Position U: UW Wide Receiver Corps Needs a Hand, a Couple of Hands
Washington wide receivers in recent seasons possessed decent speed and good hands, but they tended to disappear when the great secondaries showed up and disrupted their routes.
It's kind of what the Huskies do to their opponents now.
They apply lockdown coverage.
Sports Illustrated's position review over the past decade, determining which schools are the most proficient in supplying talent, shows a falloff in pass-catchers across the West Coast.
Hey, whatever happened to the West Coast Offense?
Spoiler alert: Just one Pac-12 school turns up in the top 10 of wide receiver schools. Can you name it?
No, this position area, like others, has turned into a Southern thing.
Can you name the leading receiver school?
This position has to be Washington's weakest over several seasons. Jermaine Kearse, John Ross and Dante Pettis have been notable exceptions, each drawing NFL suitors and offering deep targets for their new employers.
But there have been precious few others advancing from Montlake to the big show.
This deficiency tends to have a trickle down effect, with some quarterback prospects shying away from schools that don't come properly equipped with passing targets in place.
In recent years, Washington has made wide receiver a recruiting priority, trying to give the offense a boost. Quarterback Jacob Eason, for example, could have used a definitive go-to receiver.
Instead, Eason dealt with wideouts moving in and out of the lineup in waves, with the coaching staff trying to find game-breakers among the old guys and the young guys.
