DRC: UNT wide receivers outlook for 2018

Brett Vito · February 16, 2018

DRC: UNT could have its best and most talented group in years this fall

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/mean-green/2018/02/16/unt-wr-outlook-2018-college-football-season-mean-green-could-best-deepest-group-last-several-years

MGNation92 · February 16, 2018

Excited to see what Greg White will do after a redshirt year. He really impressed me last year in the practices I saw

Tyler Maryak · February 16, 2018

Anybody seen the movie "Hot Fuzz"? Brett reminds me of the reporter from that movie.

UNT18Grad · February 16, 2018

Our receiving core is stacked next year! I think Brewer/White will be huge additions to an already really talented group. Should allow us to redshirt both freshman, but if one of them is good enough to see the field that would be a really positive sign too.

Edited February 16, 2018 by UNT18Grad

El Paso Eagle · February 16, 2018

I really hope we find a way to get Guyton more touches every game. Catches, rushes, anything to get him the ball!!

jdennis82 · February 16, 2018

Anxious to see how the Guyton and the staff approach the off-season program to help avoid the dramatic decline he saw late in the year...

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jalen-guyton-1/gamelog/2017/

Rk	Date	School		Opponent		Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
	12 Games					49	775	15.8	9
8	2017-11-04	North Texas	@	Louisiana Tech	W	5	37	7.4	0
9	2017-11-11	North Texas		Texas-El Paso	W	1	2	2.0	1
10	2017-11-18	North Texas		Army	W	2	27	13.5	1
11	2017-12-02	North Texas	@	Florida Atlantic	L	1	6	6.0	0
12	2017-12-16	North Texas	N	Troy*	L	1	11	11.0	0

There's a next level to his game - overcoming increased defensive attention - and unlocking it should be the focus of his work this spring.

MGNation92 · February 16, 2018

Also curious to see how Keegan Brewer will fit in. He's surely another A receiver given his size/quickness, but that position is logjammed already with Lawrence/Darden.

Brewer did start at Kansas as a true freshman walk on so he can definitely play.

Ben Gooding · February 16, 2018

13 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

Also curious to see how Keegan Brewer will fit in. He's surely another A receiver given his size/quickness, but that position is logjammed already with Lawrence/Darden.

Brewer did start at Kansas as a true freshman walk on so he can definitely play.

IMO, you can never have too many of these kind of guys. The Patriots have feasted on professional defensive football players with exactly these type of guys.

MGNation92 · February 19, 2018

On 2/16/2018 at 4:02 PM, Ben Gooding said:

IMO, you can never have too many of these kind of guys. The Patriots have feasted on professional defensive football players with exactly these type of guys.

True. Gimme the scrappy kid who can consistently get you 8 yards when you need 7.

UNT Mean Green · February 19, 2018

On 2/16/2018 at 3:35 PM, jdennis82 said:

Anxious to see how the Guyton and the staff approach the off-season program to help avoid the dramatic decline he saw late in the year...

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jalen-guyton-1/gamelog/2017/

Rk Date School Opponent Rec Yds Avg TD
12 Games 49 775 15.8 9
8 2017-11-04 North Texas @ Louisiana Tech W 5 37 7.4 0
9 2017-11-11 North Texas Texas-El Paso W 1 2 2.0 1
10 2017-11-18 North Texas Army W 2 27 13.5 1
11 2017-12-02 North Texas @ Florida Atlantic L 1 6 6.0 0
12 2017-12-16 North Texas N Troy* L 1 11 11.0 0
There's a next level to his game - overcoming increased defensive attention - and unlocking it should be the focus of his work this spring.

Is it fair that it wasn't a conditioning problem, but rather could be due to the fact that he took a massive targeting hit against Army that may have taken a while to recover from (as in longer than the timeframe between Army and the NO Bowl)?

BTG_Fan1 · February 20, 2018

On 2/16/2018 at 3:35 PM, jdennis82 said:

Anxious to see how the Guyton and the staff approach the off-season program to help avoid the dramatic decline he saw late in the year...

