Big South WRs

[bjtheflamesfan]

Well time for the last of the offensive skill positions as we look at the WRs. you can have the best QB in all the world but if he doesnt have anybody to throw it to, he can only take you so far (even if youre Armanti Edwards, former star for the three time national champs from Appalachian State). For this one I'll be listing the top three returning WRs and for the first time gonna take a stab at individual rankings as well as team. These are based on my own opinion:


Charleston Southern:

Gerald Stevenson 55 Catches 724 Yds 3 TDs
Kwame Krakue 40 Catches 524 Yds 3 TDs
Anthony Chalmers 14 Catches 196 Yds 2 TDs

Coastal Carolina:

Brandon Whitley 30 Catches 469 Yds 4 TDs
Marquel Willis 14 Catches 145 Yds 0 TDs
Jonathan Morgan 12 Catches 203 Yds 0 TDs


Gardner-Webb:

James Perry III 61 Catches 749 Yds 3TDs
Marquis Sanders 36 Catches 459 Yds 2 TDs
Nick Melton 23 Catches 244 Yds 1 TD


Liberty: (Note, Mike Brown, 2009 leading receiver for Liberty, moved to QB)

Chris Summers 40 Catches 603 Yds 4 TDs
B.J. Hayes 15 Catches 119 Yds 0 TDs
Jimmy Eden 8 Catches 49 Yds 0 TDs


Presbyterian:

Patrick McKoy 47 Catches 615 Yds 4 TDs
Anderico Bailey 27 Catches 207 Yds 0 TDs
Derek Frost 16 Catches 128 Yds 0 TDs

Stony Brook

Jordan Gush 26 Catches 413 Yds 6 TDs
Matt Brevi 26 Catches 344 Yds 2 TDs
Donald Porter 25 Catches 476 Yds 5 TDs

VMI

Mario Scott 14 Catches 237 Yds 3 TDs
Bryan Barnson 11 Catches 183 Yds 0 TDs
Justin Hickman 3 Catches 25 Yds 0 TDs

The WRs can probably be split into three groups if you look at the numbers. You have five receivers who caught 40 or more passes (McKoy, Summers, Perry, Stevenson, Krakue), six who caught between 25-39 passes (Whitley, Sanders, Bailey, Gush, Brevi, Porter), and then you have the remaining receivers who caught 15 or less. Stony Brook once again is right up near the top as an overall unit as all three of their top returning WRs had 25 or more catches (including Gush who scored the winning TD against Liberty last year). Liberty's leading receiver Mike Brown is movign under center full time which means 6'4" Chris Summers will go in as the #1 option headed for the fall. CSU comes in with the double barrel threat of Gerald Stevenson and Kwame Krakue. Gardner Webb brings back teh conference leader in catches and yards in James Perry III. Presbyterian led the conference in overall passing yards although they do lose their second leading receiver in Sean Adegbola so look for Anderico Bailey and Derek Frost to step up. I know Ive been down on VMI a lot in the previous postings but with a change in offense look for the WRs to be heard from a lot more than in years past. Looking at the team rankings I see it this way:

1. CSU
2. SBU
3. LU
4. PC
5. CCU
6. G-W
7. VMI

One thing I will say before I take a stab at the individual rankings, I could probably put 4-6 in any order because all three of them have some very good guys coming back. Looking at things from a more individual perspective:

1. Gerald Stevenson Charleston Southern
2. James Perry III Gardner-Webb
3. Chris Summers Liberty
4. Kwame Krakue Charleston Southern
5. Patrick McKoy Presbyterian
6. Jordan Gush Stony Brook
7. Brandon Whitley Coastal Carolina
8. Marquis Sanders Gardner-Webb
9. Anderico Bailey Presbyterian
10. B.J. Hayes Liberty

[EagleDawg]

Wow, absent of any analysis about the QB/WR combinations, pushing GWU down to #6 is way off base with the #2 and #8 receivers returning. James Perry III may have the best hands and is the most fearless receiver in the league making difficult catches in traffic and taking big hits while still holding on to the ball. I can see GWU receivers as no less than #2 in the league. Given GWU's propensity to spread the ball around in the passing game running the spread to RB's, TE's and WR's and then still having the 2 WR's individually ranked based on last seasons stats and at #6 you clearly missed on this analysis but thanks for getting the post started. Based on stats alone I can see CSU at #1 but GWU's top 2 WR's provide an average rank of 5 followed by Liberty's top 2 with an average rank of 6.5 followed by Presbyterian's top 2 with an average rank of 7. No other team has 2 WR's in the top ten. With that said no how matter how good the WR's may be you gotta have a QB to get the ball to them and GWU enters the season with unproven QB's. I believe that the GWU QB's will surpise behind a solid OL but that's just my opinion. Shoot it all down guys, that's what this forum is for.

