Big Ten Returning WR Corps Ranking

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grunkiejr

grunkiejr

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Since Gold04 got attacked for calling our Wide Receivers the best in the conference in another thread I wanted to post what Big Ten Tonight (Big Ten Network) reported last week when ranking the returners in the Big Ten. It turns out Gold04 may be on to something. Note: this is only an analysis of returning players and does not take in to account the class of 2009.

1. Gophers - Return Decker & 6 of top 7 receivers, lose Simmons
2. Illinois - Return Benn, most of top targets
3. Michigan State - Return Dell, White & Cunningham
4. Iowa - Return Johnson-Koulianos, lose Brodell
5. Wisconsin - Young , return Gilreath, Toon, Jefferson return
6. Ohio State - Lose Hartline & Robiskie, 5* Fr Posey returns
7. Michigan - Young, return Odoms, Mathews
8. Indiana - Return top targets, they weren't good to begin with
9. Penn State - Lose top 3 WR's
10. Northwestern - Cupboard is bare
11. Purdue - Cupboard is bare

They said Decker & Benn are both potential All America candidates.

Any debate about their opinion is fair but they shouldn't have any bias in their opinion because they represent the entire Big Ten.

Personally, I don't think there is much difference between Minnesota and Illinois but they both appear to be better than the rest of the conference. Depending on whether Carpenter or Allen emerge as a big play threat I think Illinois is more dangerous because Minesota was lacking a deep threat in 2008. Ohio State and Michigan have some very talented young receivers that could emerge but they don't have the experienced and dominant #1 WR yet.
 

Agreed. I think if Carpenter shows up as advertised (1675 yds and 16 TDs last year, wow) and Green continues his progression I see no reason why we can't at least be in the conversation. It's not like the B10 is ripe with amazing WR corps now that PSU lost their group and the likes of Nick Toon are still taking up space.

It's somewhat of a pipe dream, but its fun to think about a set of receivers that complement each other so well on paper. Decker is about as good as anyone catching any ball, Carpenter stretches the field and I could see Bryant Allen easily filling a slot role. (Hopefully he'll be ready this year) Toss in Green and it sounds like a plan to me. Someone said it earlier, but I think this will make Weber's job much easier.
 


Honestly, if we can muster ANY semblance of a running game next year, I think the offense will be extremely dangerous. Weber has proven he can get it done when Decker is at full-strength. I'm seriously excited to see what Gray can do. Decker is obviously a stud and demands safety/LB help. Green showed real flashes last year and made some very athletic catches. Carpenter was one of the most sought-after JUCO WR's in the country and can only help. Honestly (and this will sound weird considering where we've been at the last couple years), I think we're going to have TOO many good targets to keep everyone happy. Pittman, Smith, Hageman...you'd also love to get Stoudermire a few touches a game. That's a pretty decent crop...
 

Weber was able to get things done in the nonconference schedule. When the Big 10 schedule hit, Weber collapsed (this may be in part to a bad offensive line, but you cant blame everything on the line). The main thing that challenged weber was the physicality of the big ten game. This next season looks like the offseason schedule could give us some challenges, so we will see how weber holds up early.
 


You can't pin anything on Weber. It was just better defenses actually able to execute a game plan and defend Decker and stop the run. Straight ahead art of war stuff. Because of our lack of versatility on offense they left us with an option that just couldn't win a game.
 

Schnoodler said:
You can't pin anything on Weber. It was just better defenses actually able to execute a game plan and defend Decker and stop the run. Straight ahead art of war stuff. Because of our lack of versatility on offense they left us with an option that just couldn't win a game.
Click to expand...

That's bs. Weber couldn't make the tight throws that need to be made in college football. He also didn't have a good deep ball, making our offense very predictable. So yeah, Weber needs to be blamed too.
 

