Despite the loss of Charles Gordon, it looked like 2006 would be a breakout year for the KU wide receivers. The 2005 season ended with a Brian Murph explosion during the Fort Worth Bowl and Dexton Fields making a huge TD catch near the end of regulation vs ISU to send the game to OT. Jayhawk fans had reason for optimism with a talented crew on deck that included Murph, Fields, Marcus Henry and Marcus Herford. For whatever reason though, no one really stood out for the wideouts in 2006. Sure, there were a few big plays, but there really wasn’t a guy out there inspiring fear for opposing defenses. We know Murph was drawing quite a bit of attention and that should have really opened up for the field for the rest of the crew. Jonathan Lamb thrived as a possession receiver and TE Derek Fine benefitted, but the other speedsters were pretty quiet. Quiet enough that we started seeing DB Aqib Talib line up as a receiver (after his jaunt against Mizzou, he will certainly draw some attention if he takes downs as a wideout in 2007).
There were some good signs out of Fields though late in the season. He worked the short game nicely against KSU when he had 7 catches for 72 yards. I put him at the top of the list when ranking the wideouts going into 2007. Overall, I’m still bullish on the crew as Henry and Herford are too talented to not excel at the position. I suspect that Jeff Foster can take over that possession receiver role that Jonathan Lamb provided last year. The other thing is there are so many receivers on the roster and in the incoming class that I have to believe the competition is going to force someone to the top. Tertavian Ingram, Raimond Pendleton and Xavier Rambo are all players that have been talked about on the message boards. Somebody out of that crew is going to figure into the mix this year. Ingram and Rambo reportedly have 4.4 type speed, so they could possibly help out with the vertical approach that Mark Mangino has openly discussed regarding 2007.
In addition, Kansas signed four more wideouts for the current recruiting class. Ryan Murphy is the top-rated prospect in the class and could see the field in 2007 (although there was a poster on this site that said Murphy had an injury and would redshirt in ’07 – I’ve found no other confirmation, so we’ll keep an eye on that). At 6-3, both Dezmon Briscoe and Johnathan Wilson can help out as the big targets. Rell Lewis is a smaller speedster (5-10/185/4.5) who was the type of athlete that Mangino said he just couldn’t pass up.
Other than the competition at the position, I would also think that the experience Fields, Herford and Henry gained in 2006 will start to translate to game day success next season. Plus, another year working with the young quarterbacks should make for a more cohesive passing game overall. A breakout year is overdue for this unit -- can they pull it off?
In House
88 Dexton Fields Jr. 6-0/200 Dallas, TX (South Oak Cliff HS)
2006 Stats: 45-455/10.1 5 tds
Recruited: 2004 ** 4.4
86 Marcus Henry Sr. 6-4/200 Lawton, OK (Eisenhower HS)
2006 Stats: 25-316/12.6 3 tds
13 Marcus Herford Jr. 6-3/210 DeSoto, TX (Cedar Hill HS)
2006 Stats: 8-137/17.1 1 td
Recruited: 2006 *** 4.46
82 Jeff Foster Sr. 6-2/195 Cedar Rapids, IA (Jefferson HS)
2006 Stats: 1-31/31.0 0 tds
89 Tertavian Ingram Fr./RS 6-0/185 Tampa, FL (Jefferson HS)
Recruited: 2006 *** 4.4
9 Raimond Pendleton So. 5-10/180 Garland, TX (South Garland HS)
Recruited: 2005 *** 4.55
18 Xavier Rambo Fr./RS 6-0/185 Dallas, TX (South Oak Cliff HS)
Recruited: 2006 ** 4.4
Plus:
16 Hassan Johnson WR Sr. 6-0/175 Kansas City, KS (Washington HS)
37 Micah Brown WR So. 6-0/190 Kearney, NB (Kearney HS)
17 Jack Swab WR So. 6-1/185 Tulsa, OK (Cascia Hall HS)
X-Factor
3 Aqib Talib Jr. 6-2/190 Richardson, TX (Berkner HS)
2006 Stats: 1-42/42.0 1 td
Recruited: 2004 ** 4.5
Incoming
**** Ryan Murphy -- 5-11/180/4.4 -- Lawrence, Kan. (Free State HS)
*** Dezmon Briscoe -- 6-3/200/4.7 -- Dallas, Texas (Cedar Hill HS)
*** Rell Lewis -- 5-10/185/4.5 -- Muskogee, Okla. (Muskogee HS)
** Johnathan Wilson -- 6-3/185/4.6 -- Houston, Texas (Klein Forest HS)