[kdinva]

VMI won't have any receivers make first team all-conference, but they have good depth, I believe. Starting with rising Seniors Bryan Barnson (5'11; 180) and Mario Scott (5'10; 175). Tracy Hairston (R-Jr., 6'1; 187) and Stefawn Ross (So., 6'4; 215) both moved from defense and had great Springs. Justin Hickman (R-Jr.; 6'0; 188) and Aaron Lewis (R-So.; 6'3, 200) will get a chance, too. At tight end Josh Favaro (R-Sr., 6'3, 239), and Mario Thompson (R-Fr., 6'3, 227) came out of the Spring very close.

[Seawolf97]

Well time for the last of the offensive skill positions as we look at the WRs. you can have the best QB in all the world but if he doesnt have anybody to throw it to, he can only take you so far (even if youre Armanti Edwards, former star for the three time national champs from Appalachian State). For this one I'll be listing the top three returning WRs and for the first time gonna take a stab at individual rankings as well as team. These are based on my own opinion:


Charleston Southern:

Gerald Stevenson 55 Catches 724 Yds 3 TDs
Kwame Krakue 40 Catches 524 Yds 3 TDs
Anthony Chalmers 14 Catches 196 Yds 2 TDs

Coastal Carolina:

Brandon Whitley 30 Catches 469 Yds 4 TDs
Marquel Willis 14 Catches 145 Yds 0 TDs
Jonathan Morgan 12 Catches 203 Yds 0 TDs


Gardner-Webb:

James Perry III 61 Catches 749 Yds 3TDs
Marquis Sanders 36 Catches 459 Yds 2 TDs
Nick Melton 23 Catches 244 Yds 1 TD


Liberty: (Note, Mike Brown, 2009 leading receiver for Liberty, moved to QB)

Chris Summers 40 Catches 603 Yds 4 TDs
B.J. Hayes 15 Catches 119 Yds 0 TDs
Jimmy Eden 8 Catches 49 Yds 0 TDs


Presbyterian:

Patrick McKoy 47 Catches 615 Yds 4 TDs
Anderico Bailey 27 Catches 207 Yds 0 TDs
Derek Frost 16 Catches 128 Yds 0 TDs

Stony Brook

Jordan Gush 26 Catches 413 Yds 6 TDs
Matt Brevi 26 Catches 344 Yds 2 TDs
Donald Porter 25 Catches 476 Yds 5 TDs

VMI

Mario Scott 14 Catches 237 Yds 3 TDs
Bryan Barnson 11 Catches 183 Yds 0 TDs
Justin Hickman 3 Catches 25 Yds 0 TDs

The WRs can probably be split into three groups if you look at the numbers. You have five receivers who caught 40 or more passes (McKoy, Summers, Perry, Stevenson, Krakue), six who caught between 25-39 passes (Whitley, Sanders, Bailey, Gush, Brevi, Porter), and then you have the remaining receivers who caught 15 or less. Stony Brook once again is right up near the top as an overall unit as all three of their top returning WRs had 25 or more catches (including Gush who scored the winning TD against Liberty last year). Liberty's leading receiver Mike Brown is movign under center full time which means 6'4" Chris Summers will go in as the #1 option headed for the fall. CSU comes in with the double barrel threat of Gerald Stevenson and Kwame Krakue. Gardner Webb brings back teh conference leader in catches and yards in James Perry III. Presbyterian led the conference in overall passing yards although they do lose their second leading receiver in Sean Adegbola so look for Anderico Bailey and Derek Frost to step up. I know Ive been down on VMI a lot in the previous postings but with a change in offense look for the WRs to be heard from a lot more than in years past. Looking at the team rankings I see it this way:

1. CSU
2. SBU
3. LU
4. PC
5. CCU
6. G-W
7. VMI

One thing I will say before I take a stab at the individual rankings, I could probably put 4-6 in any order because all three of them have some very good guys coming back. Looking at things from a more individual perspective:

1. Gerald Stevenson Charleston Southern
2. James Perry III Gardner-Webb
3. Chris Summers Liberty
4. Kwame Krakue Charleston Southern
5. Patrick McKoy Presbyterian
6. Jordan Gush Stony Brook
7. Brandon Whitley Coastal Carolina
8. Marquis Sanders Gardner-Webb
9. Anderico Bailey Presbyterian
10. B.J. Hayes Liberty

Have to say you are doing a great job with this. Really good info ,takes the blahs out of off season

[bjtheflamesfan]

