Boise State roster breakdown: Wide Receivers

The first installment of Blue-Turf’s positional breakdown starts just shortly before the beginning of fall camp and then moves towards the football season. It’s been a long offseason for many fans who have been slowly counting down the days till fall camp begins. Here’s a little preview of the wide receivers and what to expect for the upcoming season.

Departed Players:

Boise State has had four players either graduate or walk away from football following the 2015 season. The player who will be missed the most is Shane Williams-Rhodes. His 63 receptions were second on the team to Thomas Sperbeck and his 524 yards receiving was third on the team and fifth in rushing yards. Terrell Johnson was the only other player with statistics from the 2015 season with 4 receptions for 9 yards total and 1 carry for 13 yards. Ricc Smith Had huge expectations following transfer from Arizona State, never saw the field in a real game for Boise State. Was practice player of year during transfer year. D.J. Dean missed the 2015 season due to injuries and walked away from football because of these injuries.

New Players:

The incoming receivers may look like more than what the commit list says, with Garrett Collingham transitioning away from a preferred walk-on at quarterback and moving to receiver. Most of this classes’ receiving hype came from Cedrick Wilson who transferred from Coffeyville CC. Wilson has impressed coaches already in the season so much say that he may be seeing the field on his first season at Boise State. Wilson at 6’3” and Collingham at 6’4” give the Broncos some tall receivers that they’ve lacked for the past couple years.

Potential Starters:

One for sure lock as a starter is returning MWC first team player Thomas Sperbeck, who tied the single season receptions record with 88 and broke the receiving yards record with 1412 yards. The next almost lock is returning starter Chaz Anderson who finished with 42 receptions, 578 yards and 3 touchdowns. The final starting receiver spot appears to be Cedrick Wilson who comes to Boise State following a year of 54 receptions, 629 yards and 10 touchdowns. At 6’3” he gives the Broncos a tall playmaking receiver.

New Faces:

Boise State with this recruiting class added some immediate depth to their receiving corp and added some receivers to be the future faces of the team. Cedrick Wilson comes to the Broncos as JR transfer and should be seeing immediate playing time. Julian Carter and Bubba Ogbebor both added height the Broncos’ receiving standing at 6’2” and 6’1” respectively. Both players are rated three stars receivers per rivals. Most freshmen have a hard time cracking the depth chart of an already crowded group of receivers. I expect both of these players to redshirt the year unless the season is full of injuries and a redshirt is needed to be burned.

Biggest Questions:

I think there is honestly two big questions for the Broncos this year in their receiving corp. First and foremost “How will the young and new receivers adjust to the big lights and pressure that comes with being a Boise State Bronco?” Personally I think the depth is there and the talent is right along with it and this question should be answered with the first game of the season or at the very latest following the first three games of the season. Second is “How will Coach Harsin and company spread all the plays around for such a talented group of playmakers?” This may be a challenge throughout the whole season to find enough touches for each guy, but with the loss of Shane Williams-Rhodes someone has to step up and take those touches. For me this young group is more than capable and the coaches will find a way to keep everyone content.