One of the developing trends I've seen on this board is the repeated outcry for WR prospects. Consider the following:

 

On WR Wes Kemp:

i'm seeing him high on wisconsin. looks to have measurables close to stovall. it would be nice if we showed him some love....

On WR Dieon Walker:

He is ranked #16 on Espn and #37 on Scout. It sounds like he is an elite WR and my preference for our 2 WR spots are him and Floyd. I hope CW visits him these next couple of weeks and gives him an offer (assuming he qualifies of course)! Goodman, Floyd, and Walker (or Butler) would be awesome.

On WR Brice Butler:

i really hope ND can land this guy, CW said he's the most polished WR he's seen so far this year.

On WR Warren Reuland:

I saw him play once last year and can tell you that if he doesn't get an offer that it isn't because of lack of talent, this is just a deep WR class.

On WR Chris Owusu:

i'd rather have Owusu than Rueland, although Reuland sounds like an ND kid with some talent.

On WR Kenny Tate:

Sweet thanks man! I think he is pretty high on us. I really hope we can get him!

 

This is a list that doesn't even include the commit in John Goodman, and the majority of our offers (Michael Floyd, Johnathan Baldwin, Martavious Odoms, A.J. Alexander). Those listed only have two offers (Brice and Kemp).

 

Now, I'm not posting this to single anyone out. I'm just trying to figure out why we devote so much attention to the WR position, and to a lesser degree, why our opinions are so diverse. And I guess from another angle, why is it such a point of emphasis among some who browse DD to get three, even four receivers, when we also say that we need to revamp other positions with less numbers there?

I think people are in a panic over the play of the WR's in spring ball. WR's take time to develop. The answer may not be as simple as throwing numbers at the problem.

Butler, Floyd and Goodman. Sounds pretty damn good to me and that is my prediction.

Calves, can't speak for anyone but myself but I'm not worried at all about WR position. With the numbers brought in in Charlie's 2nd class, plus Kamara and Tate last year, I think we have talent there....I'm focused on the D which seems to be going well. If I remember correctly I brought up Reuland in someone else's thread, not sure why but I'm sure his name came up, having seen him I figured I'd give my 2 cents. Definitely not panicked on WRs, IMO bring in Floyd w/ Goodman and that would be a good haul.

Calves,

I think people are worried about WR because, quite frankly, the ones we have on the field right now aren't that good. Last year showed us that the receivers we have on the field right now don't really know how to get open. Our receivers, either with speed or great route running, need to learn to get seperation from the DB's. With our young QB's, we don't them to have to throw into tight coverage every pass play.

Did west play in the BG game? I didnt see him. Robby Parris was actually pretty good and will surprise some people. We will be fine.

I agree Hejduk, I think we'll be fine. Have heard good things on Parris. West looked good last year. I think the question marks (sorry Nick) are Jackson and Gallup, wondering how they're doing. Also have to throw in Hord, Kamara, and Tate.

Rock, I certainly hope u r right.

 

Also, I want to give Rock kudos for predicting double digit commits by the end of spring - u were dead on Rock I'm beginning to think ur psychic

 

Back to the post though at hand, I think what I want to see is ELITE WRs committing to ND (like Benn). I think Duval could fit into that category and maybe Tate will as well but as of now and based on spring practice and the spring game, we don't have one. I think Floyd would certainly be considered elite and I think Butler and Walker would as well. I guess that was my point, I think we need to bring in two Elite WRs this year, maybe need is a strong word here, but I think it would really help us out a lot. Our TEs are elite, we have elite QBs, excellent RBs, a young but potentially great offensive line, and I think we are only missing the WRs that just leave defensive coordinator's head scratching when they are trying to game plan against us. If we had gotten Benn, Little, and Duval as expected last year, I don't think this would be as big a deal but it didn't work out like that so I hope we can rectify the problem in this class.

Did west play in the BG game? I didnt see him. Robby Parris was actually pretty good and will surprise some people. We will be fine.

 

No, he cut his hand/arm in somekind of accident and didn't play.

IrishCalves, I have to admit that I really like the way you posed your question. I feel like I am back at ND reading one of my exam questions. There seems to be a nice pool of talent in this year's class, but looking at what we lost last year, I can understand how people want a variety of different receivers out of this class. We need a burner, but big powerful guys are nice, as well. We have a lot of youth, too, and unproven guys who really didn't seem to step up last year; which establishes some cause for concern in that it appears we don't have the numbers we need at receiver. Yes, we have had some good crops, but where are the playmakers we needed? Where are the guys who should have stepped in last year and been able to play?

