Position Preview: Buffs Have Talent, Depth At Wide Receiver

BOULDER — If your offense is going to make a living throwing the ball, you had better have players who can get open and catch it.

Not coincidentally, the Colorado Buffaloes are blessed with an abundance of such players this year. The Buffs have big receivers, fast receivers, strong receivers — and in some cases, all of those attributes in the same player. The only thing they lack in great quantity is experience, and that does not seem to be a concern to anyone whose opinion actually matters.

Rather, CU coaches say that relative lack of experience could fuel the group's hunger.

"The young men coming up, we have some good talent," said head coach Mike MacIntyre at CU's recent Media Day. "We still have some older guys that have taken different paths and they're ready to seize the opportunity. They're coming into their senior years with a chip on their shoulder (and) sometimes seniors don't walk in with a chip on their shoulder. I hope that added intensity makes a difference."

MacIntyre is a bit cautious when it comes to expectations, and for good reason. A year ago, CU entered the year with three returning senior starters and expectations were sky high. But instead of putting up record numbers, two of those three seniors actually experienced a drop in production as the Buffs offense never quite found a consistent rhythm.

This year, the Buffs are confident they can establish that consistency early and carry it through the season.

"I'm excited about this group," said Buffs offensive co-coordinator and wide receivers coach Darrin Chiaverini. "I'm definitely excited about their work ethic in the offseason and their work ethic in the first part of fall camp. We have some size and we have some speed, so it's exciting when you have a mixture of both in your receiver group."

How impressive was that offseason work ethic? Figure this: all three of CU's senior receivers — Jay MacIntyre, Juwann Winfree and Kabion Ento — were voted team captains by their teammates.

Technically, Colorado has just one returning starter at the position in MacIntyre, who has earned a reputation as a dependable receiver out of the slot who also isn't afraid to deliver a downfield block. MacIntyre has 18 career starts and 66 catches for 870 yards to his credit.

But Winfree and Ento have both shown they are also quite capable.

Two years ago, Winfree came to Boulder as a junior college transfer and was the most impressive receiver early in fall camp, only to have a torn ACL end his season before it began. By the time he was able to return to practice a year later, Bryce Bobo, Shay Fields and Devin Ross had established themselves as starters.

Still, Winfree had his moments last season as a reserve in 2017. He started one game and finished the year with 21 catches for 325 yards and two scores. That included a five-catch effort against Washington and another five-catch performance against USC for 163 yards and a pair of long scores, including a 79-yard touchdown catch — CU's longest play from scrimmage of the year. His 15.5-yard average per catch was also the highest of all players with at least 10 receptions.

"He's a big physical receiver that can run and catch," Chiaverini said. "He has a great work ethic so I'm excited to see him get himself into game shape. When the lights come on I know he's going to show up and he's going to play big."

Ento, meanwhile, is coming off a redshirt season after sitting out last year when it became apparent his playing time would be limited.

Now, he's ready to pick up where he left off in 2016 after coming in as a JC transfer. The very first time he touched the ball as a Buff, he hauled in a 69-yard touchdown pass from Steven Montez against Oregon State in 2016, and he later added a second TD reception in the game. He has steadily gotten bigger and stronger since his first season while maintaining his speed, and has shown a penchant for big catches this year in camp.

But, there's more to this year's receiving group than three seniors — much, much more. CU last year added a transfer, Tony Brown, to the mix from Texas Tech, and Brown has already produced some big catches in camp this year.

Meanwhile, CU coaches are fairly giddy over a group of youngsters that includes sophomores Laviska Shenault Jr., K.D. Nixon and redshirt freshmen Jaylon Jackson and Maurice Bell.

Shenault, who last year had seven catches for 158 yards (as well as a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown) is turning heads on a daily basis. He is among the fastest receivers in the group and also among the strongest. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, he presents a matchup nightmare for any defense — too fast for linebackers and too big for defensive backs to cover. Already this year in camp, Shenault has come up with big play after big play.

"The game's not too big for that kid," Chiaverini said. "You can tell when you see him in the meeting room or on the practice field. He's one of our strongest players on the football team and he's also one of our brightest kids. When I talk about Xs and Os and put something on the board, he can go out there and he can run it the first time without making a mistake. It's pretty impressive."

Nixon, meanwhile, is a versatile, compact, speedy receiver who can line up at different positions and who has shown an ability to haul in the deep ball in camp. Jackson is an equally compact, speedy wideout who also is showing game-breaking skills.

All in all, it might be one of the deepest overall group of quality receivers at CU in years.

And, for those looking to the future, the Buffs also added three quality freshmen in the last recruiting class in Daniel Arias, Dimitri Stanley and Dylan Thomas.

It all adds up to an extremely competitive fall camp, with different receivers coming up with big plays every day in a bid to prove they deserve to be on the field when the lights go on Aug. 31 against Colorado State.

"There's a lot of guys who are hungry," Chiaverini said. "When you have that hunger, you're going to go out there and work for it every day. Then when you get in games, you're going to fall back on your fundamentals and technique. They're developing their fundamentals and technique in practice — and if you do that at a high level in practice, it will show up on game day. It's a really, really talented group and now they have to go to work and not think they can just show up and play."

WHO'S BACK: Seniors Jay MacIntyre, Juwann Winfree, Kabion Ento, Donovan Lee; junior Tony Brown; sophomores Laviska Shenault Jr., K.D. Nixon and Erik Lawson; redshirt freshmen Maurice Bell, Jaylon Jackson and Curtis Chiaverini.

WHO'S NEW: Freshmen Daniel Arias, Dylan Thomas and Dimitri Stanley.

EARLY-CAMP DEPTH CHART: X wide receiver: Ento or Shenault, Arias, Lawson. Z wide receiver: Winfree, Brown, Thomas, Chiaverini. H wide receiver: MacIntyre, Nixon, Bell or Jackson, Stanley. Y wide receiver: MacIntyre, Jackson, Lee, Chiaverini.

WHAT'S IN STORE: This is a talented if relatively unknown group with some excellent speed and size across the board that could cause matchup problems. If all goes well, it will be hard for opposing defenses to cover everyone, and it won't be a surprise to see several different players come up with eye-popping games before the season is over.

STAT TO REMEMBER: Two year ago, Ento averaged 21.8 yards per catch (long of 69). Last season, Winfree averaged 15.5 per catch (long of 79) and Shenault 24.0 per reception (long of 58). That is three potential game-breakers on the field at the same time.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu