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Need at WR

Caveman Catfan

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Sep 1, 2002
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“Wide receivers, again, I just feel like we’re very average there right now. We have nobody stepping up and making great individual plays for them. But I think the quarterbacks are a part of that as well. I think they’ve been inconsistent.”

We need WRs to step up. If the older guys are not getting it, we need the young guys or Wagner to grab the reins. This camp must produce some WRs. It’s way over due.
 
WR has been a concern with me for this team. It's just a very ordinary group at this time, ample time for somebody to step up, they just need to do it and disconcerting that thru the spring and early fall no one has.. Lack of top end speed is glaring.
 
I think some coach speak going on. They probably didn't have best scrimmage but Stoops challenged them early in spring as well then raved about them. It's a young group but talent is there.
 
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“Wide receivers, again, I just feel like we’re very average there right now. We have nobody stepping up and making great individual plays for them. But I think the quarterbacks are a part of that as well. I think they’ve been inconsistent.”

We need WRs to step up. If the older guys are not getting it, we need the young guys or Wagner to grab the reins. This camp must produce some WRs. It’s way over due.
I tend to agree but who said that? If it had been me you would have been on me like bark on a tree! :eek:

Amen, billoliver40. IMHO, receiving play begins with "catching the ball". And to that point, some guys just have better eye-hand coordination than others...but everybody has some. I suppose you can live with guys that "occasionally" drop the ball but you still have to throw it enough times to net out some kind of "passing offense". JMO.

Peace

EDIT: FWIW, I now see it was Stoops who made the statement regarding the WRs.
 
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Of course you have to be able to catch the ball, you're a WR at a P5 school. What separates the haves/have nots is separation speed. Look at Beckwith/Landry at LSU(BOTH 1000+ receiving yds their sr year), the great Bama WRs recently...all had plus speed to run way from DBs. Not sure there's anybody on UK's roster who can come close so their going to go the long way.
 
Some concern, but I don't understand all the woe is me posts. A big four star that has made some great catches in his fifth year, another four star that is supposed to be the second coming with a very valuable learning year under his belt, a proven starter that isn't that bad, and maybe the best TE in the country anxious to improve his draft stock-------with more backups than we have ever had.

If our QB can just manage the other talent we have I don't see a lot of problems, and Snell should help keep the D honest.
 
Of course you have to be able to catch the ball, you're a WR at a P5 school. What separates the haves/have nots is separation speed. Look at Beckwith/Landry at LSU(BOTH 1000+ receiving yds their sr year), the great Bama WRs recently...all had plus speed to run way from DBs. Not sure there's anybody on UK's roster who can come close so their going to go the long way.
I don't know if you are directing this at my earlier comments but there have been way more WR success stories of "slow" guys that could catch than "fast" guys that could not. Now if you can do both, great - you got a chance to play in the NFL. But in WRs, catch is first thing and route running second. You gotta have some speed but it is not anywhere near as important as catch and route running.

UofL did not have any what I would call "fast" receivers last year but still had a much better than average passing game (#15 nationally at 300 YPG) because they caught the ball. And they caught it from a passer who was not especially accurate (#59 nationally at 59.1%) and threw some 100 MPH fastballs. All JMO (but I'm sticking to it). :D

Peace
 
Oh my! My heart is aching right now that you feel that way. I can ... h.a.rdly...type ... so sad.

But, please tell us more about UL and Phil Steele so we may have a healing moment.
He ranks the Cards as the nation's #10 receiving group. But he does ranks UK as the nation's #30 secondary so that should even that future competition out. I hope you are feeling better now. [roll]

Peace
 
WR has been a concern with me for this team. It's just a very ordinary group at this time, ample time for somebody to step up, they just need to do it and disconcerting that thru the spring and early fall no one has.. Lack of top end speed is glaring.



I can put up with the lack of end speed if we just catch the ball.
 
He ranks the Cards as the nation's #10 receiving group. But he does ranks UK as the nation's #30 secondary so that should even that future competition out. I hope you are feeling better now. [roll]

Peace
Good for him. Now couple that info with a little loose change and you can get a cup of coffee, that's about all it's worth.
 
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He ranks the Cards as the nation's #10 receiving group. But he does ranks UK as the nation's #30 secondary so that should even that future competition out. I hope you are feeling better now. [roll]

Peace

Oh, sweetness, it’s not about me. So long as you are okay.
 
"Every receiver in our receiver core can honestly beat every one of their DB's in 1on1 coverage."

Louisville receiver Dez Fitzpatrick just gave Alabama some serious bulletin board material.



Yep; he did (if they still do that bulletin board stuff). He says that in the first 12 seconds of the clip. But if you listen to the whole 24 seconds you'll hear him identify a list of "ifs" (good protection, good drop, good routes, etc.) to qualify that "beat the DB in 1 on 1 coverage" statement. And, FWIW, some truth there.