 

We fielded 3 solid receivers last year. Then, well... It was a little like the South Park underpants gnomes episode: Step 1: Recruit receivers, Step 2: ? Step 3: Production. We were kind of missing Step 2 last year, and maybe Weis is making sure they understand the full intricacies of the system, but it seems that if we had some natural playmakers, they would have gotten on the field either way. This year seems to be a search for some playmakers and some sheer numbers, on the part of the fans.

 

What did we have? Shark...big guy. Rhema...athletic, no real breakaway speed and questionable hands. Grimes...quick and athletic. Hord...injured. Carlson shouldn't have to count as a receiver...he should be a 4th or 5th option. (Don't get me wrong...he is great & I want QBs to look for him, but TEs shouldn't be forced to fill that 4th spot)

 

Who were the guys on the bench? Richard Jackson...should be athletic. Robby Parris...Big, but how fast? Gallup...looked solid in AA game. West...Grimes carbon copy. Kamara...TO look alike. Tate...West, Grimes type guy.

 

So, with what we have, there are 8 guys in a potential 5 receiver system next season. That doesn't make you feel really comfortable when you can't even field a two-deep for all 5 of those WR slots. Granted, you can use a TE or RB, but it would be nice to have a little extra so you don't have to worry about who doesn't produce like you thought they would. We need WRs this year. I wouldn't mind taking 4 or 5. 3 is too little in my opinion, especially with losing out on G Little last year.

 

Anyway, just my opinion...

After seeing how bad our WR's performed (Minus Robbie Parris) last weekend, it made me think that landing 1-2 elite WR's in this class is something our staff must do. It won't matter who the QB is, if our WR's can't catch the footballs thrown to them.

idk, i don't feel that great about Butler. I think we're going to have a down year on the field and thats going to hurt with kids like him.

First of all, digging the responses. Really glad to hear some reasoning, and you've helped to clear things up for me.

 

I think I understand why there's such an emphasis on gettting WR's. To put it simply, we haven't been able to bring in the "elite" guy. Therefore, no matter what it takes, we want the 5 star guy to stroll on campus.

 

The diversity question is a little unfair, because everyone will like a WR prospect to have different physical and mental attributes. So I don't need your reasons for why we are attracted to so many different WR's.

 

What still confuses me is why some people think we have to get such a high number of receivers, my third question. We already lost the only one slated for graduation (Bragg), so we don't need to worry about replacing a lot of bodies. Yet we've continued to struggle getting enough numbers on both lines. We hardly have a two deep on the O-line, and we've had to flip offensive recruits over to defense to make up for misses there.

 

If we were going to get a huge class this year, that would be one thing, but we won't. So if you had to pick, would you try to fix the numerical holes on the lines, or the perceived talent holes at WR?

scotty, i understand that. they didnt show much in the Blue Gold game, but im talking to Barry right now on IM and he wanted to remind me he was only thrown to once and the throw came in late. But hopefully he'll show people what he can do on PR's next year...(little hint, nothings for sure yet but CW asked him personally to take punts over Zibby the ohter day and Bary thinks its a good sign)

looking at our WR depth chart, one can't help but be a little hesitant to declare greatness this year. We lost our two most productive receivers stat-wise in ND history in Shark and Rhema. They will be missed. Certainly getting 4 wideouts last year will help, even if only 2 of them develop into solid players, but thats the thing, they are young and 3 outta the 4 didn't play all that much as freshmen.

 

Grimes and Hord.....Grimes was solid as #3 last year but not spectacular, he has a good work ethic tho and should continue to get better.

 

Hord's injury hurt us but he was a pretty big recruit coming in so you hope the talent is there and he overcomes the injury.

 

The two key guys are Parris and Jackson, we need one of them to develop into that big, go-to target to take the pressure off of the smaller, faster guys like West and Grimes. Perhaps Duval Kamara comes in and is that guy, but the chances are small he'll do that as a freshman.

 

Gallup I think can play that Matt Shelton slot role and well. He was an All-American for a reason and I think a year of redshirting will do him good.

 

Combine all this with our dangerous tightends, mainly Carlson and we'll be ok.

 

But yes, we NEED to get some ready to step in and contribute freshman wideouts down the road if not this year.

How about this Martavious Odoms guy? Scout says his only offers are from ND and Iowa. What be up with that?