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jalen-guyton-1/gamelog/2017/

Rk Date School Opponent Rec Yds Avg TD
12 Games 49 775 15.8 9
8 2017-11-04 North Texas @ Louisiana Tech W 5 37 7.4 0
9 2017-11-11 North Texas Texas-El Paso W 1 2 2.0 1
10 2017-11-18 North Texas Army W 2 27 13.5 1
11 2017-12-02 North Texas @ Florida Atlantic L 1 6 6.0 0
12 2017-12-16 North Texas N Troy* L 1 11 11.0 0
There's a next level to his game - overcoming increased defensive attention - and unlocking it should be the focus of his work this spring.

You have to remember the staff did not move much Guyton around much, he would usually line up on 1 side and stayed there. It’s easy for teams to double that or roll cover. Also, we have to remember while he was a major addition, but he RSed at ND then went to TVCC, then came in here with a solid but no other true outside WR threat (Yes Lawerence did great and Rico at times but no one made it so teams didn’t double Guyton)..

He did a lot for the WRs by allowing the guys below him to slot in allowing someone like Greg White to RS. Also, I do think it helped Masons development having a WR like Guyton who can catch the ball instead of like Goree as the #1 who didn’t have a reliable set of hands.Guyton did have some big games as well, SMU with 2 TDs on 3 catches, USM when he had 14 catches, etc.

Guyton could and will improve from this year to next, his major improvement needs to in beating press coverage. It’s on the staff to help with that by getting him in motion, or stacking him behind a TE like Smith or Chumley allowing him to get going before a DB can get hands on him, along with him getting into the weight room. I also think he needs to get a few more looks and chances, Mason seemed at times to be conservative. Guyton made some great catches showing he could go get the ball.

THOR · February 20, 2018

4 hours ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Is it fair that it wasn't a conditioning problem, but rather could be due to the fact that he took a massive targeting hit against Army that may have taken a while to recover from (as in longer than the timeframe between Army and the NO Bowl)?

or maybe he isn't as awesome as we want him to be...he had 2 great games (usm, utsa), one good game (smu), and many many bad games...17 catches in the last 8 games, 32 in the first 6...that's not elite receiver...if he is to be our number 1 guy, he needs to produce most every game...not 3 100 plus yard games, 7 under 50 yard games (held out of rice game)

BTG_Fan1 · February 20, 2018

59 minutes ago, THOR said:

or maybe he isn't as awesome as we want him to be...he had 2 great games (usm, utsa), one good game (smu), and many many bad games...17 catches in the last 8 games, 32 in the first 6...that's not elite receiver...if he is to be our number 1 guy, he needs to produce most every game...not 3 100 plus yard games, 7 under 50 yard games (held out of rice game)

You have to take into account, he missed the UTEP and didn't play much at all/if any in the Rice game.. You can also take into account that playing LT, FAU x2, and Troy have recruited well for years were solid match ups. Add in the fact that Mason was getting blitzed like crazy and the OL was not giving Mason time to set up and throw it deep as well factored in.

That alone is 6 games right there that he face solid talent or missed the game. Army he also go injured in as well..

Teams also did not respect the run when Wilson went down as well, which lead to Guyton being doubled as well.

Guyton I assume will be the first to say he needed to improve, but hopefully with Rico starting opposite Guyton next year, it should force teams to not roll a safety his way because of the deep ability of Rico. Rico needs to stay healthy as well.

THOR · February 20, 2018

12 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

You have to take into account, he missed the UTEP and didn't play much at all/if any in the Rice game.. You can also take into account that playing LT, FAU x2, and Troy have recruited well for years were solid match ups. Add in the fact that Mason was getting blitzed like crazy and the OL was not giving Mason time to set up and throw it deep as well factored in.

That alone is 6 games right there that he face solid talent or missed the game. Army he also go injured in as well..

