BabaYaga's War Room: A Look at Five WR Rooms

[BabaYaga]

As a way to pass the time as we near the end of the year, I will be looking at a few position rooms over the next few months each day and giving my thoughts on each room based on the scheme the team plays. I will not be looking at seniors graduating in 2023 so will mostly be looking at incoming freshmen and players in the current freshman, sophomore, and junior class.

First up we are looking at the WR room for the following teams: Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee,  West Virginia, and Washington State.

@subsequent, @nemolee.exe, @tsweezy, @smackemz, @TuscanSota

Michigan WR room

Name	Year	Archetype	Overall	Potential	Stars
Brandon Watt	(JR)	Possession	B+	C	3
Chris McRae	SO	Possession	B	B-	4
Robert Buchter	SO	Route Runner	B	C+	4
Adalberto Derrickson	JR	Route Runner	B	C+	3
Manuel Hernandez	FR	Possession	C	B-	4
Kevin St. Brown	(FR)	Possession	C	A-	3
Alex Daniels	(SO)	Route Runner	C+	C-	2
Jimmy Gussler	FR	Red Zone Threat	C	C+	3
Christopher Willis	FR	Route Runner	C	B	2
David Taylor	FR	Speed	C	C+	2
Robert Dennis	INC	Speed	C	B+	2
Paul Cervantez	INC	Possession	C	A-	3

Room Roundup: The Michigan WR room is in a solid spot going forward. They are primarily a running team right now but I think the wide receiver talent on this team is going to change that scheme in the upcoming years. Coach Subsequent has done a nice job of getting WR into the room as evidenced with 3 bluechips in the past three years. It is a young room as seen by the five true freshmen. The only negative I see is that would would have probably opted to redshirt 1 or 2 to give them a bit more space in their graduating years (rather than redshirting 6 DL).

Intriguing Influx: Michigan only has signed two croots in this cycle neither of which will likely see the field before their junior year, if at all. Cervantez is an intriguing guy who could be a high floor WR3 or WR4 in the future. Dennis will only play if Michigan struggles recruiting this position over the next few years.

2024 Projection: Michigan does have a nice room projection for next season. Watt should a solid WR1 and McRae, Buchter, Derrickson, Hernandez, and St. Brown will make a viable top of the room for the Wolverines. The room will take a leap forward next season and then might be a strength of the team in 2025. The Wolverines will need to grab a few good croots next year to keep the room full.

Michigan WR room grade: B-

 

Illinois WR room

Name	Year	Archetype	Overall	Potential	Stars
Oscar Asuaje	JR	Red Zone Threat	B+	C	4
Mitch Cabrera	JR	Red Zone Threat	B+	B	3
Ronald Willis	FR	Route Runner	C	A-	3
Hung Yu	FR	Possession	C	B	3
Mansour Tran	FR	Red Zone Threat	C	C	3
Xavier Whitehead	SO	Possession	C	D+	2
Taylor Senat	FR	Red Zone Threat	C	B-	2
Cap Castro	SO	Red Zone Threat	C	C+	2
William Meadows	INC	Red Zone Threat	C	B+	4

Room Roundup: The jury is out on the Illinois wideout room. They will have two solid guys in their next year with Assuage and Cabrera, who will be the top guys on the team by far....and then just a bunch of dudes. Willis is intriguing as a 3 star guy as is Hu, but after those two there are a bunch of WR5/WR6 types who will be seeing the field. Illinois looks to be all in on the run heavy scheme as there just aren't many guys who will be able to consistently catch the ball or get open.

Intriguing Influx: Illinois does have a bluechip WR coming in this next year as Meadows will be able to mold himself into WR1...maybe as soon as his 2nd year on campus. That is not good however...as he is the only recruit coming into the team, albeit a solid grab for the Illini.

2024 Projection: The strength of Illinois will not be in their wideout room. Asuaje and Cabrera will be running as WR1 and WR2 and for a team looking to contend for a B1G title, they should be more like your WR3 and WR4. There's just not much to get excited about after them and in 2025 this might be one of the worst WR rooms in FBS. Illinois needs to hit the recruiting trail hard for wideouts.

Illinois WR room grade: C-

 

Tennessee WR room

Name	Year	Archetype	Overall	Potential	Stars
Hayes Edwards	(JR)	Possession	A	B	4
Eric Barnhart	JR	Red Zone Threat	B	B	3
Alex Smith-Schuster	(FR)	Possession	B	C+	4
Francisco Robinson	JR	Red Zone Threat	B-	C+	3
Quincy Stanton	(FR)	Route Runner	B	C	4
George Simpson	RS FR	Possession	B	C+	4
James Jones	FR	Speed	C	C-	3
Roland Stewart	FR	Red Zone Threat	C	C	3
BJ Flash	INC	Speed	B	B+	5
Joseph Kleen	INC	Red Zone Threat	B	B+	5

Room Roundup: The room right now for Tennessee is in a very solid place. I'm surprised that Coach Tsweezy hasn't recruited more speed guys but the talent level is high. He has two 5* recruits coming in and they will anchor the room for 3-4 years putting them in a great spot. Don't expect much out of Jones or Stewart in their career but with five underclass bluechips they will have a ton of talent over the next few years.

