Coutee's officially off to the league, meaning the Red Raiders have to find some way to fill that void he leaves at your most important receiver position: Y. This offense is built to run through that position traditionally. It's almost always the most productive and relied-upon position in the passing game because of the route concepts/reads and spacing. So, what do you do?
I think there's a number of different ways you can attack this, and I'll say that I think candidates to start at Y include Xavier Martin, Antoine Wesley, Dequan Bowman, Quan Shorts. Those are the primary four I see. With that said, let's break each down.
Xavier Martin - This would make the most sense on paper. Martin is an electric athlete that will be as good in the open field as Coutee was. He's a playmaker in space, flat and simple. The only question is if he'll be ready as a receiver. Can he catch consistently? Will he run good routes? Is he still transitioning from QB? Again, if all those answers are yes, then he's the guy, if you ask me. No brainer.
Antoine Wesley - If Tech wanted to go the faux tight end direction and use Wesley as a big, sure-handed body that's a possession receiver, this is a way you could go. Wesley has a gigantic catch radius, so he'd make for a great short yardage and redzone target. However, he won't be the kind of playmaker in open space that your traditional Y slots are.
Quan Shorts - This would be an interesting move I could see happening. Shorts would be similar to what Tony Brown would've been inside: Good in space, lots of home run speed, but still physical because he's bigger than your traditional Y slot. The only thing is I don't know if he can be the kind of quick twitch route runner you need at the Y slot. This is definitely in play, though.
Dequan Bowman - Bowman is a shifty, space receiver, so this move could make some sense, and he could replace Batson as your punt returner as well. He's moved around a bit and hasn't really played much in his time at Tech yet, however, so I'm curious if he could handle the large load of the receiving game traditionally thrown on the Y receiver in this offense.
Other possibilities could include newcomer Sterling Galban, but I wonder if he'll be ready as a true freshman.
Just wanted to put a few ideas out there so you guys have a feel for what this could look like...
I think there's a number of different ways you can attack this, and I'll say that I think candidates to start at Y include Xavier Martin, Antoine Wesley, Dequan Bowman, Quan Shorts. Those are the primary four I see. With that said, let's break each down.
Xavier Martin - This would make the most sense on paper. Martin is an electric athlete that will be as good in the open field as Coutee was. He's a playmaker in space, flat and simple. The only question is if he'll be ready as a receiver. Can he catch consistently? Will he run good routes? Is he still transitioning from QB? Again, if all those answers are yes, then he's the guy, if you ask me. No brainer.
Antoine Wesley - If Tech wanted to go the faux tight end direction and use Wesley as a big, sure-handed body that's a possession receiver, this is a way you could go. Wesley has a gigantic catch radius, so he'd make for a great short yardage and redzone target. However, he won't be the kind of playmaker in open space that your traditional Y slots are.
Quan Shorts - This would be an interesting move I could see happening. Shorts would be similar to what Tony Brown would've been inside: Good in space, lots of home run speed, but still physical because he's bigger than your traditional Y slot. The only thing is I don't know if he can be the kind of quick twitch route runner you need at the Y slot. This is definitely in play, though.
Dequan Bowman - Bowman is a shifty, space receiver, so this move could make some sense, and he could replace Batson as your punt returner as well. He's moved around a bit and hasn't really played much in his time at Tech yet, however, so I'm curious if he could handle the large load of the receiving game traditionally thrown on the Y receiver in this offense.
Other possibilities could include newcomer Sterling Galban, but I wonder if he'll be ready as a true freshman.
Just wanted to put a few ideas out there so you guys have a feel for what this could look like...
