Leading into August’s training camp, GoldandBlack.com is breaking down Purdue position by position. We shift back to offense in the series and take a look at perhaps the team’s strongest group, receivers.
Senior DeAngelo Yancey has emerged as more than just a guy with potential but as one who works like he’s NFL-bound — and that is added to his 6-foot-4, 216-pound professionally ready body.
Cameron Posey, finally, can revel in being a full-time starter with what’s expected to be a considerable amount of opportunities for a slot in Terry Malone’s offense.
Domonique Young, the third senior starter, has the physical skill set to be an incredible complement to go-to Yancey on the opposite side with a long, strong body and decent speed to stretch the field.
Gregory Phillips, a junior whose first start came as a true freshman in 2014, could get significant snaps as the No. 2 inside receiver, presuming Purdue will opt for a four-receiver look frequently to take advantage of Phillips’ reliable hands and toughness.
Bilal Marshall, the converted quarterback, has grasped the nuances of playing receiver in his final season and can slide into Young’s outside receiver spot or slip into the slot for a versatile option who has length, solid hands and a high IQ.
No wonder coaches and players view the receiving corps as the team’s strength heading into training camp.
It’s also a group that thinks it can handle the high expectations.
“Receivers have a unique personality in which I think they invite the pressure and they like the attention and all that, just look at the guys in the NFL,” Posey said in June. “And we’ve all been here three, four, five years and we have the experience, good and bad, so I think we invite that pressure. We know that the offense is going to revolve around us — how successful we are will be how successful the offense is.
“So we understand our role and how important it is. I think we are going to take it head-on.”
There's a sense that, even with those expectations, the group knows it really hasn’t proven anything yet. And that's fueling it as well.
Only Yancey has had a season that could be deemed as truly productive, catching 48 balls for 700 yards and five touchdowns last season as a junior.
Posey’s career high for catches in a season is 26, which he tied last season as a junior.
In Young’s first season with Purdue last year, he had 21 catches for 276 yards (13.1 ypc) but needed to fight his way through a season that included a concussion and adjusting to the Big Ten.
After Phillips replaced Yancey as a starter two seasons ago, he’s mostly been a spot-snap guy. The same with Marshall.
But it’s the collective potential that has coaches and players excited.
Malone showcased the depth in the spring by using four-receiver sets (“10” personnel) and anticipates doing more of the same in the fall for one reason: He sees the strength and wants to take advantage.
“I thought they got a lot better as the spring went on, and they kind of got comfortable being the go-to guys,” Malone said. “It’s not like we just have one of them. All those guys are really quality players. Every year we’ll evaluate and come to a decision about, ‘Hey, what group gives us the best chance to win?’ If we have to line up in ‘10,’ I don’t take that personally if we don’t have a tight end on the field. I am more comfortable with a tight end or two on the field, but it’s a matter of, ‘Hey, where are we most productive?’ With a lot of the things we ran in the springtime and what four wide receivers does to a defense, there were a lot of indicators that said we’re more productive in ‘10’ than anything else.”
It helps, too, that these receivers finally have learned how to beat press coverage. They’ve gotten stronger as they’ve gotten older, but they’re also better using that physicality now and have better technique. So it should make it more difficult for defenses to simply lock up and take them out of the game.
“At the beginning of our careers a couple years ago, being so young and immature, we didn’t really know how to use our strength and we weren’t as strong as we are now,” Posey said. “Coach (Gerad) Parker has definitely helped us with that for sure. He’s taught us a lot and made us grow and mature in the blocking game especially because that is so pivotal. We’ve just learn how to use our strength, and I think it’ll help us do a lot. We invite man press to anybody who wants to do it because we feel as if we’re finally been able to beat it.”
It’ll be interesting to see where Anthony Mahoungou and Jarrett Burgess factor in during camp. They’re outside-only receivers and will have to beat out Yancey, Young and Marshall for game snaps. They likely will be in the second- and third-team rotation this camp. Mahoungou is another option with length, while Burgess is physically mature as a 25-year-old sophomore and one of the team’s fastest players. But both need to improve this fall at learning the nuances of the position, better tracking the ball in the air and catching more consistently.
It’ll be tough for a freshman to crack the two-deep and get offensive snaps this season, but it's possible one or two could forgo a redshirt to play special teams.
Countdown to Camp series: Quarterbacks | Linebackers
More: 2016 football primer
More: Replogle on Bednarik watch list | Changes to run game could spark production ($) | Senior leaders looking to mold freshmen ($)
More: Gold and Black Illustrated's pre-camp depth chart
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