Receivers looking good as a group
El Dorado graduated a pair of thousand-yard receivers in Kamron Bibby and Jackie Washington. The Wildcats return senior DeAndra Burns, Jr., and several new faces.
New receivers’ coach Ryan Theyard believes the group has plenty of ammunition to spark the offense.
This year’s group, they’re a real competitive group,” said Theyard. “We tell them to make sure they attack practice like it’s a game rep so when it’s a game, you’re already used to running your routes hard. You’re already used to doing those small things in practice. Basically, just already have it in your memory bank so when it becomes game time, things flow naturally. You don’t have to really think about it.”
Theyard came to El Dorado last year from New Orleans. He coached on the freshman staff last season.
When asked for names to watch for, the coach, basically, said everybody will have an opportunity.
“We have a good bit of guys who’ve been stepping up. Everybody’s getting reps. Compared to last year, their improvement from the time I’ve gotten here, a lot of guys have grown up a whole lot,” he said. “It’s not really one person who has taken over but it’s the whole group. Everybody is competitive. It’s a good group to be around because they all want to do good. Everybody wants to play and I like that competitive edge about them.”
The Wildcats would like to run the ball more this season and might not use as much five-wide personnel. Theyard said the receiver rotation could change from week-toweek.
“It depends. It’ll be more of a game-time decision. It’ll depend on what we get looks wise versus what team we’re playing, what the defense does. It’s not really set in stone,” he said. “It’s just finding the right fit depending on the gameplan we have set up for that week.
“They’re competing and Friday nights as a coaching staff, we’ll go through and find who our best athletes are to get on the field and we’ll go that way. The group is pretty deep in terms of possible people who will get on the field and play on Friday nights.”