Famous Receiving Duos
In the wake of the George Campbell committment I've been thinking about the prospect of having Drake Harris and Campbell on the field together. It brought back memories of past Michigan teams with two star receivers and I thought I would put a list together of them so we could debate, discuss, and rank them.
Before we get to the list, let's offer the obvious qualificiations. It will be YEARS before the two of these players step on the field together so a lot can change between now and then (remember the Ricardo Miller hype). We also have some very solid receivers between now and then that could turn into a very fine starting pair. But let's get over-excited in advance anyway about the Harris-Campbell duo on the outside.....
Here are the famous ones I came up with:
- Manningham - Arrington
- Edwards - Avant
- Terrell - Walker
- Toomer - Hayes
- Howard - Alexander
- McMurtry - Calloway
Debate & discuss! Did I miss anyone?
I think Terrell-Walker are the closest comparison to Harris-Campbell given their size and recruiting profile. I was a huge fan of McMurty-Calloway since that was the era of players I saw play when I was a kid and Calloway went on to such a long NFL career, though their stats don't stack up against the rest of the list.
Breaston kind of fits in there towards the top as well.
But Steve Breaston did very little as a receiver in college, especially for a guy who played as much as he did. 1,696 yards, under 11 ypc, and 10 TD over 4 seasons. Only went over 500 yards his senior year (and that only happened after Manningham missed a big chunk of time).
For whatever reason we just weren't able to use him much on offense while he was here. The fact that he's been able to make quite a few catches in the NFL is a bit of a surprise/disappointment to me (since he could have made a sometimes sluggish offense so much more dynamic with an expanded role).
For at least one of those seasons?
He played in the slot because of other guys, but that doesn't explain why he so rarely got thrown the ball. As the 3rd guy he averaged about 350 yards and a couple TD per season his first three years (he played the #2 role as a senior for much of the year when Manningham got hurt) and was rarely targeted downfield (roughly 10 ypc).
Drew Dileo had 331 yards and 2 TD this past season as the third option with more big plays (16+ ypc). Devin Gardner added 266 and 4 TD in half a season (also over 16 ypc), in an offense that threw the ball a lot less than was the case in Breaston's time. And that is with Gallon/Roundtree combining for about the same amount that Avant/Manningham did in 2005 (little over 1,400 yards). Both 2011 and 2010 saw guys in that 3rd receiver role put up bigger years than Breaston usually did.
It shouldn't be controversial to point out that his talent was pretty much wasted on offense when you look at what guys without his open-field ability have been able to do in recent years. The guy scored 5 TD on returns and only 10 on receptions. For a guy with that electric talent to be less productive (twice in four seasons) than Dileo was last year is pretty disappointing.
I'm all-in on Brady Hoke's recruiting and loving the direction of the program, but can sanity prevail and let this come a bit to fruition first? Campbell hasn't begun his junior year of HS yet - not time to compare to historical duos.
Although I suppose it is summer, where football-deprived brains will wander. Still...
Campbell is actually the most physically gifted (size and speed) of anyone on that list. Will this translate to good routes, consistent pass catching, and overall production?...who knows. But if any WR recruit is worthy of hype its a 6'4 guy with sub 4.4 speed. Thats freakish Megatron, Randy Moss athleticism right there.
It's freakish athleticism, but Megatron and Moss are set apart by their hands and ball skills. A freakish athlete without ball skills is just a Troy Williamson or Darrius Heyward-Bey. Campbell is just a junior in high school, so although his potential is unlimited, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Ricardo Miller was never a 5 star.
We all just bought into the hype, but when he was actually ranked he was somewhere in the low 4/high 3 range.
and not by Michigan fans or blogs. From his Hello post:
GURU RATINGS & CHATTER There aren't any yet, but a friend of the blog who works for Florida Football Magazine conveniently brought Miller up apropos of nothing in an IM conversation yesterday. The oracle spake thusly:Best receiver in your class is almost a guarantee to be a 5*, and that was all we really had to go on at that pointAs you'll see in the magazine we're really high on Ricardo Miller. Like super high. Like best receiver in the class of 2010 high.
I'd go with Terrell and Walker as the closest comparison. They were both very highly rated WR prospects nationally when they committed. And they lived up to the hype I'd say.
just the thought of 2 6ft6in TEs and two 6ft 4in WRs in goal line formations makes me giddy...get a QB that has a nice touch on the fade and well not sure how you stop that. one of those guys will get a clean release every time.
I like the idea of having four wideouts, the big mollies tackle through tackle, and the option to run or pass.
Imagine you are running the defense. What do you do when there are tall physical recievers spread out, an amazing oline, and a back who can pound it in? Don't forget that a wideout necessitates a corner where a tightend or another tackle can add a Dlineman...
just my opinion.
jdon
Campbell certainly fits the Braylon Edwards mold. Supremely gifted, but not the best at holding onto the ball. That is not set in stone, obviously, but to be that is how he projects. That being said, I'd take the second coming of Braylon in a heartbeat.
is Howard and Alexander in that bunch. I would compare Harris and Campbell to Braylon and Braylon. Both are big and fast. I think both are faster and better deep threats than Walker was. Moe Ways could fit in as the Avant/Walker type.....