Teams also did not respect the run when Wilson went down as well, which lead to Guyton being doubled as well.

Guyton I assume will be the first to say he needed to improve, but hopefully with Rico starting opposite Guyton next year, it should force teams to not roll a safety his way because of the deep ability of Rico. Rico needs to stay healthy as well.

so the excuse for the number 1 receiver is that other teams recruited well, fine was blitzed, and Wilson went down? number 1 receivers are number 1 receivers....they find ways to make plays and impact the game. guyton did not do that at all.

I hope he improves, but he was a disappointment last year...bussey/Lawrence were the true stars at wide receiver

Edited February 20, 2018 by THOR

Christopher Walker · February 20, 2018

On 2/16/2018 at 1:04 PM, Tyler Maryak said:

Anybody seen the movie "Hot Fuzz"? Brett reminds me of the reporter from that movie.

Oh my god.... yes, he’s totally a Tom Messenger. Let’s just hope he doesn’t meet the same fate. Man, I love that movie.

SilverEagle · February 20, 2018

On 2/16/2018 at 11:32 AM, MGNation92 said:

Excited to see what Greg White will do after a redshirt year. He really impressed me last year in the practices I saw

Me too. White was very impressive in practice.

I also don't know what ever happened to Kam Duhon (currently #89......#27 last spring). He was actually one of the stars of spring ball, and just disappeared in the fall. Last spring, he and Lawrence were the short yardage twins.

Edited February 20, 2018 by SilverEagle

Aldo · February 20, 2018

Hopefully there aren't any lingering effects from Guyton's concussion coming into the spring.

BTG_Fan1 · February 20, 2018

14 hours ago, THOR said:

so the excuse for the number 1 receiver is that other teams recruited well, fine was blitzed, and Wilson went down? number 1 receivers are number 1 receivers....they find ways to make plays and impact the game. guyton did not do that at all.

I hope he improves, but he was a disappointment last year...bussey/Lawrence were the true stars at wide receiver

Lawrence was solid but way more looks than Guyton did.. Rico had solid production for a part time Starter.. the question about Rico is can he stay healthy.

Guyton didn’t find ways to have an impact? Dude was a top 2/3 WR for us playing 2 less games than Lawrence.. Guyton was having coverage rolled to him allowing Lawrence to be open underneath. Guyton also was drawing teams top CBs so yes Recruiting matters.. Wilson going down removed a major threat in running game and allowed for Smith, Johnson, Tucker who are average as a group (and that is being super generous) as pass blockers. If you look Guyton had success when Wilson did. USM, UAB, Iowa then he had success in games we still kept using Wilson like SMU and UTSA. The OL was terrible and allowed to much pressure forcing Fine to check it down instead of him throwing it up for Guyton.

You may not think Guyton is a #1 because the stats don’t show it. But watching on the field he does a lot of that isn’t noticed, blocking slotting in Rico, Smiley, Rutherford, etc.. The WR group took a major step forward in year 2 compared to Year 1 and this entire offense did as well but it hit multiple snags and GH is still developing as a play caller and Fine as a passer. The idea that Guyton is going to come in put up 100 catch season is not likely, because I don’t recall that ever happening in any offense that SL has coached and because of the supporting cast of WRs.

BTG_Fan1 · February 20, 2018

3 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Me too. White was very impressive in practice.

I also don't know what ever happened to Kam Duhon (currently #89......#27 last spring). He was actually one of the stars of spring ball, and just disappeared in the fall. Last spring, he and Lawrence were the short yardage twins.

Isn’t Duhon a slot guy? I would assume the emergence of Darden likely cut into his playing time.

UNTLifer · February 20, 2018

Don't forget about Darden. Pretty solid freshman year. We are deep and will be good at WR.

THOR · February 21, 2018

9 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Lawrence was solid but way more looks than Guyton did.. Rico had solid production for a part time Starter.. the question about Rico is can he stay healthy.

