gone but LSU still has a talent here. Early Doucet is the top name and I think he could be poised for a huge senior campaign. Brandon Fell is another candidate for stardom. True freshmen Terrence Tolliver and DeAngelo Benton have unlimited potential.

7. South Carolina-See above.

8. Auburn-Courtney Taylor is gone but the Tigers return quality here with wide outs like Rodgeriquez Smith and Prechae Rodriquez who will be joined by red-shirt freshmen Montez Billings and Tim Hawthorne. Auburn also likes true freshman Tim Slaughter.

9. Mississippi State-Tony Burks is a big play receiver that averaged 24 yards per catch last season. Co-Eric Riley, Jamayel Smith and Aubrey Bell have experience as well. This is a solid group of Mississippi State’s quarterback woes might hold them back.

10. Georgia-On paper this group should be better but they keep dropping balls. Mohmamed Massaquoi is a player that I keep waiting on to make his mark. He has everything but has not been productive. Sean Bailey was missed last year but he returns from injury. Kenneth Harris, AJ Bryant and Demiko Goodman were all highly recruited but have not done a lot yet.

11. Tennessee-Not many schools in the nation will miss wide outs like the Vols will miss Robert Meacham, Jayson Swain and Bret Smith. Tennessee has big names here like Kenny O’Neal, Lucas Taylor, Quintin Hancock and Josh Briscoe and some will have to live up to their billing to make the void less painful.

12. Ole Miss-The Rebels return almost everyone here also. Dexter McCluster showed signs of brilliance last year early. Mike Wallace was productive in his sophomore season. Mico McSwain is a speed guy that has moved from running back. Marshay Green had a nice freshman season.

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