4* & 5* Freshmen WR performances across CFB this season
247 Comp. Rank | Name | School | Receptions | Yards | TD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Donovan Peoples-Jones | Michigan | 12 | 155 | 0 |
2 | Tee Higgins | Clemson | 7 | 75 | 0 |
3 | Jerry Jeudy | Alabama | 12 | 208 | 1 |
4 | Joseph Lewis | USCali | 4 | 39 | 0 |
5 | Jeff Thomas | Miami | 11 | 249 | 2 |
6 | Trevon Grimes | OSU | 3 | 20 | 0 |
7 | Tyjon Lindsey | Nebraska | 11 | 70 | 0 |
8 | D.J. Matthews | FSU | 1 | 12 | 0 |
9 | Devonta Smith | Alabama | 4 | 79 | 1 |
10 | Jhamon Ausbon | TAMU | 25 | 263 | 1 |
11 | Henry Ruggs III | Alabama | 6 | 159 | 5 |
12 | Tyrell Shavers | Alabama | 0 | 0 | 0 |
13 | Jalen Reagor | TCU | 19 | 308 | 4 |
14 | James Robinson | Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 |
15 | Tarik Black | Michigan | 11 | 149 | 1 |
16 | Amari Rodgers | Clemson | 11 | 67 | 0 |
17 | Tylan Wallace | Ok State | 3 | 56 | 0 |
18 | Jeremiah Holloman | Georgia | 1 | 7 | 0 |
19 | OrTre Smith | USCar | 18 | 224 | 3 |
20 | Osiris St. Brown | Stanford | 0 | 0 | 0 |
21 | Mark Webb | Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
22 | D.D. Bowie | Ole Miss | 0 | 0 | 0 |
23 | Nico Collins | Michigan | 1 | 12 | 0 |
24 | CeeDee Lamb | Oklahoma | 33 | 591 | 6 |
25 | Damion Miller | Texas | 0 | 0 | 0 |
26 | Omar Manning | TCU | 0 | 0 | 0 |
27 | Charleston Rambo | Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 0 |
28 | Jaylen Harris | OSU | 2 | 27 | 0 |
29 | Oliver Martin | Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 |
30 | Hezekiah Jones | TAMU | 2 | 13 | 0 |
31 | Danny Davis | Wisconsin | 8 | 170 | 1 |
32 | Terrell Bynum | Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 |
33 | Daquon Green | Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 |
34 | Ty Jones | Washington | 2 | 14 | 0 |
35 | Shamond Greenwood | OK State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
36 | Manni Netherly | LSU | 0 | 0 | 0 |
37 | Bo Melton | Rutgers | 1 | 48 | 0 |
38 | Isaiah Hodgins | Oregon St | 23 | 223 | 1 |
39 | Noah Igbinoghene | Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 |
40 | Jaevon McQuitty | Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
41 | Mike Harley | Miami | 6 | 63 | 0 |
42 | JaVonte Richardson | Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 |
43 | KD Nixon | Colorado | 2 | 17 | 0 |
44 | Keyshawn Johnson | Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
45 | Jamire Calvin | Wash St | 30 | 266 | 3 |
46 | Hunter Rison | MSU | 16 | 211 | 0 |
47 | KJ Hamler | PSU | 0 | 0 | 0 |
48 | Trey Blount | Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
DPJ is tied for 8th/48 in receptions and is 12th in yards. In just 3 games, Tarik Black is tied for 10th in receptions and is 13th in yards.
There are only really 6-9 freshmen that seem to be significant AND productive cogs of the offense (underlined), which is a 13%-19% rate.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:34 PM ^
its one of the hardest positions to walk into. Can't do 12 fake steps on the line before running your route.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:44 PM ^
Even more impressive is they’re typically going up against upperclassmen each and every snap
November 14th, 2017 at 10:46 PM ^
If we had even competent QB play, DPJ would have eleventy billion yards and 6+ touchdowns.
The number of times he is open and ignored/overthrown is starting to approach "Manningham with Ryan Mallet at QB" levels...
November 14th, 2017 at 11:15 PM ^
Don't dorget about the all important O-Line. Pass protection has been an issue for us this year! I have faith with Frey at the helm, we are going to have much better play from the O-line in the next couple of years.
November 15th, 2017 at 12:17 AM ^
Fair point. Bad QB play can be a consequence of bad OL play.
