Pitch & Catch

This is the 8th post in an 11 part series in which I’m breaking down the Dawgs by position for the 2008 season. It’s time to discuss the wideouts and what to expect from this unit when August rolls around. There’s a lot of buzz and anticipation in Athens that has been generated by the new commits at the position, but I’ll get to that later.

Sean Bailey, Mikey Henderson, and A J Bryant are gone. Bailey was a legit deep threat and really liked that black jersey. I’m going to remember Mikey for the “one and done” in the Alabama game and the thrills in the return game. Bryant was the phenom who never quite lived up to the hype due to injuries and various other reasons.

We return 6 guys that actually have at least one reception –

Always a Tech Fan Favorite, MoMass assumes the leadership of the WR's

Mohamed Massaquoi (Sr, 6-2, 198) will take on the role as the leader of this group in ’08. MoMass has 100 career receptions and is far and away the most experienced.

Kris Durham (Jr, 6-5, 200) has been a very effective possession receiver in his first two years. Kris has 16 career receptions.

Kenneth Harris (Sr, 6-3, 215) saw his production drop last year. Harris finished 2007 with only 4 receptions after having 11 and 15 in his first two years. With his height and size, it would be nice if Harris can return to form.

Demiko Goodman (Sr, 6-2, 190) is also on the UGA track team and is a bonafide lightning bolt. He’s also shown willingness to come across the middle and has pretty good hands. Goodman finished the year with 7 receptions that averaged 17.7 yds.

Tony Wilson (RSoph, 5-11, 198) is a guy that has huge potential for YAC. The coaching staff ran some plays especially designed for Tony in ’07 and he should get more touches next year. Wilson finished the year with 14 receptions.

Michael Moore (Jr, 6-2, 188) received a great deal of praise from the coaches as the year progressed, however the on-field results never came. Moore had 3 catches in 2007.

We also have 2 redshirt freshmen and 1 early enrollee who will be fighting for playing time this fall.

Israel Troupe (RFr, 6-1, 215) is a homerun waiting to happen. Literally. He splits his time with the UGA baseball dawgs. The kid has great speed and the ability to create in space. I actually saw him play 3 times in ’06 and he was an absolute terror to defend.

Walter Hill (RFr, 6-4, 214) has received praise from the coaching staff and the players as being a threat for the Dawgs this year. Asher Allen says “He’s hard to defend when he gets his big body in position”.

Tavarres King (Fr, 6-1, 172) has enrolled early and impressed also. One defender compared him to Percy Harvin of Florida. That may be going a little too far, but it sounds promising.

The talent is there for the Dawgs to open up a little more this year with the passing game. Stafford’s growing pains are over and there’s reason to hope that he’ll be getting more balls into the hands of these wideouts than in the previous two years.

We’ll be checking out the running back position in the next post.

Oh yeah, one more thing………A J Green is a BEAST