1 on 1 pass coverage is probably the hardest single aspect of defensive play especially if you are not getting pressure on the QB. Of course, AL is pretty good about that as well. [winking]

Cards are a 26 point 'dawg for more than 1 reason.

Peace
 
Of course you have to be able to catch the ball, you're a WR at a P5 school. What separates the haves/have nots is separation speed. Look at Beckwith/Landry at LSU(BOTH 1000+ receiving yds their sr year), the great Bama WRs recently...all had plus speed to run way from DBs. Not sure there's anybody on UK's roster who can come close so their going to go the long way.

Speed is a valuable skill for a WR, but being able to run away from the DBs takes more than raw speed, it takes an accurate pass that allows him to catch the ball in stride to maintain and increase his speed. The fast guy will be caught if he has to slow down to catch the ball while the defender he has beaten can run full speed to make up the gap. But with so many fast athletes in secondaries now, it almost takes elite college sprinter speed to pull away. Lots of guys in the secondaries now who run sub 10.6 100m.
 
Some concern, but I don't understand all the woe is me posts. A big four star that has made some great catches in his fifth year, another four star that is supposed to be the second coming with a very valuable learning year under his belt, a proven starter that isn't that bad, and maybe the best TE in the country anxious to improve his draft stock-------with more backups than we have ever had.

If our QB can just manage the other talent we have I don't see a lot of problems, and Snell should help keep the D honest.
It seems we(the board) are finding more things to worry about as we inch closer to the first game. By the time it gets here we will probably be looking at a 3 -9 season at this rate.If we are down 24-10 at the half of the first game I'll be officially worried about everything but until then I believe we will be a better team than last year.
 
"Every receiver in our receiver core can honestly beat every one of their DB's in 1on1 coverage."

Louisville receiver Dez Fitzpatrick just gave Alabama some serious bulletin board material.



Yep; he did (if they still do that bulletin board stuff). He says that in the first 12 seconds of the clip. But if you listen to the whole 24 seconds you'll hear him identify a list of "ifs" (good protection, good drop, good routes, etc.) to qualify that "beat the DB in 1 on 1 coverage" statement. And, FWIW, some truth there.

1 on 1 pass coverage is probably the hardest single aspect of defensive play especially if you are not getting pressure on the QB. Of course, AL is pretty good about that as well. [winking]

Cards are a 26 point 'dawg for more than 1 reason.

Peace

Saban and the Bama secondary never got past the first 12 seconds.
 
Maybe next time he should say something like I feel we are very talented and can play with anybody instead of bragging EVERY one of them are better than Bama's guys.

Remember the Vandy kid running his mouth?
 
WR has been a concern with me for this team. It's just a very ordinary group at this time, ample time for somebody to step up, they just need to do it and disconcerting that thru the spring and early fall no one has.. Lack of top end speed is glaring.
I don't see how you can call them an ordinary group until you at least give them a chance to show what they can do. If the QB does his job, our receivers could be better than you think.
 
There are a whole lot of aspects to the passing game and often times it is really hard to diagnose what the real problem is. Was it a bad play call? Bad blocking? Poor qb play? Failure of WR to get open or bad route?

Last year I thought that the blocking of the offensive line on passing plays was pretty poor. Of course, part of that might have also been that we aren't getting open on the back end soon enough in order to make the plays. We also didn't see Johnson complete many of the downfield throws that he did a year ago. Hard to say whether that was Johnson not having the same touch, or if not having someone like Badet to get open was the problem. In some ways, no matter how you look at it, all three have to be improved in order for the offense to become more productive. The WRs don't necessarily have to have speed as much as they need to run crisp routes and have time to get open, and our QB needs to be able to make all of the throws in order to make it harder for defenses to key in on certain routes.

Passing should come a bit easier with Snell having linebackers creeping forward and we really should see our tight end benefiting greatly from this. Of course, last year we needed Conrad to act a bit as a fullback in order to help our running game. Ideally, our O-line doesn't need that help as much this year and Conrad can play a bigger role in the passing game.
 
There are a whole lot of aspects to the passing game and often times it is really hard to diagnose what the real problem is. Was it a bad play call? Bad blocking? Poor qb play? Failure of WR to get open or bad route?

Last year I thought that the blocking of the offensive line on passing plays was pretty poor. Of course, part of that might have also been that we aren't getting open on the back end soon enough in order to make the plays. We also didn't see Johnson complete many of the downfield throws that he did a year ago. Hard to say whether that was Johnson not having the same touch, or if not having someone like Badet to get open was the problem. In some ways, no matter how you look at it, all three have to be improved in order for the offense to become more productive. The WRs don't necessarily have to have speed as much as they need to run crisp routes and have time to get open, and our QB needs to be able to make all of the throws in order to make it harder for defenses to key in on certain routes.

Passing should come a bit easier with Snell having linebackers creeping forward and we really should see our tight end benefiting greatly from this. Of course, last year we needed Conrad to act a bit as a fullback in order to help our running game. Ideally, our O-line doesn't need that help as much this year and Conrad can play a bigger role in the passing game.
Truth.
 
