Looks like Barbour will start at WR

[App95]

http://www.journalnow.com/sports/asu/fo ... b2370.html

According to Tommy, Barbour will start with the other veterans, Lewis is in the mix and surprisingly Meadors may redshirt. Dante Jones is barely on the two deep and Capel has no mention. Stepp says Bobo is the "best receiver in the room right now."

[AtlAppMan]

What really jumps out at you is our lack of height in the WR group. I hope these guys can run good routes because they will not have the physical size advantage, nor as Stepp states, overwhelming speed.

Looks like the coaches are continuing to invest in the future with the list of likely redshirts.

The more I am hearing from various practice and coach's interviews the more clear it is to me that the coaches have decided to weight their decisions towards a longer term foundation vs shorter term gains. I am not judging them but rather indicating that I may need to temper my expectations for this year while understanding the strategy. Short term pain for long term gain.

[MDaniels84]

Lack of height , yes but this corp is very comparable in terms of size that we had last season. Malachi is our biggest receiver and Peacock and Washington had tons of experience but neither were particularly big.

[firemoose]

What really jumps out at you is our lack of height in the WR group. I hope these guys can run good routes because they will not have the physical size advantage, nor as Stepp states, overwhelming speed.

Looks like the coaches are continuing to invest in the future with the list of likely redshirts.

The more I am hearing from various practice and coach's interviews the more clear it is to me that the coaches have decided to weight their decisions towards a longer term foundation vs shorter term gains. I am not judging them but rather indicating that I may need to temper my expectations for this year while understanding the strategy. Short term pain for long term gain.

A lot has to do with the fact that we missed on the taller receivers we were after. Of the offers so far this year 14 of them are 6' 3" or taller. I expect more to go out as we find them. It's just not that easy to find good, tall receivers that don't get snapped up by P5 programs (and a few G5's). Hopefully we'll find one with this class.

As to the other point, I've mentioned several times that we are in a process and we have to balance classes, which includes balancing positions as well. These next few years are the hardest and sometimes good players will be shirted in order to hopefully not have a gap come graduation time. 17 receivers on the roster. 2 deep is 8. Travel squad is 9-10. Better to shirt a couple of potential 1's than to have them stuck behind someone in their same class for their whole 4 years here. We've got several kids who may not be as good as Meadors or some of the other possible redshirts but who are plenty good enough for the second spot on the two deep. You have to spread the best players out just in case you have a bad recruiting year and miss on your targets. Even the P5's can whiff on a class and that's why they poach off of G5's in the last couple of weeks. And shirts can always be pulled if need be.

[AppAttack]

Well, we had a really tall receiver, but...

We'll be like some of those New England Patriot teams with Welker, Edelman, etc...

[mtnjax]

The benefit of putting shirts on Meadors, Noil, and Armstrong is that, like the OL, they will have a year to dedicate to getting bigger, stronger, faster and a year to really learn the offense

[DaphneUrquhart]

While I can see the advantage to being a tall WR, I'd gladly take a shorter WR with strong work ethic and the will to win. As I recall, Matt Cline was no giant, but he always seemed to catch everything thrown his way and kept going after some pretty rough hits.

We don't have to have superstars to win games. We do have to have guys who are convinced that they'll win every battle for a ball in the air anywhere near them. Four yards per play can win a bunch of games...

[moehler]

what worries me is can they get open against a physical secondary, we are going against bigger, stronger, defensive backs who are going to try and jam them at the line, and reroute them. Also a problem in the redzone, I don't think this group is going to out jump anyone in the endzone. On the positive, if this group is as fast as being advertised, one missed tackle on a simple 5 yd slant, turns into a 70 yd td.

[moonshine]

what worries me is can they get open against a physical secondary, we are going against bigger, stronger, defensive backs who are going to try and jam them at the line, and reroute them. Also a problem in the redzone, I don't think this group is going to out jump anyone in the endzone. On the positive, if this group is as fast as being advertised, one missed tackle on a simple 5 yd slant, turns into a 70 yd td.