Is that a typo? Or are you referring to Braylon and his ego...which is pretty funny.
Dileo and Gallon??? Yeah I might be getting ahead of myself here.
Statistically way short of the others, but I'd like a Floridian mountain goat pairing this morning:
Odoms and Gallon
If the topic is "Famous Receiving Duos" I do not think those two qualify. They are/were good, but the ask the average Michigan fan in 5-10 years and you'll get "Who?"
Manningham and Arrington.
Not as productive in terms of yards as Calloway and McMurty in 1989 but Kolesar was always good for a big play.
I tried to make the comment in the OP that this is insanely early to celebrate the potential of high school kids, but since it is a boring summer day without much to discuss I threw it out there anyway. The intent was to focus more on the duos of the past than the future.
Frankly, I hope we can add Darboh-Chesson to that list before Campbell steps on the field. And what is more impressive than just the Harris-Campbell situation is the depth that we're bringing in at so many positions. Even if someone doesn't pan out there are 4-star recruits waiting in the wings to take their place. That was a weakness in even Carr's later years - lack of quality depth.
Getting back to the past duos, here's what I find interesting - some of the lesser known players on that list ended up having the best NFL careers:
- Breaston - I didn't even include him due to his role while at Michigan and he's stuck around the NFL for a while.
- Avant - Was known as a possession guy at Michigan and has carved out a great career in the NFL in a similar role.
- Alexander - Certainly a star at Michigan, but was often overshadowed by Desmond and then went on to have a far better career in the NFL.
- Toomer - A solid player at Michigan but a better one in the NFL.
- Calloway - His partner was the #1 option while at Michigan but then Calloway played forever in the NFL.
Compare that to the relative disappointment of Terrell, Braylon, McMurtry, and Howard.
I think that points to the danger of talent. Which is to say that sometimes the most gifted are able to dominate in the early stages of their development but eventually hit a wall because they aren't as adept at dealing with the adversity that inevitably arrives at the highest levels of a profession.
And the flip side of that coin is that a lesser talent might only manage to "hang on" at times but because they are forced to always grind away they have an extra level of resiliency.
Interesting comments French West Indian. I agree with you. Someone like Avant couldn't rely on his physical talents to dominate - he had to work on his routes, hands, footwork, etc. Meanwhile Terrell could dominate with his physical gifts and never really had to work at the little things - only to find out that his gifts wouldn't set him apart in the NFL.
I think you're kind of dismissing Avant's hands, size, and strength as physical talents. It isn't as if anybody could just put in the time and be as good as that dude at making tough catches in traffic.
The issue with guys like Terrell, Walker, and, say, a dude like Mike Williams (I think folks forget just how dominate that guy was at SC because he left early and bombed in the NFL), is that they are just not that fast by NFL standards. In college they are going up against 5'10" corners who are going the same speed or slower. In the NFL they are going up against 5'10" corners who can all run way better than they can. When that gap closed, all of those guys struggled to get open and make plays.
In contrast, a guy like Breaston could always run and just needed to find a role that put him in position to catch a lot of balls (he found that in Arizona with good outside receivers and a Hall of Fame QB), and Avant was able to avoid going up against those fast corners (and never needed/got much separation in the first place) and make a living in the middle of the field.
... in terms of yardage, Desmond Howard and Yale Van Dyne were a more prolific tandem than Howard and Derrick Alexander:
| Desmond Howard and Yale Van Dyne | 1991 | 1,485 |
| Desmond Howard and Derrick Alexander | 1990 | 1,475 |
Also, Anthony Carter and Vince Bean deserve an honorable mention among U-M's top tandems, combining for 1,288 yards in 1981.
Nevertheless, in terms of a single season, the tandem of Howard and Van Dyne was U-M's 5th most prolific duo of the 20th century. Obviously the majority of that can be attributed to Howard. I just found it interesting that Van Dyne's name came up when researching U-M's top receiving tandems.
How about Tai Streets and Marcus Knight? I know they didn't go on to have great pro careers, but they were exciting to watch. Really the first tandem that I remember watching. It seemed like there were always 2 really good receivers on Michigan teams from those two on: Knight, Streets, Terrell, Walker, Edwards, Avant, Manningham, Breaston, and I suppose Arrington.
I do know that as far as recruiting goes one guru, at that time, mentioned that he did not believe that one team had secured the services of two of the top 15 receivers in the same class in reference to Terrell and Walker. ^Myself, I think our greatest combination was AC and whoever else lined up on the other side. Yeah, he was that damn good and unlike Braylon, he just didn't drop perfectly thrown balls.
In the mid-50s, Ron Kramer and Tom Maentz were two of the --- if the the best --- pass-catching ends in college football.
Alexander wore #1 the entire time he was at Michigan. 1989 and 1990 (and 1 game in 1991) saw a simultaneous 1 and 21.
Other than Braylon? I don't think so.
Jason Avant and Tacopants
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yes
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