I just wish DPJ was lighting the world on fire this year
November 15th, 2017 at 10:06 AM ^
My wish would be for Black to not be injured. He was on a tear and looked damn polished for a freshman.
November 15th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
Hopefully with another year of experience (and another year of experience for the line and QB), these two should have break out year's next year. We literally only lose 2 players off the offense and return all our recieving threats at WR and TE two QBs with experience. If our offense doesn't progress quite a bit next year I'd be surprised and disapointed.
November 15th, 2017 at 1:01 AM ^
Dever dorget.
November 15th, 2017 at 7:17 AM ^
Wait. How do we know this...I thought Brian was giving his buest guess as to what is happening downfield. Aside from the Purdue game, can we even see what's happening?
November 15th, 2017 at 8:14 AM ^
I was going to ask a similar question. I know we have heard on the broadcast a couple times where they say DPJ was open downfield, but there is never good footage so I don't know what to conclude. Have the coaches made any mention of this?
November 15th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
has definitely hurt, but not too sure DPJ has been open as much as you allude to. He has struggled with routes and seperation all year. I expect this to be a learning year for him and expect him to take a huge step next year. Also expect our QB play with Peters to also take a huge step next year and would expect a much more balanced offense with a competent passing game.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:35 PM ^
You're quickly becoming one of the more insightful posters on this board.
Be interesting to see the average number of starts between the top 3 receivers on each team to control for how much of a burden these freshman are shouldering.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:41 PM ^
Unfortunately for blogging (but fortunate for my life), I'm hoping this is a bit of a final flurry as my time is soon to be gainfully occupied once again.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:45 PM ^
I was beginning to wonder how a resident has this much time for football blogging analysis lol.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:15 PM ^
culmination of a ton of crappy life events and I decided to leave my program. Been a tough couple of months job hunting but I finally have a few things lined up
November 15th, 2017 at 1:00 AM ^
Sorry to hear that :(
Hope things get better man.
November 14th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^
Wasn't a 4 or 5 star but has 49 catches for 734 yards and 2 TDs. Pretty sure he's a true freshman. Johnson isn't even enrolled at Nebraska currently so having him listed is a joke.
November 15th, 2017 at 6:06 AM ^
Was he ranked? So he’s on the list, just like any on the list who are being redshirted. Perhaps that guy was friends with LiAngelo. Damn middle children.
November 15th, 2017 at 2:19 PM ^
The list is clearly stated as a list of 4 and 5 stars. That answers both of your issues.
November 15th, 2017 at 6:58 AM ^
It would be nice to see how many non-garbage time snaps these guys are getting, to put the numbers in better context, but that info is probably not easy to compile. I'd wager most of these guys have more experienced people ahead of them.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:35 PM ^
Sucks knowing what Black was on pace for.
November 14th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
Wrong movie. Supposed to be Passenger 57 you fool!!!
November 14th, 2017 at 10:20 PM ^
NO FUCKING SHIT, BRO! Goddamit, we really can’t have nice things! Fuck you, Dave Brandon!
November 14th, 2017 at 10:27 PM ^
yeah. . . ?
November 14th, 2017 at 11:01 PM ^
Dave Brandon ratted Wesley Snipes out to the IRS. Some of us are still a little hot over that. FUCK YOU, BRANDON! YOU OWE WESLEY SNIPES!
November 14th, 2017 at 11:34 PM ^
Sucks for sure. I honestly didn't really think that his injury would hurt us so bad with all the options I thought we had, But obviously I was very wrong.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:40 PM ^
Thanks for posting this. I've been wondering about this for a couple weeks.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^
those schools lost all of their starting receivers? Not entirely his fault, but was hoping for more from DPJ.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^
He is getting open and doesn’t have a quarterback to get him the ball. He has significantly improved his route running and I think ahead of where most people would have expected. He was very raw coming out of high school.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:11 PM ^
a WR is highly dependent on getting at least average QB quality- hard to rate them unless you see tape
November 14th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^
DPJ still has a lot to learn. His routes seem to have improved, but the places he can get open are places that the QBs can't hit him. And his body control for the high-point passes just isn't there yet.
These are all things he can come through on, but a combination of being extremely raw and horrible QB play have limited what he can do. Black, with a full route tree and a natural sense of how to use his physical ability, shows what DPJ will be with just a little refinement. And, uh, improvement under center.