Guyton didn’t find ways to have an impact? Dude was a top 2/3 WR for us playing 2 less games than Lawrence.. Guyton was having coverage rolled to him allowing Lawrence to be open underneath. Guyton also was drawing teams top CBs so yes Recruiting matters.. Wilson going down removed a major threat in running game and allowed for Smith, Johnson, Tucker who are average as a group (and that is being super generous) as pass blockers. If you look Guyton had success when Wilson did. USM, UAB, Iowa then he had success in games we still kept using Wilson like SMU and UTSA. The OL was terrible and allowed to much pressure forcing Fine to check it down instead of him throwing it up for Guyton.

You may not think Guyton is a #1 because the stats don’t show it. But watching on the field he does a lot of that isn’t noticed, blocking slotting in Rico, Smiley, Rutherford, etc.. The WR group took a major step forward in year 2 compared to Year 1 and this entire offense did as well but it hit multiple snags and GH is still developing as a play caller and Fine as a passer. The idea that Guyton is going to come in put up 100 catch season is not likely, because I don’t recall that ever happening in any offense that SL has coached and because of the supporting cast of WRs.

you're right, stats don't show that he is a number 1...only 3 games (smu/usm/utsa) over 100 yards (smu game he had 2 catches for 100+ yards after the team was down 20+ points in the second half)....yet 5 games with 1 or fewer catches (not counting rice game he missed)..stats show that he isn't. never said or implied that he would get 100 catches, ya that won't happen here and doesn't need too. hell, he had 9 games of 4 or fewer catches.

i hope he is the true number 1 receiver you say he is...i don't see it from stats. are other #1 receivers having the same output? the same reasons for not impacting a game in catches and yards? guyton had 1 catch against iowa...he didn't have success there like wilson did

this is something we will disagree on...to me, a #1 shows he is a number 1 in most games...not 25% of games...luckily, our team has many wrs that can step up and contribute to help win the game, so a true #1 i don't think is important with our squad. with lawrence/bussey/darden/white/etc. next year, i believe we will be fine, plenty of different weapons to torment a defense that a number 1 is not really needed

Edited February 21, 2018 by THOR

greenminer · February 21, 2018

Saying "No 1 receiver" means different things to me depending on the context of the conversation.

Some people are referring to your top producer. Some people are referring to the QBs first read.

BTG_Fan1 · February 21, 2018

37 minutes ago, THOR said:

you're right, stats don't show that he is a number 1...only 3 games (smu/usm/utsa) over 100 yards (smu game he had 2 catches for 100+ yards after the team was down 20+ points in the second half)....yet 5 games with 1 or fewer catches (not counting rice game he missed)..stats show that he isn't. never said or implied that he would get 100 catches, ya that won't happen here and doesn't need too. hell, he had 9 games of 4 or fewer catches.

i hope he is the true number 1 receiver you say he is...i don't see it from stats. are other #1 receivers having the same output? the same reasons for not impacting a game in catches and yards? guyton had 1 catch against iowa...he didn't have success there like wilson did

this is something we will disagree on...to me, a #1 shows he is a number 1 in most games...not 25% of games...luckily, our team has many wrs that can step up and contribute to help win the game, so a true #1 i don't think is important with our squad. with lawrence/bussey/darden/white/etc. next year, i believe we will be fine, plenty of different weapons to torment a defense that a number 1 is not really needed

You’re expecting the dude to be a #1 his first year playing as a RS Sophomore...

UNTLifer · February 21, 2018

14 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

You’re expecting the dude to be a #1 his first year playing as a RS Sophomore...

Considering he signed with Notre Dame out of high school and what we had coming back, yes.

BTG_Fan1 · February 21, 2018

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

Considering he signed with Notre Dame out of high school and what we had coming back, yes.

Guyton was a #1 and he will only get better.. he came in and did the job that he needed to do as the #1 and you see that in the improvement in the group across the board by him being a deep threat

How many big time transfers have we had that do 0 as well.