Palmetto Proving Grounds

I am sure you'll blame Bubba for this. It's really sad, we have had the best WR corps in the history of the school during the Bubba era. The only exception that even comes to mind was Sharpe and Brooks together, but they were not much better than Rice and McKinley IMO. Here are a few simple facts. Bubba is one of the best WR coaches in the country. Recruiting has improved since he was named recruiting coordinator. We will a lot of success throwing the ball, even though we are a run dominated team.

Moore may not be an All- American, but outside of the big three in the Spurrier era, which non-star was able to even crack the All-SEC teams? I can't think of any and we have been quite successful passing the ball, well when Garcia wasn't busy trying to throw it to the other team.

Good blocking WR's are the difference between a 10 yard gain and taking it to the house in most instances. We are a running team.

Jr is the HC's son. It doesn't matter what any of us think.

I can see that. I'll add though that he did lose Alshon to the draft early. Ace is an upperclassmen now. Hard to say he isn't mature or talented. Then you have Moore and Smith, Moore who has played some, and Smith who was stuck behind Alshon(hard to blame Smith for lack of playing time, but go right ahead). Bubba also has a lot of input with the TEs(do we even have a TEs coach now?) and you have Justice Cunningham who is a great developmental story(like McKinley). Busta Anderson exploded onto the scene last year, gotta give Bubba credit for that as well.

As for the lack of upperclassman WRs, I just can't recall who has failed at the position, and why the low numbers. If Alshon had come back, we would have had only two seniors and two juniors. Those numbers are slim, and I don't have an explanation for that. Is it attrition, lack of recruits or what? I'd love to have this conversation but I honestly don't have the time at this moment to go back through the classes and see why we are so thin. If you want please go ahead, otherwise I'll wait until this evening when I can really look at it to post some numbers.

This is an incredible post. Lol.

My favorite thing about this thread is that it began by bashing Junior for not doing something that he in fact was doing.

My second favorite thing about it is that the orignal poster was adamant that our offense needed to be redesigned and its emphasis totally changed so that we could create opportunities for two guys that combined for 18 catches next season.

My third favorite thing is that it was started after the second practice in shorts. Again, criticizing the staff for not doing something they were in fact already doing.

It is interesting because, the WRs were probably the group that was among the least responsivle for lackluster passing offense last season.

the QB play and pass blocking were below average for the majority of the season, which had a lot more to do with it than the WRs did.

As far as recruiting, the 2007 WR had a lot of misses in it, though they would all have gone anyway.

I personally think that our WRs will have a pretty decent year and that we have a lot of guys with a great deal of potential.

But I do not think we will be slinging the ball around like passing teams do, so I doubt we will see the monster stats from second, third and fourth WRs that people seem to think is reasonable. We are better running it. I suspect that our QB will not be confused for Danny Weurffel and that our OL may still be somewhat shaky in pass protection. Hope I'm wrong about that, but I'm not really seeing a whole lot of reason to believe otherwise.

I suspect that we will throw it somewhat more and that our passing offense will be more effective, but I think we will still be a running football team. And running football teams need to have effective blocking WRs. IMO, anyone that scoffs at the idea that a WR's playing time will depend on his blocking ability doesn't really get what our most successful team in school history was about. If you look at last year's team and think we need to choose personnel based on slinging it around, you'd be certifiable. If it turns out that we are radically better pass blocking and throwing then we were last year, it would still probably be unwise, but more understandable. Personally, i think it is good to take the whole fall to figure out what we have and what we are good at doing. I doubt the mighty mite formation is the best way to go, but maybe time will show otherwise.

I used the 247 recruiting database going back to 2010(as far back as it goes) and Yahoo for 2008 and 2009. If I left anyone off please let me know.

2008
Gurley
Moore

2009
Alshon
DeeDee Smith
Scruggs
Bennett

2010
Nicky Jones
Ace
Javon Bell

2011
Byrd
Shamier Jeffrey
KJ Brent
Ellington

2012
Shaq
Kwinton Smith
Fuller

The 2008 class was small, but so far has been very productive. Gurley was a very reliable WR, I sure wish he hadn't left early, and to think he could still be here. Moore, obviously you don't like. But he has played a lot of snaps, he excels as a blocker and is a fifth year senior. This class has already been a success, both players have contributed at some level, and Moore could end up being a solid #2, like Gurley, this season.

The 2009 class was the largest class since 2008. Obviously Alshon was a huge success. Got to give credit there to Bubba. Bennet washed out, though he showed up in a few practices. Scruggs was a disappointment, he appeared to have the physical tools but didn't do much. Then you have DeeDee, will the light finally come on? I think so. As one of the insider's said, he just needs something good to happen to him in a game and get that confidence going. This class was a success because of Alshon alone. We got a premier WR for two and a half seasons, the best pass catcher in the history of the school.

The 2010 class still has a lot to prove. Pretty sure Bell never made it on campus. Ace is obviously the crowd favorite to catch the most balls this year and has been impressive in fall camp so far. Jones is the "all-hands" guy but has his limits. He did throw the block in my favorite hustle play of the year last year against Vandy, a lovely decleater that sprung Lattimore for six. Obviously the jury is still out but it looks like the two guys who enrolled will be contributors, even if Jones role is very limited.

The 2011 class has the potential to very good. If Byrd develops and takes his practice performances to the field he has the potential to be the go to guy this season and next. Ellington showed big play potential, and I think he will have an impact on special teams this year, but how productive will he be at WR? Shamier is a total wild card but has a high ceiling. Brent, who knows right now? He's behind a lot of guys on the depth chart, but his career is still very young. I would project this class to produce two or three solid contributors and a potential star player.

We can't even really talk about the 2012 class yet. Roland is apparently jumping out of the stadium to catch balls, Smith looks like a young Megatron and Fuller is almost certainly headed for a redshirt. I won't even try to predict this class, but it looks good from a raw talent standpoint.

We've had 16 recruits sign with us at WR(Shamier was listed as an ATH but I think we all know where he was going to play, same with Ellington), 15 of those enrolled at school. We have had two guys transfer out, both of those would be upperclassmen now. We had two guys leave early for the NFL, both would be upperclassmen now.

That leaves 11 players. I'd like to see one or two more WRs on the roster, but it's hard for me to fault the staff when two guys head for the NFL, even if Gurley should have at least stayed last year. I will fault the staff for the three misses of Bennett, Bell and Scruggs, but everyone has attrition. Expecting our staff to be perfect in this regard is just unrealistic.

Heading into the season we have plenty of guys who can play. We need four to be consistent and I think we have one guarantee in Ace. Moore, DeeDee , Ellington and Byrd have all made plays in practice and a few in games. I think we can get two contributors out of this group. If one of Shaq, Kwinton, or any of the other guys can make some plays this year, this group will be just fine.

Truth is, we are going to line up with two TEs most of the time and pound the rock.