Intriguing Influx: Flash and Kleen might be the best position group coming in this year relative to talent in the entire cycle. Since the Vols run an Air Raid offense you must have 4-5 wideouts that you can rely on and the influx of these two gives them two guys they can put at the top of the depth chart and leave for 3-4 years. This will allow the players behind them to develop into solid options at the WR3-5 spot.

2024 Projection: I'm not as high on the room as it may seem for the upcoming year. The loss of Siri will help and they will likely only have one A overall in the room this year along with five B to B+ overall players. Depending on progressions this WR room might be great or just very good. I just don't like the idea of running out 4 B overall wide outs in an Air Raid offense...especially when they aren't scheme matched. Looking ahead to 2025 though this room should be a real strength and if the Volunteers can attract a few more bluechips to the fray...they will easily have the best room in America in 2025.

Tennessee WR room grade: A-

 

West Virginia WR room

Name	Year	Archetype	Overall	Potential	Stars
Leo Gilbert	(JR)	Possession	B	C+	2
Kevin Purcell	JR	Speed	B	C	3
Timothe Nix	JR	Route Runner	C+	C	2
Michael Gilreath	RS FR	Possession	C	C+	3
Graham Harrison	RS FR	Possession	C	C+	3
Daniel Murray	(FR)	Possession	C	B-	3
Jason Steele	RS FR	Route Runner	C	C+	3
Mike Glennon	(FR)	Red Zone Threat	C	C-	3
David Brown	FR	Red Zone Threat	D	A-	2
Mathew Bundick	INC	Speed	B	C	4

Room Roundup: It is safe to say that the wide receiver room is not the strength of the West Virginia program. There are no current bluechips on the roster and they only have one player coming into a room that will be losing three players after next season. The room will have seven underclassmen in it and none of which will likely be able to shoulder much of a load. They are redshirting three freshmen this year which will space the class size out a bit but none of them are better than their incoming recruit this year.

Intriguing Influx: Bundick will be a redshirt candidate next year even though he is the highest ceiling player in the room the moment he steps on campus.  I am not sure that you can afford to burn a year of him if he comes in and is the WR4 on the team. However, the acquisition of Bundick is a great spot to start the overhaul of this WR room.

2024 Projection: Expect a lot of running. I don't expect there to be any A overall players in this room next year and there is a potential for there to be only two B overalls on the field. This is a room that is going to need a lot of development and there isn't anyone on this team that seems like they can shoulder the load offensively. I expect the West Virginia staff to go after some high floor wideouts next year as they could use two or three more bluechips in the room.

West Virginia WR room grade: D+

 

Washington State WR room

Name	Year	Archetype	Overall	Potential	Stars
Aaron Susac	(JR)	Possession	B+	B+	3
Evan Garner	JR	Possession	B	B	3
Delanie De La Sosa	(JR)	Possession	B	B	2
Scott Herrmann	SO	Possession	C	B-	3
Logan Phillips	JR	Possession	C+	C+	2
David Gallegos	INC	Red Zone Threat	D	B	2
Lewis Nevels	INC	Red Zone Threat	D	A	2
Burke Giddings	INC	Possession	C	C+	3
Seung Law	INC	Red Zone Threat	C	C	3

Room Roundup: Behold, probably the worst FBS wide receiver room in the sim...and it's not getting any better. Okay, it could be worse but there are only five players in the room this season - thankfully they all return for next year too. Susac is a solid option but behind him it doesn't look good. He will likely progress to an A- this offseason and Garner and De La Sosa will be viable WR2 and WR3. The biggest downside is that four of these players are seniors next year and that will leave the room very bare. In 2025 there will very likely only be one B overall player.

Intriguing Influx: Washington State did solve a bit of the issue by bringing in four newcomers to match the four graduates....however that only leaves five players rostered for 2025. I wouldn't expect that Gallegoes and Nevels will make and impact but Giddings and Law could make a decent impact in the future as a WR3/WR4 type player. They are not the type of players that you will want going against CB1 and CB2 though. Look for Washington State to try and grab 3-4 WR's again next year with a few of them being bluechip guys...unless they are content to run the ball 90% of the time (which might not be a terrible idea).

2024 Projection: Look, this room is just not good. Four of the nine players a two star recruits and there is only one player with great progression. I don't think this room is going to be terrible next year but in the future it doesn't look great. I don't see the incoming freshmen making any sort of contribution and the passing attack will mostly be geared around Susac who will be shut down by CB1's for most of the season. Washington State needs to make an in-roads with WR croots across the country even if it is just grabbing a few high potential 3 stars.

Washington State WR room grade: D-

Edited September 19, 2023 by BabaYaga

[Jieret]

I can't believe I'm gonna have so many more schools to fight with over WRs next cycle.

[BabaYaga]

17 minutes ago, Jieret said:

I can't believe I'm gonna have so many more schools to fight with over WRs next cycle.

Yeah, it's going to be a bloodbath I think for WR's this upcoming cycle. Wonder if we see more players pivot to high potential 3's early?

[TuscanSota]

It is always a bloodbath for WRs. This is why I embrace the run game

[tsweezy]

Thank god I signed some this year and can sit next years mostly out

[smackemz]

4 hours ago, TuscanSota said:

It is always a bloodbath for WRs. This is why I embrace the run game

Amen. Been trying for 3 seasons. I've lost so many WR flips