University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Golden Receivers
March 20, 2014 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
By Turner Walston
“Squeeze that rock! Squeeze it, 88,” The voice of Carolina wide receivers coach Gunter Brewer bellowed at redshirt freshman Jordan Fieulleteau. Brewer's charges are focused on attention detail in an attempt to help two young quarterbacks in Marquise Williams and Mitch Trubisky. “I need a violent turn, like you mean it!”
The Tar Heel passing game certainly took a hit with Eric Ebron decided to take his game to the NFL (973 receiving yards in 2013), but this young but talented group looks ready to fill the void. Many of the Tar Heel wideouts spent the period between the end of the Belk Bowl and the beginning of spring practice working on their route running, attempting to nail the playbook so that they can be where their quarterback expects them to be, when the quarterback expects them to be there.
“My focus is working on route running, and getting in and out of my breaks, and just continuing to work on that,” sophomore Bug Howard said.
“I'm working on my route running a lot,” Ryan Switzer said, “and just making sure that I'm playing fast all the time, and not just when the ball's in my hands. It's been one of the key emphases for me in the off-season.”
At Wednesday's practice (as Ebron looked on from the sidelines, incidentally), the early focus was on screens and catches out of the backfield, getting the ball out of the hands of the quarterback and toward the sideline or into space as quickly as possible. Not only does that get the ball into the hands of playmakers right away, it takes some pressure off a young offensive line. “That's good for us,” Quinshad Davis said. “We always want to get the ball and make plays, but like the (offensive) line is a little young They're trying to come together, so we're going to have to help them out and put the ball on the perimeter a lot.”
“That's always encouraging,” rising sophomore Switzer agreed. “I think the quarterbacks are more comfortable this year, and they're more willing to check the ball down the flat routes and the bubble routes, because they know they've got guys that can make plays in space. We've got some guys, me and T.J., and if we get the ball in space with one or two guys to beat, it usually goes in our favor.”
Davis (730 yards, 10 touchdowns in 2013) and Switzer (341 yards, three touchdowns) are the two leading returning receivers for the Tar Heels, but they'll have plenty of help in the form of junior T.J. Thorpe and Howard, in addition to players like Kendrick Singleton and Damien Washington, who is back at receiver after spending much of 2013 at safety.
Physically, this group is simply bigger than it was a year ago. Howard has put on about ten pounds (up to 204) since last season, and Davis has gone from 204 to 216 pounds. Both players stand 6'4 and provide big, athletic targets for the quarterback. The size and ability of these receivers give the Tar Heels an advantage down field. “I thin it's really helping them to not have to put the ball on us, and it helps a lot,” Howard said. “If we get covered well, they still can put the ball in the range where we can get it and so we'll help them.”
Howard said he started to get a good feel for the offense midway through the season against Boston College. The then-freshman had a pair of touchdown catches, one each from Bryn Renner and Marquise Williams, and then took the confidence gained from that outing into the stretch run of the season. Howard was huge the next week at N.C. State, hauling in five receptions for 72 yards.
Carolina's group of wide receivers will be bolstered in the fall when three incoming freshmen join the mix: Josh Cabrera, Devin Perry and Austin Proehl, son of Ricky Proehl, the former Carolina Panther and St. Louis Ram and a Wake Forest teammate of Brewer's.
No matter who's behind the center (and it's likely it will be both Williams and Trubisky at different times), the Tar Heel wideouts will be counted upon to make plays from sideline to sideline and down the field.
“I'm really excited,” Switzer said. “The season can't get here soon enough. The guys have been working hard and we're counting down the days, and we're excited to hit the ground running.”
