Depth perception
September 10, 2019 | Football, Mike Lucas
Digging into how this year’s WRs match up with Badgers of the past
 |
||
|
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Ted Gilmore wants his wide receivers to want the football.
"Honestly," said the UW assistant, "I don't want a group of guys who don't want the ball."
Gilmore, 52, has been around the game long enough to know what's realistic, and what's not.
Experience has shaped his expectations in the wide receiver room.
"It's a group that has to be selfless," said Gilmore, a 25-year veteran of the coaching ranks, including three seasons in the NFL and the last five at Wisconsin.
"It's a group that has to stay humble. They have to celebrate each other's success because you never know in what game who's going to shine.
"And when you have a room like that, when you have some depth like that, it's human nature to want the ball. But there's only one ball."
The universal punch line. But did everyone buy into what he was selling?
"I won't say they bought into it right away, no," he admitted. "It's on-going and it's my job to remind them they slip. I don't mind it.
"But we have to be selfless," he reiterated. "I believe whole-heartily when you work hard, things tend to come your way."
That's what he has been trying to get across to a diverse group of wide receivers.
"They all bring something different to the table," Gilmore said. "And we'll need every single one of them during the course of the season during the ups and downs.
"I tell them, 'Be you. But be the good you whatever that is.'"
So far, the results have been very good.
Four wide receivers have combined for 29 catches in the first two games.
Quintez Cephus has nine receptions for 169 yards (18.8).
A.J. Taylor has eight receptions for 87 yards (10.9).
Kendric Pryor has six receptions for 72 yards (12.0).
Danny Davis has six receptions for 65 yards (10.8).
In addition, Jack Dunn has three receptions and Aron Cruickshank has one.
Adam Krumholz allows the Badgers to go seven deep in the wideout rotation.
Despite missing the final five games of the 2017 season, and all of last year, Cephus has made the biggest early splash with a career-high 130 receiving yards and two TDs against Central Michigan.
If it looks like he hasn't skipped a beat, Gilmore begs to differ.
"He has and he'd be the first to tell you," Gilmore said. "But today (Saturday) there were signs of the old (Cephus). It's still an on-going process with him.
"He's not satisfied and he stays hungry."
Tailback Jonathan Taylor's emergence as a receiving threat has added another weapon to the arsenal. Taylor has five receptions for 65 yards (13.0) and three touchdowns.
Monitoring the vibe and energy in the wide receiver room over Taylor's impact as a pass-catcher, Gilmore said, "They're happy for him because it's something he has worked extremely hard at.
"If we can be balanced, if we can make a team defend an entire field — and obviously that part of JT's game is coming along — it's something you have to contend with from a defensive standpoint.
"And it makes us better."
How much better can they get as a receiving corps? That will play itself out.
Overall, this has the makings of a deep rotation. How deep?
Moreover, what is the depth perception compared to previous seasons?
It's The Same Old Toon
In 2011, Scott Tolzien engineered an offense that averaged 41.5 points per game. He completed 73 percent of his passes and for 2,459 yards with 16 TDs.
The Badgers very nearly had three 1,000-yard rushers with James White (156 carries for 1,052 yards), John Clay (187 for 1,012) and Montee Ball (163 for 996).
They also had four wide receivers with at least 20 catches.
- Nick Toon had 36 receptions for 459 yards.
- Isaac Anderson had 24 receptions for 233 yards.
- David Gilreath had 23 receptions for 370 yards.
- Jared Abbrederis had 20 receptions for 289 yards.
In all, seven players finished with 10 or more receptions.
The Wright Stuff
In 1982, Randy Wright guided an attack that averaged over 400 yards of total offense for the first time in school history: 206.6 yards rushing and 197.0 yards passing.
Sharing the ball was the theme for five running backs — Troy King, Chucky Davis, Gerald Green, Gary Ellerson, and John Williams — whose rushing totals fell between 287 yards and 674.
Four wide receivers had at least 15 catches.
- Tim Stracka had 34 receptions for 527 yards.
- Al Toon, the father of Nick, had 32 receptions for 472 yards.
- David Keeling had 18 receptions for 251 yards.
- Michael Jones had 16 receptions for 259 yards.
- Wisconsin had seven players with 10 or more catches.
Bev And Company
In 1994, Darrell Bevell and Jay Macias combined to throw for 2,149 yards.
Eight players caught at least 10 passes.
The wideout rotation featured J.C. Dawkins (27 catches), "Touchdown" Tony Simmons (22), Keith Jackson (13) and Kevin Huntley (10).
In 1995, Bevell passed for 2,273 and, once again, eight players had 10 or more catches.
That included four wide receivers:
- Michael London had 41 receptions for 587 yards.
- Simmons had 29 receptions for 504 yards.
- Donald Hayes had 17 receptions for 328 yards.
- Reggie Torian had 13 receptions for 175 yards.
Eight Is Enough
Eight players also caught 10 or more passes from Joel Stave and Bart Houston in 2015.
Here was the wideout roll-call:
- Alex Erickson had 77 receptions for 978 yards.
- Rob Wheelwright had 32 receptions for 416 yards.
- Jazz Peavy had 20 receptions for 268 yards.
- Tanner McEvoy had 10 receptions for 109 yards.
The Bedford (Ohio) Connection
In the Year of Dayne (Ron Dayne winning the 1999 Heisman Trophy), the Badgers had five quality wide receivers who caught passes from Brooks Bollinger and Scott Kavanagh.
- Chris Chambers had 41 receptions for 578 yards.
- Nick Davis had 19 receptions for 346 yards.
- Demetrius Brown had 13 catches for 150 yards.
- Ahmad Merritt had 9 catches for 141 yards.
- Lee Evans had 3 catches for 76 yards.
Chambers and Evans are alums of Bedford High School.
In 2003, Evans had 64 receptions for 1,213 yards (19.0) and three touchdowns.
Brandon Williams (49 catches), Darrin Charles (20) and Jonathan Orr (7) joined Evans in the wide receiver room. In 2004, it was Williams (42 catches), Charles (25), Brandon White (17) and Orr (13).
Russell Wilson And His Pips
In 2011, Wilson threw for a school-record 3,175 yards. Completing 73 percent of his passes, he had 33 touchdown passes and just 4 interceptions in 309 passing attempts.
The Badgers averaged 44.1 points, another school record.
Seven players had 15 or more catches.
But only three were wide receivers.
- Nick Toon had 64 receptions for 926 yards.
- Abbrederis had 55 receptions for 933 yards.
- Jeff Duckworth had 15 catches for 230 yards.
4-Wide
Draw your own conclusions on wide receiver personnel groupings.
But who would you take?
Davis, Cephus, Taylor and Pryor?
Or …
Nick Toon, Anderson, Gilreath and Abbrederis?
Stracka, Al Toon, Keeling and Jones?
Al Toon, Jones, McFadden and Neal?
Dawkins, Simmons, Jackson and Huntley?
London, Simmons, Hayes and Torian?
Erickson, Wheelwright, Peavy and McEvoy?
Chambers, Davis, Brown and Merritt?
Evans, Williams, Charles and Orr?
Williams, Charles, White and Orr?
Nick Toon, Abbrederis, Duckworth and Wilson?
Or …
Other.
