Ranking the SEC: Receivers

[plumbhog]

http://blog.olemisslife.com/2009/07/07/ranking-the-sec-receivers/

[Tomhog™]

I am surprised a MS writer put Arkansas at the top of the list, 3 ahead of OM.

[beansandtaters]

I am surprised a MS writer put Arkansas at the top of the list, 3 ahead of OM.

I'm surprised someone in Mississippi can write

[Carl Lazlo]

Didn't realize Georgia picked up Brown.  With him and Green on each side, that's scary.

[hawgsmellgud]

I am surprised a MS writer put Arkansas at the top of the list, 3 ahead of OM.

Does that mean he ranked us as the #1 in recievers or was it just random order?

[Biggus Piggus]

Arkansas has to show it has a receiver as talented as Green, LaFell, and Jones.

[Kenny Dowell Loggains]

I heard on ESPN radio the other day someone mentioning Arkansas having the 5th or 6th best receiving corp in the nation.  Not sure who made the comment, but I have been trying to look it up since Monday.  Anyone else hear this or know where I can find the rankings by position?

[hogfan064]

Poor Dan Mullen inherited a terrible situation at WR

Anthony Dixon will have to carry the load. 

[The Hogfather]

Arkansas has to show it has a receiver as talented as Green, LaFell, and Jones.

Not really.  We have 4-5 WRs who are really good and a couple more on the way.  Add DJ Williams to the mix, and we have a very solid group.  Mallett is icing on the cake (although I'm confident Wilson could do very well, even if we didn't have Mallett).

It is more about having a strong group than it is about having one superstar.

[Biggus Piggus]

Not really.  We have 4-5 WRs who are really good and a couple more on the way.  Add DJ Williams to the mix, and we have a very solid group.  Mallett is icing on the cake (although I'm confident Wilson could do very well, even if we didn't have Mallett).

It is more about having a strong group than it is about having one superstar.

Disagree completely.  It is more about having receivers who can score TDs than having a large number of undistinguished bodies.

[bigdaddyhawg]

Not really.  We have 4-5 WRs who are really good and a couple more on the way.  Add DJ Williams to the mix, and we have a very solid group.  Mallett is icing on the cake (although I'm confident Wilson could do very well, even if we didn't have Mallett).

It is more about having a strong group than it is about having one superstar.

Agreed.  I like balance in all things on offense.  With a star WR, a defense can game plan and take that player out of the game.  With a balanced, quality set of WR's it's much harder for a defense to plan, and CBP can find that weakness, and then look out!

I like our WR's.  But I hope they can significantly decrease the drops.  That will be a really big deal this fall.

[The Hogfather]

Disagree completely.  It is more about having receivers who can score TDs than having a large number of undistinguished bodies.

What you are describing is not Arkansas.  Not even close.

It was Arkansas last year, but not this year.  Last year, we had Dick at QB, Adams, Wright, and Childs were true freshmen (learning a tough offense, while playing tough defenses), and we didn't have Hamilton, Ray (not positive he'll be at WR, but could be), Barlow, and Gordon (who the coaches have said will play some WR).

I'm not saying we have the best group in the league, but we have a very solid group.  And, I'd much rather have a very solid group than one superstar and several guys who don't do crap....

[UAfanatic]

I guess blogs don't hold to a very high standard for grammar.

Even though he apparently is a professional writer with the blog being sponsored by his employer.

I guess I was just irked that he called Crawford the only 'receiver' of the group of receivers..

[LSPRazorbac]

Having a dominant receiver is great but a talented WR group is much more important to have.

Petrino's offense is based on:
  1) determining mismatches
  2) causing those mismatches to occur
  3) Attacking those mismatches

A versatile WR corp makes this much easier.

[Hog on the Hill]

I'm surprised someone in Mississippi can write

Only barely.  There were tons of errors in that article.

[Biggus Piggus]

By undistinguished I mean 1) catch % not high enough, 2) not enough big plays, 3) the spread among them in talent level is not great (not exactly indistinguishable, but fairly close to one another).  Arkansas last year lacked the one big playmaker that other teams had.  This year...maybe they recruited one.  Maybe D.J. will start scoring.

[The Hogfather]

By undistinguished I mean 1) catch % not high enough, 2) not enough big plays, 3) the spread among them in talent level is not great (not exactly indistinguishable, but fairly close to one another).  Arkansas last year lacked the one big playmaker that other teams had.  This year...maybe they recruited one.  Maybe D.J. will start scoring.

