Catching Up

Exactly what are the attributes of a great receiver? Are you born with them? Can they be coached? How do the items on this list rank in importance?

• Speed - You certainly can't have too much but "world class sprinter's" speed isn't a requirement. Is straight line speed, top end speed, or an explosive first step more important?

• Agility - Running good routes, being "shifty", snatching the ball out of the air, the ability to get yardage after the catch, having a good vertical leap.


• Height - Randy Moss is 6'4"......Wes Welker is 5'9". Both are effective.


• Strength - Definitely a plus against a physical corner playing press coverage.


• Hands - Not every great athlete has soft hands.


• Eyes - Coming out of a break and picking up the ball in a fraction of a second.


• Focus - Blocking out everything around you except the ball.


• Desire - The ball belongs to ME.

This man knows a thing or two about catching the ball

I recently watched a documentary featuring Jerry Rice and Cris Carter. I don't think that you can find someone with more expertise at the position than these two. When asked what are the most important attributes of a wide receiver, both placed alot of emphasis on the last two.

& This one knows the rest

It's a given that UGA's group of wideouts possess a great deal of the physical attributes, but how many have the focus and desire to be a standout. Are any of them capable of taking over a game?

Of course our guys aren't professionals. They don't get paid monstrous salaries to catch a football. However, they are playing at an elite level and can reasonably be expected to make all of the easy catches, most of the tough ones, and a few of the highlight reel verson. All too often, that hasn't been the case.

This report gives me some hope that our guys may be turning the corner. It's great to hear that balls aren't hitting the ground. I'm sure that everyone's seen the AJ Green highlight video, and he seems to be the total package.

For our offense to be consistent, we can't afford to drop the easy ones. We like to run the football, which results in many 3rd and medium yardage situations. We've gotta catch the ball to move the chains. It's my personal opinion that we could have avoided one of our losses in 2007 by simply catching the "easy" ones. To avoid repeating history, we need to catch all of 'em that we should. Anything above that will be a bonus.

****Update****

No b.s.

I finished this post about 10 minutes before I saw this.