Derek Mason High on Vanderbilt Wide Receivers

The wide receiver position at Vanderbilt might be a position of strength, at least that's the takeaway after listening to Derek Mason.

The Vanderbilt Commodores are in desperate need of more offense in 2020, and two of the positions that must be able to step forward to provide that are the quarterback and wide receivers positions. 

Of course, quarterback is always a position where the team  must-have production, as it was a struggle last season for head coach Derek Mason's squad at that position. 

Some of that struggle was caused by the limited help provided to Riley Neal and the other quarterbacks from the receivers who regularly struggled to get separation and to make contested catches, or were bitten by the drops repeatedly last year. 

Earlier this week, Mason, while speaking with the local media, seemed excited about the receiver group this season. When asked about them, his laughter was evident as he began his response. 

"(Laughter) You know, this group is a talented group," said Mason. "I think this group with Cam Johnson, Amir (Abdur-Rahman) CP (Chris Pearce), you know man, but we see some young talent like Will Sheppard, and Logan Kyle, Devin Boddie, Jaden Harris."

"We've got talent, ok, we've got old talent, we've got young talent. Tyrell Alexander's been a great addition, and I think, as I'm starting to see this group work together more, the quarterbacks are starting to get comfortable with how these guys run routes with their speed and tempo. Who's the long-ball guy? Who's a matchup problem? 

The scheme, of course, can help solve some of the problems with the right athletes to fit specific roles. 

"The great thing about what coach Fitch has done is to look at our scheme and put these guys in position to get the ball. And everybody wants the ball, but in order to get the ball, you've got to get open. So the emphasis has been on doing what you do, but Coach Ball has done a great job of tightening technique because all these guys can run. They've got great hands, they can win the one-on-ones, and that's where we needed to be better." 

While Mason's tone was upbeat and almost excited, it remains to be seen how this group can transfer what they have done in practice to the game field. That transition must occur for this team to have any hope of improvement over last season's 3-9 record. 

Otherwise, it could be a very long season for the quarterbacks once again. 

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