WR group excited for season, returns lot of production

Each week this summer Rock Chalk Sports Talk is doing a Touchdown Tuesday podcast of interviews with a position group from the KU team. The first week featured the linebackers and this past Tuesday the Jayhawk wide receivers sat down with hosts David Lawrence and Nick Schwerndt.

After listening to the interviews with six of KU’s wide receivers it jumped how productive this group has actually been since David Beaty came back.

During the five seasons prior to 2015, the Jayhawks pass catchers averaged over 200 yards per game just one year at 202.9 in 2014. The other four seasons were as follows: 161.8 (2010), 167.4 (2011), 148.7 (2012) and the low 140.4 (2013). In 2012, the Jayhawk wide receivers did not produce a single touchdown reception.

Compare that to Beaty’s three seasons at the helm and you can see just how much this position group has improved. In 2015 the group averaged 218.6 yards per game, in 2016 they jumped up to 240.2 per game and in 2017 they were at 226.4 per game.

There is reason for optimism heading in 2018 with this group as it returns several players with valuable game experience and most importantly production. Headlined by Steven Sims Jr., KU’s first All-Big 12 wide receiver performer since 2009 when Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe were playing under then-position coach Beaty, the Jayhawks have some players Jayhawks fans should be excited about.

Sims, who was an unheralded recruit coming out of high school with no other Power 5 offers, has proven to be a consistent play-maker. He enters his senior season ranked third in the KU record book in career receptions, fifth in receiving yards and sixth in receiving TDs.

The next guy KU fans should be looking for to have a good season would be junior Evan Fairs. Fairs came on the last half of 2017 and is a big, athletic receiver. He put on about 15 pounds during the offseason and is a guy who likes to go up and get the ball. He is poised for a big season and gives defenses a reason they cannot put all of their focus on Sims. Fairs credited Beaty on the podcast for pushing him to become more consistent in everything he does—especially how he practices—for his overall improvement.

KU has a solid group of seniors in the wide receiver room in 2018, led by Jeremiah Booker. Booker, who was also lightly recruited out of College Station, Texas, has been a consistent performer for KU despite battling injuries during his career. When he has been available, he has been a guy KU can count on. It is widely known that Booker, who served as a captain in 2017, is a leader both on and off the field—but if you really look into his production, he has put together respectable numbers during his time on the field.

Senior Kerr Johnson Jr., had a great spring for KU and his teammates on the Touchdown Tuesday podcast spoke highly of his quickness and efficient route running.

Another senior with speed, Ryan Schadler, returns for his final season. Schadler, a player who Beaty’s staff was able to recruit off the Wichita State track team, had 21 catches in his first full season as a wide receiver in 2017.

Tyler Patrick is another veteran who was on the show Tuesday. Patrick, who will be a fifth-year senior, is returning to the field after breaking his leg at Texas late in 2017. He said on the podcast he is “the strongest and fastest he has been in his career” and is ready to make his final year count. Patrick has always seemed to fly under the radar, but has 53 catches to his credit and has developed nicely under Beaty’s staff.

Quan Hampton returns for his sophomore season after missing the last six games of 2017 with an injury. The staff was high on him coming in as a recruir, and although he is on the smaller side, he had 21 catches in his first six college football games. He talked about being fully healthy and ready in 2018.

KU adds just one newcomer to the roster at wide receiver in 2018 in sophomore Stephon Robinson. We did not get to see much of practices this spring, but from what I could gather at the media sessions they had, the returning players were impressed with his speed. He looks to be another player that will help make the 2018 wide receiver depth possibly the best it’s been in a while.

KU football fans are looking for reasons to be optimistic and I think this is one group that should definitely do that. They have the potential to be the closest production-wise as those groups that played here when Beaty was an assistant coach in 2008-09. There is good reason to believe they will be even more improved in 2018.

This staff has done a nice job of identifying players who can come and play right away, but also have also developed them. Sims, Booker and Fairs jump out at you, but they also got 41 catches for 599 yards out of Tre’ Parmalee in his one year playing under them. Parmalee had just 20 receptions for 174 yards in the three years before their arrival. They inherited Shak Barbel who had not caught a pass in his one season already in the program, but he combined for 49 catches and 453 yards in his two seasons under the current staff.

There were signings of Quincy Perdue, Josh Stanford and Travis Jordan, who didn’t contribute but KU got those initial scholarships back. They were able to use to find other players to sign in the program.

Take a listen to the Touchdown Tuesday podcast—this wide receivers corps give Jayhawk fans a group they should definitely look forward to watching this fall.