Adam Rittenberg discusses Gophers recent additions of big WRs

[BleedGopher]

per ESPN's BT Q&A:

Aaron from Minneapolis writes: Jerry Kill and his staff have frequently said over the last few years that they want to recruit bigger, taller offensive weapons, and they seem to be following through on that. The past couple recruiting classes have included all of one receiver under 6-foot-2, a handful of 6-3 and 6-4" wideouts, and a huge 6-9" tight end. I know big wide receivers are sort of in style around the country, but Kill seems to be taking it to the extreme. Is this something other Big Ten teams are doing, or is Minnesota's big receiver strategy a bit of an outlier?

Adam Rittenberg: Aaron, the proliferation of spread offenses and their reliance on slot receivers has lowered the demand for the traditionally bigger wideout. It doesn't mean teams don't want those players, especially if they can run. Minnesota's offense has some spread elements, but it's more of a traditional set, based around the power run. The Gophers' last elite receiver, Eric Decker, was a taller guy with excellent hands and athleticism. It certainly helps to have size out wide, and Florida State showed last season how beneficial it can be with players like Kelvin Benjamin (6-foot-5). But teams generally are looking for speed first and aren't locked in to having every receiver stand taller than 6-foot-2.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/102747/big-ten-monday-mailbag-41

Go Gophers!!

 

[die hard gopher]

Meh, average expertise.

 

[husker70]

Eric Decker's calling card was and is precise route running, quick cutting ability, the skill to wall off the defender, adjust to the ball in the air, and most importantly catching everything thrown near him.

The size of the receiver given his precision, quick cutting ability, is really amplified when used to wall off a defender, but without the ability to catch the ball its all talk.

 

[atsgopher]

Eric Decker's calling card was and is precise route running, quick cutting ability, the skill to wall off the defender, adjust to the ball in the air, and most importantly catching everything thrown near him.

The size of the receiver given his precision, quick cutting ability, is really amplified when used to wall off a defender, but without the ability to catch the ball its all talk.

Your right on all accounts. I think the last point about catching is a testament to his ability to focus.

Do college football players do exercises to increase focus? For example, college and pro baseball players, golfers, tennis, basketball, and hockey players all build that ability through specific classroom drills, such as, focus tables and the like. The one sport I've never heard anyone practice this is football. The closest I've heard of is the Larry Fitzgerald camps, but I've only found the ability tied to specific physical drills. Now, that will work, albeit much slower than specific targeted work to build the discipline muscle. Is this something football players regularity do? Or is it somewhere one can get a competitive advantage?