EDIT: and just as he is gaining some routes and getting used more, Michigan has stopped throwing the ball. Hard to get a lot of catches when you only throw 15 times a game.
November 14th, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
Teams will have to for surely load the box next season or they will be toast. Black will get doubled because you'll have to. DPJ, Perry, Nico, that white kid who jumped in the pool(cant remember his name at the moment) better work hard because the sky should be the limit for them come next year. I can see DPJ coming back faster and stronger than ever. The kid knows how to train and lift. Still kind of green looking on the field but a sophomore is usually light years ahead of his freshman year if he doesn't have that stupid slump. I've always thought that saying is for suckers and is a mental thing for weak minds that buy into it. Not mother fucking DPJ or Nico okay. Damnit!
November 15th, 2017 at 7:58 AM ^
In DPJ's defense, he has at least +100 more yards, +2 more receptions and potentially 2 more TDs if the QBs could hit a deep ball. I can vividly remember at least 2 plays, I am sure there are more.
DPJ has been open a few times for big plays and was missed and that is not his fault. I have been happy with this play so far.
November 15th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
Something no quarterback has done since Speight went down.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:51 PM ^
Useful list, but as others have said, several factors impact those stats including who has solid QB play, sold pass protection, and lack of or a significant depth at the WR position already.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:52 PM ^
Also, Cody White -- 30 Catches, 407 yards and 2 TDs.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:09 PM ^
These numbers are crazy low even for what Brian has mentioned before on the blog.
Between White and Rison, MSU has two successful true freshmen WR. Anybody know if we gave them any looks as recruits? Rison was right in our backyard.
The difference in numbers between White/Rison and DPJ/Black are probably due to QB play (and obviously health).
November 14th, 2017 at 10:40 PM ^
Msu is throwing the ball much more than us.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:46 PM ^
Rison is Grant Perrry, almost an exact clone. No we didn't pursue either, because we had one of the best WR classes in the nation. Yes if agree that with better QB play, and Black (and the other kid, Oliver Martin) not being injured, the numbers woukd be closer. IOW, M's receivers will turn out much better than these two in several years.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:54 PM ^
And I hope you're right about our WRs. I thought Black looked great. DPJ has been a little more up/down but shows a ton of promise. I even though Collins has looked good in limited opportunities.
Still weird to think we wouldn't pursue Rison at all given he was very highly regarded and a hometown guy. I get our WR class is stacked, but teams can always use another guy like him.
November 14th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^
You serious Clark? He was an MSU legacy that had zero interest in UM.
November 15th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
That makes sense. I asked above if anbody knew if we recruited them.
November 15th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
Valid question... We recruited a kid whose father was an OSU captain (McCray). He is now one of our captains. We recruited a kid whose father was an NFL player and lived in the state where his father attended college (Bush). He is now our top LB. You can't always ignore a recruit because of who his father is.
November 15th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^
That only applies to linebackers tho.
Correlation IS causation, bitches!
November 15th, 2017 at 5:49 PM ^
From my understand Rison made it very clear he was not interested in UM from the beginning, thus the coaches didn't waste any time on him. He's a good player, but I think our other WR's from the class are better anyway.
November 15th, 2017 at 6:13 AM ^
Freshmen WRs are not consistent. DPJ has made less mistakes (knock on wood) than past youngsters, with PR responsibility. He hasn’t shown all his skills, yet, but he can and should develop way past Darboh and Chrsson did at a faster pace. If only we had a sold to great vet to mentor him. Crawford and Perry are still children, while Moe Ways is just not that good. No upperclassmen to show him the mental side of the game, or to compete with to show them what work is.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:16 PM ^
He was a 3* though. He's had a great year, but I think this analysis has to be bounded in some way. I'm sure there are freshman throughout the country who've done better than those in this list. But a key question on this blog for a while was his good could we expect the excellent recruiting class of WRs to be this year, given the data says even highly rated freshman struggle. I believe that's what the OP is trying to address.
November 14th, 2017 at 10:19 PM ^
While Cody White has had a very good Freshman year, he was not the 4* or 5* recruit that this post is referencing. He was a unanimous 3*.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:53 PM ^
Could easily be something like 17 for 400 if they hit him some of the times he's screamingly open deep.
It doesn't yet show on the stat sheet but I've been noticing his route tree expanding in recent weeks. Dude is getting separation on more than just the go-routes and drags he was open on (and usually missed) to start the year.