I think we have some of those guys and I also think Hamilton will be one.  Like I said, our offense (and WR corps) will look nothing like last year's offense.  Totally different.  The WRs will be much, much better, especially Childs, Wright, and Adams.

[Oklahawg]

By undistinguished I mean 1) catch % not high enough, 2) not enough big plays, 3) the spread among them in talent level is not great (not exactly indistinguishable, but fairly close to one another).  Arkansas last year lacked the one big playmaker that other teams had.  This year...maybe they recruited one.  Maybe D.J. will start scoring.

The one trait they all share is an inexplicable knack for dropping easy passes. Great WR do not drop easy catches. Not often, like our crew did last year.

We are not at the epic fail level of Chris Baker who couldn't catch the clap if he lived in a whorehouse. The best hands are not attached to the best feet - Salters and Miller come to mind, and DJ of course.

All of this is interconnected - if there is no run-game it doesn't matter. If there is no protection for a deep passing game then our pass game is stunted.

I want London Crawford to succeed, but how many more drops will Petrino endure before he goes with a younger option?

[The Hogfather]

I do agree that they need to fix the amount of drops.  The tough part about that is that they are going to have balls shot out of a cannon this year.  Maybe that will help the ball stick to their hands! 

[SemperHawg]

By undistinguished I mean 1) catch % not high enough, 2) not enough big plays, 3) the spread among them in talent level is not great (not exactly indistinguishable, but fairly close to one another).  Arkansas last year lacked the one big playmaker that other teams had.  This year...maybe they recruited one.  Maybe D.J. will start scoring.

I think this is where the need for a  "big back" comes into Petrino's scheme.  Having a system that doesn't focus on one big play receiver, instead using mismatches to move the ball down the field and having big bodies i.e. B. Green, Stumon, or like he used Davie last year, to punch the ball in.  This is also why I think we saw the O sputter early in the season last year.  As good as Smith was/is, he doesn't have the build to be that red zone presence the system calls for.  I think our coach would rather see a 400 yd passing game with 10 or more guys having receptions than 1 or 2 guys having over 100 yds receiving.

[PorkSoda]

I think we have some good receivers, but none of them seperated themselves from the group or even among their conference peers.  I think this is the year that things will start to take shape.  They know the routine now, and it's just a matter of executing, and taking advantage of big play opportunities.

[The Hogfather]

I think we have some good receivers, but none of them seperated themselves from the group or even among their conference peers.  I think this is the year that things will start to take shape.  They know the routine now, and it's just a matter of executing, and taking advantage of big play opportunities.

I think our WR crew will look 100X more explosive this year and will be more consistent catching the ball.

[dr__dawggy]

Didn't realize Georgia picked up Brown.  With him and Green on each side, that's scary.

Signed and delivered. Brown is in Athens and an active participant in summer workouts. The blog I linked gives an update about how GA receiver recruits are progressing...

http://blogs.onlineathens.com/node/1157

[UAfanatic]

Signed and delivered. Brown is in Athens and an active participant in summer workouts. The blog I linked gives an update about how GA receiver recruits are progressing...

http://blogs.onlineathens.com/node/1157

I'm guessing the Ole Miss hack couldn't get a job in Georgia.

[The Hogfather]

I really didn't realize that not only did Georgia sign Brown, but they also landed Orson Charles.  They are going to be very good this season, as long as the QB doesn't lose games for them (which I doubt he will).

[PigWig]

I would not be surprised to see Cobi Hamilton have a similar freshman season to Green and Jones.  I have a feeling we won't be able to keep him off the field.

[The Hogfather]

I would not be surprised to see Cobi Hamilton have a similar freshman season to Green and Jones.  I have a feeling we won't be able to keep him off the field.

Completely agree.

[Wildhog]

Breakout year for both Adams and Wright.

[Conway Cool Daddy]

By undistinguished I mean 1) catch % not high enough, 2) not enough big plays, 3) the spread among them in talent level is not great (not exactly indistinguishable, but fairly close to one another).  Arkansas last year lacked the one big playmaker that other teams had.  This year...maybe they recruited one.  Maybe D.J. will start scoring.

Maybe this year we will have a QB that can get them the ball. One that won't
lead the SEC in getting sacked.

[The Hogfather]

Breakout year for both Adams and Wright.