Wow, absent of any analysis about the QB/WR combinations, pushing GWU down to #6 is way off base with the #2 and #8 receivers returning. James Perry III may have the best hands and is the most fearless receiver in the league making difficult catches in traffic and taking big hits while still holding on to the ball. I can see GWU receivers as no less than #2 in the league. Given GWU's propensity to spread the ball around in the passing game running the spread to RB's, TE's and WR's and then still having the 2 WR's individually ranked based on last seasons stats and at #6 you clearly missed on this analysis but thanks for getting the post started. Based on stats alone I can see CSU at #1 but GWU's top 2 WR's provide an average rank of 5 followed by Liberty's top 2 with an average rank of 6.5 followed by Presbyterian's top 2 with an average rank of 7. No other team has 2 WR's in the top ten. With that said no how matter how good the WR's may be you gotta have a QB to get the ball to them and GWU enters the season with unproven QB's. I believe that the GWU QB's will surpise behind a solid OL but that's just my opinion. Shoot it all down guys, that's what this forum is for.

really the next three I thought were pretty close going in and I probably could have put them in any order but even though I didnt put up my analysis of QB/WR but if I had I probably would not have had G-W that high because of the unproven nature of the QB situation there. Just like a good QB without good WRS to throw to can only do so much...a good WR without a good QB to get him the ball can only do so much. If things can shake themselves out and one of the guys I noted in my QB breakdown, you could see Sanders and Perry do extremely well and I wouldnt be surprised if both of them ended up all conference come the end of the year

[g-webb1994]

I'm with Eagle...G-W's receiving corps is definitely top 3 in the league.

[SuperJon]

Yeah, I'm a homer, but I'm saying Liberty has the two best wide receivers in the Big South this year in Chris Summers and Mike Brown. Summers is finally getting to the potential that Louisville saw when they originally signed him.

[bjtheflamesfan]

Jon, I dont get to correct you very often (ever really) but you know MB is gonna be QB and not WR this year right? Now I think that if MB plays like he did against Lafayette that he and Summers will make the best QB/WR combo if that is what you were getting at

[SuperJon]

BJ, I think I know much better than you what's going on with the team. Did you even watch the spring game? Did you watch any of spring practice? Did you listen to/watch any of Coach Rocco's interviews? Mike was used at wide receiver in some packages and Coach Rocco said Mike would be the primary quarterback and take about 75% of the snaps at quarterback. That leaves 25% of the snaps where he'll be at wide receiver. Mike's the most dynamic player in the league and they plan on using him as much as possible.

[bjtheflamesfan]

Frankly that doesnt surprise me that he will have some plays at WR but primarily he is going to be a QB (which we certainly agree on) so I listed him under the QBs (and made a note as such in my OP). I can amend my post to note that he will take some snaps at WR. He will likely do more damage at QB because he will be taking the high majority of his snaps there.

As a side note I did not watch the spring game because I was home for my grandmother's funeral...

[SuperJon]

Right. And when he moves to WR for those 5-10 plays per game he will be the best wide receiver in the league.

[EagleDawg]

SuperJon - If I'm understanding you correctly, a player who is the best WR in the league but plays QB 75% of the snaps either means 1) he's also the best QB on your roster and/or 2) he's the best rusher on your roster because your coach wouldn't play him for only 25% of the snaps at WR otherwise. The good news for the league is he can't throw it to himself and he's to valuable to Liberty to risk him running it 100% of the time. No doubt he's a great player so for Liberty's sake he needs to avoid injury. Regardless, the post was about which team has the best receiving group not the best receiver so Liberty should slot in at #3 behind CSU and GWU.

[bjtheflamesfan]

You make a fair point EagleDawg...Id like to see if Sanders can step his game up a smidge...and really the same could be said of BJ Hayes for Liberty (note the precipitous drop in catches after Summers). If memory serves (and Jon you can correct me if Im wrong on this) but BJ is going to be a slot receiver(think Wes Welker). That will probably in my speculation mean that Eden or Garner (or even Pat Kelly or transfer Greg Pratt) will be the second receiver on most formations.

[g-webb1994]

I want to see if our two solid freshman WR's see the field too, especially the Jules kid from powerhouse Armwood High in Tampa.

[SuperJon]

SuperJon - If I'm understanding you correctly, a player who is the best WR in the league but plays QB 75% of the snaps either means 1) he's also the best QB on your roster and/or 2) he's the best rusher on your roster because your coach wouldn't play him for only 25% of the snaps at WR otherwise. The good news for the league is he can't throw it to himself and he's to valuable to Liberty to risk him running it 100% of the time. No doubt he's a great player so for Liberty's sake he needs to avoid injury. Regardless, the post was about which team has the best receiving group not the best receiver so Liberty should slot in at #3 behind CSU and GWU.

