Just wanted to hear people's opinion's on the Wr unit going into the 2020 season.
We know what Taj can do.. We need him to double the amount he's given us. I think he will do that because he will have more opportunities than ever. Im hoping Hendrix stays healthy. He's the X factor in all this. He just lacks game reps. Might take some time to get acclimated. I think Cam can be serviceable. I just wish he could be more twitchy. Queeley might provide us something. I think he can help in the slot. He played most of his snaps there in HS and did damage. Nykeim should give us stability in the slot. He has a lot of experience. Im wondering how the the staff will use Benson. He looks like a guy that can play on the outside and also be a physical blocker in the screen game. I heard bad perimeter blocking was one of the reasons why they threw less Wr screens last year. Thoughts?
Assumptions: Barron starts off at WR, Carter and Pena start off at DB. I think Luke Benson might get a few snaps as a WR too but he is a TE and will be considered one for this exercise.
That leaves us with this group:
Taj Harris
Nykeim Johnson
Cameron Jordan
Sharod Johnson
Courtney Jackson
Russell Thompson-Bishop
Anthony Queeley
Ed Hendrix
Damien Alford
Justin Barron
Ja'Vontae Williams
Taj Harris
Taj is going to get a lot of balls thrown his way. Very disturbed he not only didn't gain weight from last year but is actually listed at 3 pounds less than 2019 (172 vs 175). No question he has a lot of talent.
Nykeim Johnson
Went from 41 catches and 13.8 ypc as a soph to 19 catches for 5.2 ypc as a junior. He had surgery and reportedly was not 100% during most, if not all of the season. His health is one of the keys for the season.
Sharod Johnson
Went from 7 catches and 13.9 ypc as a frosh to 1 catch for 0 yards as a soph. Not sure why. I don't think he was hurt. Anyway, the trend here is not a good one and with Nykeim and Courtney on the team, is there a significant role for another small guy? Probably not.
Courtney Jackson
From what I have seen, Courtney Jackson is a special playmaker and is going to fight his way into the rotation. He can catch, he can get open and he can run after the catch. I would not be surprised if he gets more catches than any WR on the team. That said, this is based mostly on his performance in a spring game and what I have seen of him in pre game warmups.
Cam Jordan
You can see a lot of similarities between Cam and Jamel Custis. Both are big, strong guys who can run. This offense needs a big, strong, physical guy who can block well on screens for other WRs can make tough catches in traffic. Cam is next in line for that role and I think he will step up and take it. Should get a lot of PT and make his share of catches, especially on 3rd downs and in the red zone.
I think one more WR will get some playing time. Another big guy who can block and make tough catches. Thompson-Bishop, Queeley, Hendrix, Alford and Barron all fit the bill. One of the first three is most likely because it is tough for a frosh to learn the assignments so early. I hope Hendrix is the guy because he has the mix of experience and talent to be really good this year. If he can't do it, it is really wide open and I could even see Alford or Barron step up and get some reps.
Of course, I still hope that Jawhar Jordan gets some reps at WR as well. I suspect the staff will find ways to get him some touches. They used a formation with two RBs a little. That might really work with Jordan this season. But I would like to see us try and get Jawhar the ball in space, on WR screens, WR reverses, stuff like that. Gotta find a way to leverage that weapon in this offense.