Wide Reciever / Tight End Preview

Now that Austin Collie has declared for the draft, we can all move on (hopefully). No doubt Austin will be missed. He was a flat out stud. At times he seemed like the only one who wanted the ball in his hands in the crucial situations. With that, the cupboard is not empty. We return four solid WRs and two great TEs to go along with some players that have some great potential.

The Wide Recievers

Back from his mission to save the day is McKay Jacobsen (pic above). Comparisons will be made right away with Austin Collie. Although he is not quite as good as Collie is right now, he has the potential to be just as good. Rumor was that he was the fastest player on the team in 2006. While he may end up being our best reciever next year, kicking off the missionary legs won't be easy.

The next best three recievers are O'Neil Chambers (pic above), Luke Ashworth, and Spencer Hafoka. It was hard to get a read on any of these guys last year because they were rarely thrown to. It will be interesting to see if Chambers can live up to the hype that surrounded him before this year. Maybe a year of knowing the system and working out with coach Omer (strength and conditioning coach) will do wonders for him. Adjusting to Provo life was not easy on O'Neil. Luckily he had a great mentor in Michael Reed to show him the ropes. I predict he will have a much better year next year as Max will have more trust in him and he will be much more comfortable in his surroundings.

To me, Ashworth (pic below) and Hafoka (pic above) are very similar. Both have good hands and are solid route runners. Nothing spectacular but solid. Pretty much the generic BYU wide reciever from the 80s. Also its important to note that both were coming back from missions so maybe a year of shaking off the rust will be great for them and they have breakout seasons as well. I know Hafoka did return some punts last year so obviously the coaches thought he had some talent as far as quickness and speed.

Two sleeper WRs to keep your eye on are Landon Jaussi and Tyler Kozlowski. I really don't see any true freshman or other returned missionaries contributing much. Brett Thompson and Mitch Matthews are two good incoming freshman recievers (3 stars on scout.com) who probably won't play much until after their missions.

The Tight Ends

No doubt that Dennis Pitta (pic above) and Andrew George will be Hall's two main targets next year. They are the two best TEs in the conference and I wouldn't be suprised if they both get drafted in the 2010 draft. Pitta should be a finalist for the best TE in the country next year. He has amazing hands, some of the best I've seen since Jonny Harline. He's an underrated blocker who has good size at 6'5. Plus he served his mission in the best place on earth (the Dominican Republic). His only problem is he doesn't have blazing speed like a prototipical NFL TE. Hopefully he can have a good offseason, get his knee back to 100%, and gain some speed.

Sometimes I feel back for Andrew George (pic above). The guy is playing behind a great TE and he himself would start for any team in the MWC. The guy has great hands, good speed, and with his 6'6 frame, is a great red-zone target.

I believe Kaneakua Friel isn't going on a mission so it will be a battle for the 3rd TE spot with incoming 4-star recruit Richard Wilson (pic below). Friel seems like he has good talent. He played FB last year so he can block. Good hands with a good frame. Wilson is going to be the real deal. He had offers from LSU, Miami, Tennessee, UW, Stanford, and Utah. Wow. Says on Scout.com he has 4.6 speed.
As always we will be loaded at TE.

Next up is the Offensive Line preview. Also note that I will be doing a Mariners preview probably in late-Feb./early March. Right after we have all our free agents signed and right before spring training.