Sending graduates to the League

[Johnny]

We, as fans want to complain about results. My theory about all this, is, I want young student athletes to become highly successful while representing The University of Utah with the passion we all share.

That said, this wide receiver group just might pop our eyes out this year. I’m expecting big things. I know they are fantastic.

[2008 National Champ]

It always comes down to opportunity. The 2020 receiver room was essentially the same as 2019. Simpkins moved on which was a net gain in my opinion as he always had trouble realizing his full potential due to drops, fumbles and running the wrong routes. Dixon going into the portal hurt much worse, even though I didn’t particularly like the way Ludwig used him in 2019. I see Dixon as a poor man’s Devonta Smith who can beat you in a variety of ways but he was mostly used to run mesh routes and play decoy. The difference between the overall WR performances was completely the result of not having a QB who could consistently deliver the ball where it needed to be.

Ty Jordan masked a lot of problems with the 2020 offense but they were essentially the same we saw in 2019. An OLine that had trouble keeping the QB clean as well as a scheme that only throws the ball when it has to and is not designed – at least through play calling – to quickly exploit what is working on that particular day. Huntley was incredible on 3rd and long in 2019 but that is hard to replicate consistently. And when your leading receiver gets less than 3 balls a game (Kuithe 34 catches, 14 games), you can’t really say that your offense is getting the ball in the hands of it’s playmakers.

There is plenty of talent in the WR room. They just need the opportunities to show what they can do.

[Yergensen]

Good points.  I think we currently have solid talent at WR, but QB play and scheme are influencing our WR use and performance more than talent. 

We did not feature the WR in 2019 with good QB play.  We featured the RB and TE, but WR was a third option for us.  On average, BT and JD had 2 catches per game and 20 yds per catch.  Huntley completion rate was high 70’s. Hard to say that it wasn’t scheme affecting WR production.  Personnel decisions (Simpkins) were also questionable.

What do we know about Ludwig’s recent stints at Wisconsin, Vandy and his use of WR given solid to good QB play?  

If our scheme under emphasizes WR even with good QB play then we should get used to recent experience.