Elite WRs & Utah

[Ute2]

The last elite of the elite wide out in terms size, speed, etc. (who had it all) that was relatively healthy was carrington, right?  He even missed a game and spent the majority of the season banged up.  

he put up 980 yds with a VERY young Huntley throwing him the ball.

Point is, Elite wide outs will be elite here if they’re truly elite.  Because we have a pretty good offense that’s getting better amd more talented.

 

 

 

[Tednab]

.. It’s pretty much what gets us kills against USC every year

[Crazyforu]

.. It’s pretty much what gets us kills against USC every year

Kills us against USC? While Utah hasn’t won there for yet, other than this past year Utah has more than held their own at home (and at SC for that matter).

While I agree that it doesn’t help Utah not having a dominant downfield throwing game, Utah has more than held their own against USC the last 6 years or so. Not sure I agree that it kills us against USC every year, given the results.

[stbone]

What got us killed against USC two years ago was having a free safety – who developed into a top NFL rookie – who had only played 3 games at that position and hadn’t yet learned how to defend the deep ball. If we had replayed 2-3 games later, Blackmon’s further development would have likely led to a different result in the game.

[Crazyforu]

What got us killed against USC two years ago was having a free safety – who developed into a top NFL rookie – who had only played 3 games at that position and hadn’t yet learned how to defend the deep ball. If we had replayed 2-3 games later, Blackmon’s further development would have likely led to a different result in the game.

Also, if I remember correctly, Blackmon was knicked up in the USC game, wasn’t 100%. If Blackmon is healthy in that game, I think the outcome is much different. 

[Tony (admin)]

What has killed us vs USC is not being able to cover the deep ball on D. 

[Rick]

Spot on!

[stbone]

Amen.

[AlohaUte]

eeeehhh, I kinda agree and I get what you are saying. But WR’s more than any other position is impacted by the quality of QB and the offensive approach. I think Utah’s offensive approach is adequate enough for an elite WR to find success, but our history of QB’s hasn’t been good enough. Huntley was great, but last season in those 5 or so games Bentley couldn’t deliver and our other QB’s couldn’t either. They got too comfortable with dink and dunk passes.

That said, to be fair, WR’s need to be able to create separation and find holes in a zone defense. This could be coaching and offensive scheme that holds us back, but without that ability to get open, a WR won’t be getting the ball thrown their way.

[Ute2]

To both your points, I hope we continue to get better and find excellent talent at all positions.

I’m quite fond of the football coaches(not so much for bball) and highly doubt the coaching is inadequate.  (I think I know football pretty well but I suppose I’m no genius).

 So heck yeah!  Let’s get the best players we can get to come here!  And I think we’re doing that seeing as to how each recruiting class has been a step above the previous.  

 

 

i suppose the final point of this post was that I didn’t like some of the revisionist history I was seeing about both BT  and our program and wanted to challenge some of it.  

 

[Rick]

As I look back at all of our WRs over the years I can think of only a very small handful that were just great WRs regardless of QB quality.  Kevin Dyson, Tim Patrick, David Reed and maybe a few others.  The other great Utah WRs were more a function of good QB play like Savoy, Warren, Dres, Madsen, Freddie Brown, etc.  In my lifetime as a fan, Utah has never been a WR factory.  We have always been a run oriented offense, with the exception of the Fassel era which was a disaster, and that is what we are today.  I just don’t see us having, nor producing elite WRs in our scheme as it is today and really as it has been for decades (including Meyer’s two years here).  While some point to PAC 12 winners having elite WRs, I do not think that is what made them championship teams.  The most recent champs (not counting this season) had elite offensive lines (Oregon) or elite defenses (Washington) and also had great WRs.  If you are telling me that elite WRs will outweigh an elite offensive line or an elite defense as the reason why they won these championships then I would say you know nothing about the game of football.  My point is having or not having elite WRs has very little impact on whether or not you will have a great team.  They can help but they are rarely the reason behind true success in football.

  

[Dresden_Stormblessed]

I think a good example of this is USC. If you ask me, they have god-like receivers almost every single year. And yet, they aren’t an elite program because of other holes.

Every program has a gap somewhere (except maybe the chosen four: ‘Bama, Ohio State, Clemson, and whoever’s hot that year). Our gap is WR talent.

We’re winning, developing, and getting dudes to the NFL so I’m not too worried or too anxious. It goes in this order (Mario Cristobal’s tactic) for offenses to thrive:
Recruit & develop the best O-block you possibly can.
Next, find decent talent at the other positions and help them shine
???
Profit.

All I’m trying to say is get your O-block down and the other dudes will look like super stars. That’s what made Moss such a freaking stud. Looking at his tape, he got SO much AFTER contact. Oftentimes, he’s in the backfield and he gets 20 yards he shouldn’t have. That made him shine.

Now when you have runs where the dude isn’t even touched, that has little to do with the RB but everything to do with the dudes in front of him.

[MDUte]

Great post, totally agree Dresden!

[stbone]

This year, we will have 2-3 elite targets (Covey, Kuithe, Kincaid) that have decent NFL potential and are matchup nightmares. On the 2018 team, we only had one (Covey). On the 2019 team, we only had one – 1.5 if you consider BT – (Kuithe).

You don’t need elite outside WR’s to build a championship team, just a couple of elite targets. With competent QB play, the combination of Covey, Kuithe, and Kincaid will present a peak-Patriots style problem to opponents. An outside mismatch would be nice, but we already have multiple players that are uncoverable.

[UTE98]

Sr asks why you forgot about him. He also left you a Voicemail. “Ice up son!”

Smith was an absolutely incredible wide receiver. Also during that time we had a blazing speedster in Cliff Russell. Not the best hands, but he could break open deep in a flash.