Depth at wide receiver a good thing for Rams
Group has mix of experience and youth at skill position
With more than a dozen wide receivers on the roster, depth at that position won’t be an issue this season for the Colorado State Rams.
In the team’s new ‘Air Raid’ offense under firstyear head coach Jay Norvell, that is a good position to be in.
This year’s corps of receivers includes about half returnees and half transfers — including a couple who played for Norvell at Nevada and made the jump to CSU to continue to play for him.
There are veterans and there are freshmen, but through a week of practice and one scrimmage, many of them are asserting themselves as the playmakers they were advertised to be.
Senior Ty Mccullouch, who caught 24 passes for 415 yards and a touchdown last season, remembers his first impressions of the new receivers in camp.
“I was surprised at first but then they started to become routine,” Mccullouch said. “I was like, ‘OK, these guys are legit.’ I am actually excited to bring these guys up and nourish them into receivers of the future.”
Among the other returnees are several players who saw limited action, including senior Dante Wright.
Mccullouch and Wright are the leading returners. Wright played only nine games but had 43 catches for 538 yards and three touchdowns.
Soon after the season ended, Norvell came on as head coach and two receivers transferred from Nevada — senior Melquan Stovall and junior Tory Horton. Redshirt sophomore Matt Greenwald, a Fairview High School product, transferred from another Mountain West rival, Boise State.
Four freshmen have been added to the group also — Louis Brown, Mekhi Fox, Ky Oday and Justus Ross-simmons. A couple of those had impressive showings in Wednesday’s scrimmage at Canvas Stadium.
“They were definitely up for the moment,” Mccullouch said. “The night before, I was talking to them. I was just, like, ‘Hey, we are going to see tomorrow what you guys do.’ They came out and executed and I am very proud of what they did and accomplished. It’s only going to keep going up from here.”
Ross-simmons had both a one-handed touchdown reception and another he caught against two defenders.
Even though quarterback Clay Millen didn’t get to throw to the transferring receivers much at Nevada, he is equally excited about the returnees, the transfers and the newcomers.
“I am excited about them,” Millen said. “I really got to throw to them for the first time (Wednesday) because they were running the second practice. They’ve all come in and they’ve balled, so I am excited about them, the young guys.”
Horton brings the most experience among the new players. At Nevada last season, he had 72 receptions for 995 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Using an analogy of opening presents on Christmas morning, Norvell compared Horton to the prize gift among a sea of new treasures.
“He’s definitely the present,” Norvell said. “Offense is about playmakers and developing playmakers and Tory is certainly one of these and he is one of those fast toys that we like to play with. Some are better than the socks and underwear that you got from your grandma.”
Millen feels the same way and is happy to have Horton to throw to after witnessing what he did last year at Nevada and finally getting to work with him full-time.
“He’s a playmaker, and obviously, as a quarterback, when the guy is going to be open every time, it makes it easy for you and you obviously want to get him the ball.” Millen
said. “Tory is a great playmaker and he’s a guy that, he’s still young, even though he has been playing for two years, he’s got a lot of years of eligibility left, so I am excited.”
Horton is looking forward to not only being a playmaker, but a mentor to the younger players as they learn the offense Norvell has installed.
He remembers seeing their reactions when they first saw and began to learn how the offense was going to work.
“When I first got in the room and they saw how the scheme was going to be, they were pretty excited,” Horton said. “Especially as receivers, you want to catch the ball, you want to run, you want to do those things. Fitting into the Air Raid offense is something great that all the receivers, even the people that were here before, they just can’t wait for the season to start and you can tell, even at practice, you see more smiles on their faces when they are out there running routes.”
Norvell knows he has his work cut out for him as he determines which personnel will take the field Sept. 3 when the team opens the season at Michigan.
He said it could even take a few games before he knows what certain players can do in specific situations and which ones give the team the best chance to score and win games.
That is where the depth factor comes in, something Mccullouch said he is already beginning to see. But he knows that can change quickly with unknown factors such as injuries.
“I do see depth starting to develop,” Mccullouch said. “But it can change at any moment in time, at any given moment in the season because, just last year, I wasn’t starting until game four. When one guy goes out, another guy pops up and we’ve got to be ready. That is why we are so deep at receiver right now.”
In an offense designed to feature a lot of balls in the air, depth at receiver is definitely a good thing to have.