Notebook: Meacham likes both QB, WR learning to read defenses

One of the biggest challenges the wide receivers faced from spring football to summer to fall camp is learning coverages from the defense.

Offensive coordinator Doug Meacham said when he arrived one of the things receivers are going to have to learn is recognizing how the defense is set and run their routes based on that information.

“They are doing really well,” Meacham said. “We have a ton of coverage reading. Those guy’s routes will morph into a different location based on coverage. You start with the two safeties. Is it one high safety, is it man coverage, zone coverage and then you begin to look at the leverage game.

“Is the defender leveraging inside, head up, or outside? Are they playing press, press bail, off man and all of the different things you get. It is critical that those guys run the same page as the quarterback. The quarterback sees it and now they have to see it.”

The added task for the receivers is a key to making the offense run the way Meacham wants. He is seeing progress in fall camp with everyone getting on the same page.

“Ultimately you want guys to start thinking the way you do,” Meacham said. “You hope to see more of that and a little bit of relaxation and comfort in the fact that they understand what we want them to do. They are settling into what we want them to do.”

Meacham said they are going to run two groups of four receivers on the depth chart. The competition has been going well in what is considering a deep group in fall camp.

With so many bodies in the mix to make the two-deep everyone has a chance because how many opportunities they will have to make plays.

“The first eight know they’re going to play,” he said. “So it is a competitive room because everybody knows they’re going to play and catch balls. You go to a school that doesn’t throw it because it is a helmet school and they have eight All-Americans in there and they are running out of a Pro-I everybody is not happy. So we really don’t have that. It is fun because even as a third string guy you are an ankle injury away from getting out there and getting 20 to 25 reps.”

Meacham and David Beaty are a long way away from naming their starting quarterback. But Meacham likes the fact he has good competition with Peyton Bender and Carter Stanley.

The Big 12 has proven to be a conference where you need more than one quarterback.

“Both of them are doing well,” Meacham said. “It looks like it is going to be a situation where we have two guys that can function and move the ball. I have been a lot of places, like at Oklahoma State we had Brandon Weeden and there was no one else. We have a pretty good situation with a couple guys you can put out there and feel confident they can both move it.”

One of the quarterbacks going through drills is Miles Fallin a walk-on from Canyon High in California. At 6-foot-5 he stands out with his arm during early practice.

“He throws it pretty well,” Meacham said. “To have a guy with that kind of arm talent and be a walk on there are a lot of schools that would love to have a kid like that. Usually a walk-on kid may be a little short or a little slow, or lack a little bit of something here are there. In relative terms he is a pretty good player.”