Spring Position Preview: Buffs Loaded At Wide Receiver
March 04, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
This is the second in a series of position previews as Colorado head coach Mel Tucker and his staff prepare for their first spring ball session in Boulder. The spring opener is scheduled for March 18, with two more workouts set that week before CU takes its spring break. The Buffs will then resume practices on April 1, with the spring game set for April 27 at Folsom Field.
BOULDER — If there is one position at which the Colorado Buffaloes have no lack of returning experience and talent, it is wide receiver.
The Buffs are loaded at wideout. Not only are the top three receivers from last year back for 2019, the list of returnees represents more than 70 percent of last season's receptions and yards (including those by running backs), and 13 of 19 receiving touchdowns.
What will be interesting to see is how all that talent, along with some newcomers, fits into the Buffs' new offensive scheme. While the Buffs aren't going to stop throwing the ball, new coach Mel Tucker and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson have made it clear they want to be more balanced.
That means while the number of overall receptions might drop, the number of big-play opportunities should remain the same.
A look at Colorado's wideout situation:
2018 IN REVIEW: Last season proved to be a coming-out party for CU sophomore Laviska Shenault Jr., who burst onto the scene with some eye-popping numbers over the first half of the season. After six games, Shenault was leading the nation in receptions per game and yards per catch, and his versatility — he was also effective out of the wildcat formation — thrust him into the Heisman Trophy conversation.
An injury in Week 6, however, sidelined him for the next three weeks, and while he still finished as CU's leading receiver (86 catches, 1,011 yards, 6 touchdowns), his absence hamstrung the Buffs' offense in that stretch, opening the door for a seven-game losing streak.
Still, the Buffs had plenty of other talented receivers. K.D. Nixon had 52 catches fo 636 yards and four scores and Tony Brown hauled in 32 for 333 and a score, while seniors Juwann Winfree, Jay MacIntyre and Kabion Ento combined for 60 catches. Others who showed game-breaking potential included Dimitri Stanley, Jaylon Jackson and Daniel Arias.
WHO'S BACK: Shenault, Nixon, Brown, Jackson, Stanley and Arias all return, meaning CU will have plenty of game-changing talent available. Four of those players — Shenault, Nixon, Brown and Arias — all had catches of at least 37 yards last season.
Also among those available this spring are talented sophomore Maurice Bell, redshirt freshman Dylan Thomas and redshirt sophomore Curtis Chiaverini.
WHO'S NEW: This is one spot where the position coach won't be new, as Darrin Chiaverini returns for his fourth season with the Buffs. It's also a position where no signees from this year's recruiting class are on hand for spring ball, with all scheduled to be on campus in time for summer workouts.
SPRING STORYLINES: The biggest story of the spring for the entire offense will be exactly what kind of scheme Tucker and Johnson decide to run. They have been working on the install throughout the nine-week strength and conditioning session with hopes of being able to hit the ground running when practices begin.
If the new CU offense is anything like the coaching staff had at Georgia, it will be much more balanced than the spread attack Colorado ran the last several seasons. Last year, Georgia's offense averaged 227 yards per game in the air and 251 on the ground.
But it's not as if Georgia didn't throw the ball effectively. The Bulldogs had five wideouts with at least 300 yards receiving, and six with at least three touchdown catches.
With so much talent at wide receiver in Boulder — and running back somewhat of an unknown — it won't be a surprise to see Johnson put a little more emphasis on the passing game. The game-breaking ability of Shenault, Nixon and Brown has been proven, and it will be interesting to see how CU's new offensive staff makes use of that ability.
Shenault won't be available for spring ball, as he is recovering from offseason surgery (although he is still getting some work in). That won't, though, be much of a detriment — in fact, it should only give some of CU's youngsters more repetitions to develop their skills.
FALL CAMP LOOK AHEAD: Along with Shenault scheduled to be back on the field in the fall, the Buffs will also welcome several newcomers from their most-recent signing class. The group includes freshmen Braedin Huffman-Dixon, Tarik Luckett and Vontae Shenault, a talented and athletic group that could see one or two of them compete for some playing time.
SPRING SCHEDULE: Tucker's first CU spring session is set to start the week before spring break on Monday, March 18, with the spring game set for Saturday, April 27 (Noon, to be televised live by the Pac-12 Networks). The dates are as follows: March 18-20-22—(spring break)—April 1-3-5-8-10-12-15-17-19-22-24-27. The team is allowed 15 practices; how the practice sessions will break down, per NCAA rules: three in shorts (no contact), four in pads (no tackling), four in pads (tackling allowed 50 percent or less of the time), four in pads (tackling allowed throughout). Spring break (March 25-29) does not count against the 29 days should the schedule be dramatically revised for some reason. CU's annual Pro-Timing Day has been set for Wednesday, March 6 (1-4 p.m.).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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