You touched on my biggest concern for this young WR corp especially in the season opener. I can see how a physical defense that plays a lot of bump n run coverage could give our offense fits. Hopefully the coaches utilize some motion if they see the guys are struggling to release off the press coverage.

[sixtoes9134]

At least our TEs have good physical size. I'm not too worried about it.

Peacock and Washington did pretty well at UGA for themselves.

[JTApps1]

What really jumps out at you is our lack of height in the WR group. I hope these guys can run good routes because they will not have the physical size advantage, nor as Stepp states, overwhelming speed.

Looks like the coaches are continuing to invest in the future with the list of likely redshirts.

The more I am hearing from various practice and coach's interviews the more clear it is to me that the coaches have decided to weight their decisions towards a longer term foundation vs shorter term gains. I am not judging them but rather indicating that I may need to temper my expectations for this year while understanding the strategy. Short term pain for long term gain.

Where are you seeing that we don't have speed? Stepp said Mcguire lacks speed but is physical, but guys like Lewis, Barbour, Sumler, and Hopkins are burners. Meadors would have likely made the travel squad but he was injured a good bit during camp.

[AtlAppMan]

Where are you seeing that we don't have speed?

Stepp said, "I don’t think we’re as explosive as we were last year, but I feel real good about the first seven or eight guys we’ll put out there."

Also about McQuire, “He’s a big, physical kid with outstanding hands,” Stepp said. “He can catch everything thrown his way. He’s not the fastest kid, but what he doesn’t have in speed, he makes up for in great route running and good hands.”

I guess I am just trying to read between the tealeaves. Coaches are typically not going to be too blunt about their messages and that is why I was interpreting that way.

[mtnjax]

You can't convince me Malachi doesn't have game speed. I watched him juke 2 ISU DB's and leave them in the dust in the final playoff game at KBS

[moehler]

wow, that's kinda scary if Stepp thinks we aren't as explosive compared to last year, we didn't exactly light teams up, alot of short, possession type pass plays.

[AppSt94]

I would be OK with short possession routes. We have an accurate passer and an above average running game. Longer sustained drives would allow the defense (especially the big guys up front) to rest.

[moonshine]

The staff is having to replace over 1,600 yards receiving by the all time receptions leader and another top 10 all-timer. We have to realize there is a high probability that WR production will see a dip. If the running game can pick up where it left off it will take some of the stress off the young WR corp.

[JTApps1]

Where are you seeing that we don't have speed?

Stepp said, "I don’t think we’re as explosive as we were last year, but I feel real good about the first seven or eight guys we’ll put out there."

Also about McQuire, “He’s a big, physical kid with outstanding hands,” Stepp said. “He can catch everything thrown his way. He’s not the fastest kid, but what he doesn’t have in speed, he makes up for in great route running and good hands.”

I guess I am just trying to read between the tealeaves. Coaches are typically not going to be too blunt about their messages and that is why I was interpreting that way.

I think he was referencing the ability to make big plays since we have so much inexperience compared to Tony and Andrew. On 24/7 Malachi said several guys have more speed than he has seen in his 3 years here.

[moehler]

Bottom line, several of the young guys are really going to have step up if we are going to be successful, I'm talking 6-8 hundred yds, and 6-7 tds, a lot of pressure on this group to get up to speed really quick.

[hapapp]

The staff is having to replace over 1,600 yards receiving by the all time receptions leader and another top 10 all-timer. We have to realize there is a high probability that WR production will see a dip. If the running game can pick up where it left off it will take some of the stress off the young WR corp.

I agree. The biggest question mark for this App squad is how the passing game will develop with so many inexperienced players stepping in. While there is a lot of young talent, I don't think anyone will make us forget Peacock or Washington overnight. There is still a pretty large learning curve for many of these young guys.

[EastHallApp]

Surprised to hear such high praise for Beathard; seems like McElfresh has been the one whose name has come up the most in camp. Guess I'm a bit skeptical whether he'll truly be our #1. And surprised that Meadors would project to redshirt.

Otherwise, this sounds about in line with what's been reported.