Baker and Bowden need to Lead this group. We need them 2 to make plays and our TE's to get more touches in passing game to help take pressure off WR's.. Conrad must have his biggest year as a Cat as well if we are wanting 8+ wins IMO.
Richardson is gonna be the man in this group...IF we throw it enough. Running 60-65 ppg don't look for many touches.
 
Richardson is gonna be the man in this group...IF we throw it enough. Running 60-65 ppg don't look for many touches.
I agree. Richardson is very underrated. Baker and Bowden will get lots of looks too. I have said this before, I just don’t see 60% run this year unless all the QBs completely flop. Gran will pick a QB that can complete passes and open up the field. Snell may very well carry fewer times, but for more yards.
 
With our current lineup, I will be tickled if any of our quarterbacks can match a guy we spoke of in another thread...Dusty Bonner. Although not great arm strength, accurate enough to move the team down the field into red zone territory where the experienced O-line and Bennie Snell can pound away.
 
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Need at least one straight line speed guy to stretch the D now and then with a fly or go route but on almost every other route it's not as much about speed as it is change of speeds and feel for how to get open. It's like a point guard that is trying to shake his defender, he never just takes off on a straight line sprint, he has to sprint slow down, juke right, juke left, hesitate then take off and that's what route running is about. You dont' just run the route on the line that's drawn up on the board, a good WR feels where the DB is and like a good point guard moves him to where he wants him then makes the last move to get separation and get to the spot where the throw is supposed to be.

That ability and quickness are much more important to me that straight line speed but again you got to have at least one guy that can blow by when you've dialed up a play action and plan to throw it there no matter what and not sure we have one yet.
 
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Need at least one straight line speed guy to stretch the D now and then with a fly or go route but on almost every other route it's not as much about speed as it is change of speeds and feel for how to get open. It's like a point guard that is trying to shake his defender, he never just takes off on a straight line sprint, he has to sprint slow down, juke right, juke left, hesitate then take off and that's what route running is about. You dont' just run the route on the line that's drawn up on the board, a good WR feels where the DB is and like a good point guard moves him to where he wants him then makes the last move to get separation and get to the spot where the throw is supposed to be.

That ability and quickness are much more important to me that straight line speed but again you got to have at least one guy that can blow by when you've dialed up a play action and plan to throw it there no matter what and not sure we have one yet.
Epps, Baker, Hayes, Bowden, and Alexander have plenty of straight line speed. Richardson, Wagner, Hughes, and Dailey are probably faster than people think. While that is good, it isn’t as important as running great routes and catching the football.
 
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T Richardson is a solid WR, D Baker and L Bowden could be outstanding, D Bouvier has been great in fall camp, I Epps showed flashes last season, J Ali is a speedster as is Z Hughes .... could be a pretty good group.
I think the first 3 guys can be pretty good. Maybe Bouvier can keep it up and produce in games. Epps is a speedster but had inconsistent hands last year. Ali didn't look like a speedster last year but I didn't see him on the field enough to form a solid opinion. Hughes looked fast in the spring game but I think he had a couple of drops. Hayes sounds like a jitterbug. Alexander could earn some snaps and Dailey sounds better than advertised according to the last thing I read. But overall, we need more speed on the field than we had last year. Lack of a deep threat was one of the reasons our running lanes were clogged up early last year until we adjusted.
 
Epps, Baker, Hayes, Bowden, and Alexander have plenty of straight line speed. Richardson, Wagner, Hughes, and Dailey are probably faster than people think. While that is good, it isn’t as important as running great routes and catching the football.
And getting off the blocks !
 
Need at least one straight line speed guy to stretch the D now and then with a fly or go route but on almost every other route it's not as much about speed as it is change of speeds and feel for how to get open. It's like a point guard that is trying to shake his defender, he never just takes off on a straight line sprint, he has to sprint slow down, juke right, juke left, hesitate then take off and that's what route running is about. You dont' just run the route on the line that's drawn up on the board, a good WR feels where the DB is and like a good point guard moves him to where he wants him then makes the last move to get separation and get to the spot where the throw is supposed to be.

That ability and quickness are much more important to me that straight line speed but again you got to have at least one guy that can blow by when you've dialed up a play action and plan to throw it there no matter what and not sure we have one yet.

Good list.

TIMING is also very important, almost any good receiver will get open for a brief time, the secret is for the QB to get the ball to the right spot at the right time.
 
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Any receiver can get open for a brief time------a lot depends on whether or not the QB has three guys hanging around his neck by then.

I distinctly remember our high school QB completing a pass with three guys hanging on to him when I was in about the second grade. Played at UK.

Unfortunately you never ever heard of him, he was Babe Parilli's backup.
 
Tavin Richardson had a big catch today. Snell said Hayes is fast, hard to cover and catches everything. That is good to hear about the young guy.
 
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