Mizzou 2009, Part Eight: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

by Bill C. on Aug 15, 2009 10:00 AM CDT in Mizzou Football 2009 Comment 1 comment

The Three Burning Questions train keeps a-rolling...

Wide Receivers / Tight Ends

2008 Unit Ranking: #25 in the nation (#5 in the Big 12)

Projected WR Depth Chart
Danario Alexander (6'5, 215, Sr.)
Jared Perry (6'1, 180, Sr.)
Wes Kemp (6'4, 225, So.)
Jerrell Jackson (6'1, 190, So.)
T.J. Moe (6'0, 190, Fr.)?
L'Damian Washington (6'4, 175, Fr.)?
Gahn McGaffie (5'11, 185, RSFr.)
Brandon Gerau (6'0, 175, So.)
Rolandis Woodland (6'3, 200, RSFr.)

Projected TE Depth Chart
Andrew Jones (6'5, 245, So.)
Michael Egnew (6'6, 230, So.)
Jon Gissinger (6'3, 250, Sr.)

So...has a #1 WR emerged? Yes and no. By all accounts, Danario Alexander is looking faster and healthier than he has since August 2007, when, as Gabe Dearmond has pointed out multiple times, he and most press thought he was playing far better than either Will Franklin or Jeremy Maclin. (And as a reminder, a quick look at the box score from the 2007 Illinois game reminds you that the coaches kind of thought so too--Alexander had ten touches, while Maclin and Franklin combined for seven. Then Danario got hurt...for the first of many times.) If he's healthy and confident, he's competition for Dezmon Briscoe in the "pure explosiveness" department.

But, and here's where it may not be smart to pay too close attention to practice reports, Danario's had at least a little trouble catching Blaine Gabbert's passes. Simply reading this in the practice reports doesn't really worry me, but this was, at times, a bit of an issue last year too. He seems to catch the deep and intermediate balls pretty easily, but the shorter, more fired-in passes seem to give him trouble. And we throw a LOT of shorter, more fired-in passes...which, needless to say, Gabbert probably throws with quite a bit of fire. Hands are the single biggest issue with both Alexander and Wes Kemp, so while we should never read too much into practice reports (good or bad), there's at least a bit of a red flag here. It's hard to underestimate how much of a killer dropped passes can be to an offense, much less an offense led by a first-year starting quarterback.

But if Alexander doesn't struggle with the dropsies or get hurt again (one more injury, and he catches Kirk Farmer* for the career record, I think), he could absolutely be a "6-9 catches, 70-120 yards a game" type of player. And it sounds like there are enough other capable guys to benefit if Alexander's good enough to draw extra attention.

* That's my second Kirk Farmer reference in three days. What the hell?

Will a true freshman play? More than one? Really, we can look at this question from two different angles. The other angle would be, "Are the returning backup candidates holding off the new guys?" We'll start with the way the question was originally asked. It appears that two main freshmen are leading candidates for breaking into the rotation, though each has a physical liability. First, there's L'Damian Washington, who has been the most consistent freshman receiver in camp and appears to be a legitimate big-play threat. He's also holding only 180 pounds (with rocks in his pockets) on his 6-foot-4 frame. As has been mentioned many times over the last few days, Jared Perry showed up on campus weighing less than 150 pounds, and he contributed immediately. And for that matter, Brandon Banks of Kansas State STILL doesn't weigh 150 pounds. Washington looks like he might break in half with one good hit, but clearly if he's good enough to make a difference, go ahead and play him.

The other candidate is T.J. Moe, who is smart and explosive...well, he will be explosive if he can ever get back to 100% after a foot injury. He's been making his way back for months now, and I think we all assume he will play if healthy...but at some point, he needs to be 100% in practice to prove what he can do.

On the other side of the equation, how are the other potential backups doing? Will there be a need to play both freshmen? Reviews have been mixed thus far. After a nice spring, Brandon Gerau has apparently been more-or-less invisible in August...which I guess could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Rolandis Woodland struggled with his own dropsy issues, but it sounds like he's started to make some plays, which is a lovely sign. Gabe Dearmond has been talking up Woodland's ridiculous speed for a while now, but...well, Greg Bracey was really fast too. He hardly ever saw the field, though, because "ridiculously fast" doesn't naturally equate to "good wide receiver" (it does, however, equate to "badass res hall linebacker").

Beyond Gerau and Woodland, the other candidate to break into the rotation is Gahn McGaffie. He was threatening to lose his redshirt this time last year before injuries held him back, and while he's getting some reps in the return game, he hasn't been mentioned a whole lot in terms of receiving.

What percentage of Rucker-Coffman can Jones-Egnew be? It's easy to watch Andrew Jones and Michael Egnew play and see a poor man's version of Martin Rucker (Jones) and Chase Coffman (Egnew). Jones is the "seven yards on third-and-six" guy, a strong runner who looks for contact. Eggo is long and lean and seems to glide more than search out contact. While Egnew is still working his way back into the rotation after some offseason injuries, Jones seems to have really started to come along. He and Gabbert seem to have a pretty good connection going.

But back to the question at hand: just how much can they approximate the best tight end duo in Mizzou history? It would not be fair to compare them, as sophomores, to what Rucker and Coffman did in 2007, as a senior and a junior. But what about 2005, when Rucker was a sophomore, Coffman a freshman? That year, the two combined for 94 catches (tying for the team lead with 47 each), 1,070 yards, and 5 TDs with Brad Smith at quarterback. Can Jones and Eggo copy that? Why not? In a 12-game schedule, that's 7.8 catches per game, 11 yards per catch. At worst, I would expect 5-6 catches between them at 9-11 yards per catch, which isn't that far off. Between Jones, Jared Perry, Wes Kemp, and Derrick Washington, it appears that Blaine Gabbert has some serious bail-out options, which will be an awesome thing if bigger-play guys like Danario Alexander, L'Damian Washington, Rolandis Woodland, and Egnew can make good a handful of times a game.

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It's hard not to like what we have on paper in terms of depth

unfortunately, depth probably matters most at RB and least at WR. Nebraska has had pretty decent receiving for the past couple years with essentially no depth behind their starters.

The real issue is whether Perry and Alexander provide enough explosiveness for the other guys to work underneath.

A HUUUGGEEE plus is Derrick Washington who is more than just an outlet guy, but a serious matchup problem that was – to my mind – much underutilized.

One thing I really hope we change this season is playing to the opponent. I just want to see us look to exploit matchups a little more. When you have Chase, Coffman, and J-Mac I can see holding the defense in contempt. I’d like to see us just find some matchups and make the defense adjust.

"Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin

by dcrockett17 on Aug 15, 2009 5:45 PM CDT reply actions

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