Washington State has always been known as a quarterback school, and the long list of great quarterbacks that have worn the Crimson and Gray would not be where they are today without the help of their receivers. The class of 2013 receivers that head coach Mike Leach has landed along with the receivers that he already has are looking like a group of guys that can do some big damage to the secondary of any defense in the PAC-12. With the recruiting class that Leach is targeting in 2014 the receiving group will be deep and all of the players will have the ability to produce big numbers.
Receivers River Cracraft, Charleston White, and Vince Mayle are all receivers coming to WSU in the fall with Mayle being a Junior College transfer. Robert Lewis, who can also double as a running back if needed is also going to be new in 2013, is already at spring camp as a grayshirt (for those of you who might not fully understand how a grayshirt works this explains a lot of it – Grayshirt 101). Rickey Galvin, Mansel Simmons, Bobby Ratliff, Gabe Marks, Isiah Myers, Adam West, Brett Bartolone, Dominique Williams, and Kristoff Williams are all returning players from the 2012 team. Kyle Adkins, Tyler Baker, and Daniel McDonald are walk-ons for the team as well who will be around this upcoming season. With the receiving core being so deep Bennett Bontemps, who only caught 1 pass for 7 yards this past season, is trying to move over to the defensive side of the ball and help with the secondary to get more playing time.
Height is something the Cougars don’t really have going for them right now with 6 of the 17 receivers being 6-2 or taller and only 1 taller than 6-2, Simmons at 6-4. So picking up a taller receiver who can go up and get the ball will be a huge pick up for WSU in 2014. 4 of the 17 receivers weigh over 200 pounds, Cracraft, Mayle, Simmons, and Kristoff Williams are the biggest players in the group.
The 2014 class that Leach is targeting includes 5 of 7 players over 6-2 and 3 over 200 pounds. Size is something that Leach is going after in his recruiting classes and I think it will only help the quarterbacks and team as the Cougars look to improve from last years disappointing 3-9 season. Last season the leading receiver on the team was Marquess Wilson who left the team 3 games early due to internal complications. Wilson caught 52 passes for 813 yards and 5 touchdowns. The second leading receiver was Gabe Marks who had 49 receptions for 560 yards and 2 touchdowns.
When picking up a receiver from recruiting I don’t see them getting much, if any playing time their freshman year. The two wide receivers that Washington State lost from last year are Gino Simone and Andrei Lintz. Lintz having 10 catches in his tenure at Washington State and Simone who had 19 receptions in the 2012 season. The other receivers that are on the roster all have at least two years left of eligibility making it hard to see an incoming freshman lose his ability to redshirt his freshman year and start or get playing time over a player who has played under Leach’s program for a few years already.
Washington State has 15 receivers on the roster as of right now including the 2013 incoming class that will not be at WSU until Fall. The receiving core is also very young with no seniors this upcoming season. I don’t see a freshman coming in right away and getting any playing time especially with the depth the group has right now. I see Mike Leach using a redshirt on an incoming receiver and having them learn the offense and getting used to playing such a high level of ball.
Look for Leach to go after size in the upcoming recruiting classes to help out the team when it comes to making the catches that the cougars were unable to make in the past few years.