Freshman receivers

[DallasDiehard]

I have to admit, I wasn't immediately excited when we signed the three WRs in February - they weren't exactly 5-star guys, according to Recruiting Guru, Stallion, and the rest of the PonyFans.com recruitniks. But I have completely come around.

We know the most about Blake Warren. "Flea" is the smallest college football player I've ever seen, I think, but he lends serious validity to the idea that you can't tackle what you can't catch. His gift for making people miss on puunt returns is readily apparent. He's been in some tough situations on offense (we can't throw jump balls to a 5'7" WR unless he jumps like Spud Webb), but we do need to figure ways to get the ball in his hands. He's tiny, but he seems to be someone who can make plays.

Reynaldo Pellerin caught everyone's attention Saturday. He's a big (6'3") guy, which is what we've been clamoring for. He has decent speed and seems to have pretty decent strength, as he showed with the way he shielded the defender from the ball when he made that amazing touchdown grab against San Jose State. A smaller receiver just doesn't make that play, because you have to be strong enough to fight off a DB and still be long enough to reach that pass. Pellerin might turn out to be a steal.

But the one who impressed me the most is Jay'Mond Cleveland. I know, he only had one catch. But that catch was impressive. Remember, he came from a system in HS that relied on the pass, and he showed an understanding of the passing game. He saw that the defense was coming after Bartel and ran a "hot" route - he broke off the route and streaked across the middle to give Bartel an immediate target - and he lunged forward to make a diving catch with a guy draped all over his back. He held on, converting a third down and keeping the drive alive. His read of the defense suggests that he's farther along in his development than many freshman WRs.

Maybe these three are reasons for some hope for the SMU offense?

[Ikus]

Good points. I love our upperclass WRs - Comet, Rushbrook, Griffin, Vinson - but this threesome of freshmen looks like they might be good. And I'm right there with you on that blitz read Cleveland made. That is not a read that freshmen normally make. He's a very well-coached guy for a freshman. (Didn't he go to the same HS as Drew Tate? No wonder he's so well-coached -- they threw the ball a million times a game.)