Actually Weber never had the time to go deep and spent half the time running for his life. His accuracy wasn't top notch but find me a QB with a line as bad as Weber's was that was better. You can't. We couldn't run and had the slowest WR corps in the conference for most of the year. Thats not a recipe for success for any QB. Weber was our entire offense
 

Agree, Oleboy. Give Weber time in the pocket, spread out the WRs, throw in a stronger running game. I'm excited to see what this next group of WRs can do to move the ball around more.
 



Opinions, we've all got 'em. Re: Weber, I don't think we know, but we'll find out next year. Did we have a poor and injured line and no running? True. Did Weber at times seem like he couldn't go deep or be accurate? True. This coming year we should have a much better line and an emphasis on running as well as passing. We'll know pretty quickly just how good Weber can be. Also, with him not having contact in the spring practices, we'll also have a pretty good idea about alternatives to Weber. Not saying yet that we need an alternative.
 

ncgo4 said:
Opinions, we've all got 'em. Re: Weber, I don't think we know, but we'll find out next year. Did we have a poor and injured line and no running? True. Did Weber at times seem like he couldn't go deep or be accurate? True. This coming year we should have a much better line and an emphasis on running as well as passing. We'll know pretty quickly just how good Weber can be. Also, with him not having contact in the spring practices, we'll also have a pretty good idea about alternatives to Weber. Not saying yet that we need an alternative.
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to see how he does being back under center the majority of the time instead of the shotgun.
 


Weber

Weber is the least of our problems on offense. The kid was scrambling for his life all year and still managed to make enough plays to win the games we did. "Couldn't make throws?" Please provide examples before making moronic vague statements. Weber can make any throw on the football field. Quick comparison - His arm is way better than Tim Tebow....and I'm sick of people saying he can't throw on the run. Most of our biggest plays of the season were as a result of Weber scrambling and making plays on the run. See game film of Bowling Green, Indiana, Purdue, etc.
 



Very interesting!

WR core will be very good and Brewster picked up a top JUCO to flesh it out even more. I also like the fact that Weber will be over his sophomoritis.

I agree, the running game will be important to set it all up and you have to like the odds of that happening given the new OL coach and with Willis and Carufel lining up.

This should be a terrific offense :D
 

Don't forget Kuzinia and McKnight, they are the down and dirty type that can make the tough over the middle 8-12 yarders.
 

IF

IF Hayo is the real deal and the young guns improve like they should (Green, Smith, McKnight), no one in the Big Ten will have as good of a recieving corp as the Gophers. Lets take a look at our recieving corp.

1. Decker - If people are considering Decker as an All-American you know this guy will put up big numbers this year.

2. Hayo - Right away some of the old guard from the previous coach have compared Hayo to Paris Hamilton. They say he could be a bust like Hamilton. Let me remind you that Paris was recruited because of his potential and not his stats. In two years of Junior College Paris gained almost 800 yards in recieving. While Hayo gained almost 3000 yards in recieving. Both are know for their speed but Hayo by far put up bigger numbers. I think Scout rated Hayo as the top Junior college player in the nation. I think Hayo will be the real deal. In being fair to Paris, I know his injury didn't help him out at the U either.

3. Green - Had 21 catches last year and came on strong at the end of the year. He should be a very good reciever for the U this year. Ellerson had something like 9 catches his freshmen year and then put up big numbers his Sophmore year. I think Green has potential to do the same.

4. Ben - had 31 catches last year and will continue to be a very good possesion reciever for the U this year.

5. Smith - Had 5 catches in 08 but I think he showed flashes of being a very good reciever for the U. Some people think he might be the best of our young guns (Green, Smith, Mcknight).

6. Mcknight - He had 3 catches as a Freshmen but people have talked about how he tore it up for the scout team. His speed makes him a threat.

If Hayo turns out to be the real deal, and the young guns improve like they should, this recieving corp will be the best in the Big Ten. This by far could be the deepest set of recievers we've ever had at the U. I could be wrong about us having the best set of recievers in the Big Ten but time will only tell.
 

What I liked is how Green, and to some extent Smith, really came on at the end of the season. Especially that Wisconsin game. Hopefully it won't take them as long to get adjusted to Fisch's system as it did with Dunbar.
 

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