Overshadowed wide receivers still enjoyed their moments

Best pass-catchers for Owls aren’t of recent vintage.

BOCA RATON — Although Florida Atlantic wide receivers often have taken a backseat to the program’s running backs, plenty of talented pass catchers have found success with the Owls. With coach Lane Kiffin continuing to attracting top talent, FAU could see a receiver top 1,000 yards for the first time in more than a decade.

The 2018 season will be FAU’s 15th in Division I, officially the Football Bowl Subdivision. While the Owls have been, to put it kindly, inconsistent since 2004, the program has fielded plenty of talented players. But who are the best players to wear an Owls uniform in the past 15 seasons?

Much like the annual All-American teams, The Post’s All-Owls 15 list features three “teams” of FAU players from the past 15 years.

So who are the best wide receivers to play for FAU? First team:

Cortez Gent (2005-09): Gent remains the best wide receiver ever to wear an FAU uniform. He leads the program in receptions (162), receiving yards (2,494) and receiving touchdowns (20) nearly a decade after his final game. FAU likely would not have made bowl games in 2007 or 2008 without Gent, who caught 18 touchdowns over those two seasons. If Willie Wright continues to post significant numbers under Kiffin, the sophomore will start hearing his name compared to Gent’s.

Lester Jean (2007-10): Jean thrived under coach Howard Schnellenberger. Although he had only three 100-yard receiving games, far fewer than Gent (seven) or Kalib Woods (nine), his 146 catches are second-most in program history and he ranks fourth in receiving yards with 1,992. Jean had one of the top receiving seasons in FAU history in 2010, catching 64 passes for 988 yards and eight touchdowns. That landed him a spot with the Houston Texans after the 2011 lockout.

Jean had 10 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown in 27 games with the Texans from 2012-13, with his lone score coming on a 54-yard catch against the Tennessee Titans in December 2012. Second team:

Kalib Woods (2013-17): Woods was no lock to make this list a year ago, even after catching 68 passes for 934 yards in 2016. After missing half of his senior season with legal issues, Woods returned in mid-October ready to play, finishing the season with 24 catches for 619 yards and four touchdowns. Woods averaged 25.8 yards per catch in helping the Owls go undefeated after his return. He was named MVP of the Conference USA championship game after a six-catch, 208-yard effort against North Texas.

Woods went undrafted this spring and didn’t catch on with an NFL team, but he could be a fit for the Alliance of American Football, an independent league that begins play in February.

William Dukes (2011-14): Dukes caught 125 passes for 1,866 yards and 11 touchdowns in his four seasons, numbers that could have been higher if the Owls had found more consistency at quarterback in his first two seasons. Prior to Woods’ historic game against the Mean Green on Dec. 2, Dukes was the only player in FAU history with at least 200 receiving yards in a game, recording 204 in a 35-21 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 1, 2012. Third team:

Jenson Stoshak (2012-15): Although he had only one great season (56 catches for 816 yards and two touchdowns in 2015). Stoshak earned a spot on this list with 131 catches for 1,881 yards and six touchdowns. Stoshak, who briefly spent time with the Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions, ranks fifth in catches and fourth in receiving yards on the Owls’ all-time list. His younger brother, Jake, is entering his fifth season as a defensive back for the Owls and another brother, Jaedon, is a receiver for University Christian High School in Jacksonville.

Lucky Whitehead (201314): Players transferring to FAU should try to model their play after Whitehead’s twoyear stretch with the Owls. Arriving in 2013 after a stint at Dean College (Mass.), Whitehead had seven catches as a junior before breaking out for 76 receptions, 706 yards and six receiving TDs the next year. He added another 210 yards and a touchdown on the ground, enough to land with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2015.