He's the best receiver, passer, and runner on the team. He was offensive player of the year last year as a sophomore. He tore up West Virginia last year at wide receiver and kick returner. Two weeks later, after having four days to practice as the #1 quarterback, he received national player of the week honors at quarterback. He's just really, really good.

[ladyflame]

I LOVE MIKE BROWN!

[kuntryboimike]

Mike Brown is my fav. all time player because: 1. he's an outstanding all around player 2. he plays for Liberty. He also signed my LU Flames flag along with the rest of the football and basketball teams including the coaches! this flag was sent to me in iraq and i've been very careful to take good care of it. ill always be EXTREMELY greatful for them taking time out of there day to sign the flag it really meant a lot to me. I LOVE liberty athletics! P.S. only 19 days and a wake up until i fly out of the devils armpit and head home to lynchburg! cant wait! GO FLAMES!

[jcmanson]

SuperJon - If I'm understanding you correctly, a player who is the best WR in the league but plays QB 75% of the snaps either means 1) he's also the best QB on your roster and/or 2) he's the best rusher on your roster because your coach wouldn't play him for only 25% of the snaps at WR otherwise. The good news for the league is he can't throw it to himself and he's to valuable to Liberty to risk him running it 100% of the time. No doubt he's a great player so for Liberty's sake he needs to avoid injury. Regardless, the post was about which team has the best receiving group not the best receiver so Liberty should slot in at #3 behind CSU and GWU.

He's the best receiver, passer, and runner on the team. He was offensive player of the year last year as a sophomore. He tore up West Virginia last year at wide receiver and kick returner. Two weeks later, after having four days to practice as the #1 quarterback, he received national player of the week honors at quarterback. He's just really, really good.

Yeah, what he said

[bjtheflamesfan]

And during home games when the defense is on the field he'll occasionally run up to the concessions stand and work there too

[EagleDawg]

Yeah, Mike Brown is so good, maybe even so great, no one should be surprised if we learn that he actually calls the offensive plays from the press box, sprints at warp speed to the sideline to signal in the play, goes supersonic from the sideline to the huddle faster than the human eye can detect, calls the play in the huddle, morphs into the center for a nanosecond, snaps the ball to himself, pitches to himself on a halfback option pass, rolls right and throws a 60 yd TD bomb to none other than Mike Brown, takes a quick kneel in prayer, hands the ball to the official and sprints back to the press box faster than the speed of light to prepare for the next series. The rest of the teams in the Big South are doomed, you hear me, doomed!!! LOL

[SuperJon]

It's Mike Brown. I don't doubt he could do all of that.

[g-webb1994]

Yeah, Mike Brown is so good, maybe even so great, no one should be surprised if we learn that he actually calls the offensive plays from the press box, sprints at warp speed to the sideline to signal in the play, goes supersonic from the sideline to the huddle faster than the human eye can detect, calls the play in the huddle, morphs into the center for a nanosecond, snaps the ball to himself, pitches to himself on a halfback option pass, rolls right and throws a 60 yd TD bomb to none other than Mike Brown, takes a quick kneel in prayer, hands the ball to the official and sprints back to the press box faster than the speed of light to prepare for the next series. The rest of the teams in the Big South are doomed, you hear me, doomed!!! LOL

You left out turning water to wine Eagle.

[EagleDawg]

G-Webb, I understand the young man just completed his R-sophomore season so he needs something for a goal for the 2010 campaign. For the rest of the Big South, they should want Rocco,et al to work the absolute you know what out of Mike Brown, QB, RB, WR, KR, PR etc. He may well wear down by the meat of the conference schedule. No matter how good or grear a player he is, the number of hits the young man could face could impact the quality of his play as the season wears on. Unless Rocco feels they have a truly serviceable back-up QB it's hard to see how Brown could be shifted to other positions in the same game for fear of losing your primary QB to injury. It's one thing in the 2009 season to have Brown play a game or a few series at QB with Beecher as your primary. It's another thing with Beecher gone and Brown the main guy at QB to risk losing him taking extra big hits at other positions. On the other hand, GWU's Marty Patterson can lay one heck of lick on an opposing QB because all QB's have a blind side. I can visualize that happening too.

[SuperJon]

The feeling around the program is that Tyler Brennan could start and be an all-conference quarterback so we've got a very talented backup.

[gobluehose]

nice work again....unfortunately I have to agree with the 5 rank for PC....maybe 4 but 5 is fair considering we are losing a very good player in Adegbola (who flunked out of school). We'll see how some of the other guys step up in his absence