I like Childs to have a very good year as well.  The numbers for all of them will be elevated this year, in my opinion.

[LSPRazorbac]

This year could be a nightmare for opposing safeties.

Help with run support while trying to cover
DJ Williams
Joe adams
J wright
London crawford
Greg childs
Ben cleveland
Chris gragg

[bigdaddyhawg]

I like Childs to have a very good year as well.  The numbers for all of them will be elevated this year, in my opinion.

I also like this kid a lot.  I predict by the time he leaves UA he will be the best of the bunch.  He just has a ton of talent.  He may not shine this year above the rest, but I believe he will before it is all said and done.

[The Hogfather]

This year could be a nightmare for opposing safeties.

Help with run support while trying to cover
DJ Williams
Joe adams
J wright
London crawford
Greg childs
Ben cleveland
Chris gragg

Cobi Hamilton

Possibly Barlow, Ray, and/or David Gordon.

I can't wait for this season...

[The Hogfather]

I also like this kid a lot.  I predict by the time he leaves UA he will be the best of the bunch.  He just has a ton of talent.  He may not shine this year above the rest, but I believe he will before it is all said and done.

I actually agree.  He has the frame, for sure.  I can't wait to see how he progresses from last year to this one.

[Beaverfever]

I agree with Biggus.  We have some guys who look the part, but nobody has proven they are elite.  No way I'd rank our receivers number one.  We don't have one sure fire target at receiver.  I think Biggus had the right idea he just didn't word it right.  We don't neccessarily need to have THE best receiver in the league, just a guy or two who are definitely the real deal, and as of now we don't know we have that. 

[COCHISE]

This site likes our receiving corp..

http://secrivals.com/sec-football-wide-receivers-rankings-2009

[The Hogfather]

I agree with Biggus.  We have some guys who look the part, but nobody has proven they are elite.  No way I'd rank our receivers number one.  We don't have one sure fire target at receiver.  I think Biggus had the right idea he just didn't word it right.  We don't neccessarily need to have THE best receiver in the league, just a guy or two who are definitely the real deal, and as of now we don't know we have that. 

This is a group.  We don't need an elite guy (although, I think a couple of our guys will look that way this fall).  We need depth.  We need 4, 5, 6 really good WRs to create mismatches that Petrino can exploit.

When you look at the quality depth of our receiving corps, along with DJ Williams at TE (who plays more like a WR), and Mallett getting them the ball, I can definitely see how someone could contend that we have the best overall group in the league.  I think they have the potential and will be much improved, but I don't want to say we have the best overall group just yet.

[COCHISE]

Having an elite tight end softens the blow of not having an elite wide receiver.  D.J. caught more passes than Julio Jones and A.J. Green last year with Lefells having only 2 more receptions than D.J.

[Beaverfever]

This is a group.  We don't need an elite guy (although, I think a couple of our guys will look that way this fall).  We need depth.  We need 4, 5, 6 really good WRs to create mismatches that Petrino can exploit.

When you look at the quality depth of our receiving corps, along with DJ Williams at TE (who plays more like a WR), and Mallett getting them the ball, I can definitely see how someone could contend that we have the best overall group in the league.  I think they have the potential and will be much improved, but I don't want to say we have the best overall group just yet.

really good/elite?  Semantics.  Maybe elite is strong.  I'm just saying you don't have the top receiving core in the league without having a guy or two who is one of the 10 best SEC receivers.  That is what I meant by elite.  "Legitimate higher level SEC receiver".  How bout that?  Idk what you mean by really good.  All we currently know is that we have 5 or 6 guys that probably aren't embarrassments on the field (way better than our usual WR situation).  We need guys that when they are on the field they are money.  Obvious mismatches on the opponents dbacks.  I just wouldn't say we definitely have those yet.  We are on our way though IMO.

[The Hogfather]

really good/elite?  Semantics.  Maybe elite is strong.  I'm just saying you don't have the top receiving core in the league without having a guy or two who is one of the 10 best SEC receivers.  That is what I meant by elite.  Maybe elite is a little strong.  "Legitimate higher level SEC receiver".  How bout that?  Idk what you mean by really good. 

Elite:  Green-UGA, LaFell-LSU, Jones-Bama
Really Good:  Wright, Adams, Childs

A couple of our guys could become elite, but right now, they're just really good.  That's all Petrino needs, really.  He needs quality depth, that goes 5-6 WRs deep. 

[Beaverfever]

Well we'll just have to disagree.  I think you need a couple top 10 receivers to be the best receiving core in the league.  Adams you could argue is getting close to that level, but he is the only one.  I don't think any other receiver showed they were anything more than average SEC players. 

[Porkerpower]

I think we have some of those guys and I also think Hamilton will be one.  Like I said, our offense (and WR corps) will look nothing like last year's offense.  Totally different.  The WRs will be much, much better, especially Childs, Wright, and Adams.

Amen brother, amen...

The three you mentioned, plus DJ Williams, PLUS COBI HAMILTON. 


ADD COBI to the great receiver catigory.  That guy will be on the field from day one.  He's a super star.

Folks, we are absolutely LOADED at WR and TE.  And they're all very young and will get nothing but better. 

If the O-line can get it done, and give either of our 4 and 5* QB's time to throw, we will be ELECTRIC on offense. 

[Fisticuffs]

Thats awesome. Finally a good reciever core and qb to go with

[The Hogfather]

Well we'll just have to disagree.  I think you need a couple top 10 receivers to be the best receiving core in the league.  Adams you could argue is getting close to that level, but he is the only one.  I don't think any other receiver showed they were anything more than average SEC players. 

THIS:

#2 Arkansas Razorbacks: 

Yep, you read it correctly.  Bobby Petrino has had a full year to get
his system into place.  This system is very capable of producing very nice stat sheets, but will it translate into wins?  Every returning receiver has a TD reception of at least 33+ yards and 3 have TD grabs of 70+ yards.  This is the only unit in the SEC that can lay that claim.  TE DJ  Williams will be the primary target for first year starter Ryan Mallet.   The jury is still out on whether or not Williams can improve on last year's numbers (61 receptions, 723 yards, 3 TD's).  The offensive passing production was almost evenly distributed and the wide receivers only lost one player with any experience.  They are not household names, but Lucas Miller, Joe Adams , Jarius Wright, London Crawford, and Greg Childs all scored and all could potentially have more than 300 yards receiving each this season.  Like with so many other teams in the SEC, their success rests squarely on the shoulders of their QB.

http://secrivals.com/sec-football-wide-receivers-rankings-2009

[Fisticuffs]

It all depends on Mallett... and with that the o-line

[dqhog33]

Cobi Hamilton will be the best WR of all of them in a few years

[Fisticuffs]

I would like to see a 1000 yd receiver for once at Ark. Or a 3000 yd passer. or both

[rljjr]

I think we have the skill players in place to dominate almost any defense, especially with the schemes CBP has in place. The big question is if the O line can keep the QB upright and protected. If Mallet or Wilson can stay on their feet and have time to throw then it is going to be a long game for opposing defenses and a very good season for the Hogs. I'm excited about the future and think we can surprise some people this season. WPS and good luck to the Hogs and all Hogville posters. 

[bigdaddyhawg]

I think you need a couple top 10 receivers to be the best receiving core in the league.

That determination as to who has the best WR corp is better made after the season is over.  And who knows, we may have a couple in that top 10 after this year.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

The one trait they all share is an inexplicable knack for dropping easy passes. Great WR do not drop easy catches. Not often, like our crew did last year.

We are not at the epic fail level of Chris Baker who couldn't catch the clap if he lived in a whorehouse. The best hands are not attached to the best feet - Salters and Miller come to mind, and DJ of course.

All of this is interconnected - if there is no run-game it doesn't matter. If there is no protection for a deep passing game then our pass game is stunted.

I want London Crawford to succeed, but how many more drops will Petrino endure before he goes with a younger option?

Just my opinion, but I agree with you, to a degree. Concentration and focus is vital in catching a ball either in traffic or in the open. We really showed little of that at times last year. But I believe it is also true that receivers who are anxious to make a big play after the catch, that perhaps are trying too hard, also tend to drop balls they shouldn't, but as mentioned, this goes back to concentration and focus.

I think we could all agree that CD didn't throw a bullet. Mallett on the other hand, does. When receivers become accustomed to having to focus on balls that are thrown much harder, their level of focus and concentration has to be longer than when easier balls are thrown to them. Easier balls tend to build confidence in the catch to the extent that at times, they aren't focused as long and begin to turn up quicker than they would otherwise. I don't think we will see that this year. JMHO.