2020 Spring Preview: Wide Receivers

Preseason outlook for West Virginia's returning firepower out wide

Oh, for it to be football season again.

As basketball season runs [tumultuously] towards the kickoff of the NCAA tournament, we move ever-closer to kickoff in September and the return of Mountaineer football. Speaking of returns, West Virginia may once again be light at some position units (cornerback, yikes) but pretty stout at others. Of the latter, West Virginia's wide receiver corps is lining up for a potentially strong showing in 2020 after a dreadful year offensively in 2019. How high can new receivers coach Gerad Parker's guys fly? Let's take a look. 

Biggest Storyline: Coaching Changes

2019 was about as dreadful a year offensively for West Virginia as any in recent memory. There was really nothing positive that happened on the ground and the less we say about the offensive line play, the better. Even so, West Virginia's receiving corps showed flashes and at least part of the reason may well have been sparked by coach Xavier Dye setting the standard. Touting his play at Clemson, Dye had great pedigree and showed some promise, especially with such a young group that he would no doubt groom over the next several years. 

Of course, that was not to be. Dye ultimately left Morgantown in favor of a position under former mentor Jeff Scott at South Florida. To much aplomb, Neal Brown was able to nab Gerad Parker from Penn State to fill Dye's vacancy. As the Nittany Lions' passing coordinator, Parker was instrumental in engineering an offense that finished 15th nationally in scoring while also producing first team all-Big 10 receiver K.J. Hamler. Parker already has a strong resume with several D-I coaching stops under his belt and, with his new role as both receivers coach and offensive coordinator, the Kentucky grad will tackle his biggest assignment yet. Parker touts a similar background to Brown (bluegrass state-born, master's degree, strong coaching record) and inherits a young-yet-battle-tested receivers room that he will no doubt be able to hit the ground running with. Coaching turnover is always a potentially risky proposition, but Gerad Parker has all the high-level coaching experience he needs to lead not only his position group, but West Virginia's typically 'fly high' offense to a bigger and better season in 2020.  

Biggest Returner: Sam James, r-SO, 2019 stats: 69 receptions, 677 yards, 2 TD's

James certainly isn't the longest-tenured member of West Virginia's receivers group- as that honor belongs to veteran T.J. Simmons - but what James lacks in longevity he makes up for in sheer firepower. Even in a down year, James' name was able to gain some national foothold, most notably for a breakout day against Texas Tech to the tune of 14 catches for 223 yards (both marks tied for second all-time in single game program history). The obvious fact is that James is fast. He won the Georgia class 6A 400m championship in high school and, if anything, Mike Joseph's relentless training regiment has only added to his already scary wheels. 

James is still raw, though. He battled with drops throughout the majority of the season and there's still fine-tuning to be done in the art of route running. Speed alone won't make you one of the nation's premier scoring threats, there's too much distinguished competition in the Big 12. Still, the Big 12 honorable mention recipient has a mountain of potential he's close to capitalizing on. With Jarrett Doege returning as West Virginia's likely starter under center, there's continuity on James' side. It could be a blockbuster year for the same player one time-Mountaineers assistant Tyron Carrier touted as having "first rounder" potential. Does an All-American season await? Can't wait to find out. 

Pack Leader: T.J. Simmons, r-SR, 2019 stats:  35 receptions, 455 yards, 4 TD's 

You could look at Simmons time at West Virginia and conclude that it's been somewhat of a frustrating ride. After showing promise in his freshman year at Alabama, the Birmingham native transferred, sat the mandatory year, then lined up next to a prodigious trio in David Sills, Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms in 2018. Somewhat lost in a hyper-productive offense, Simmons was tabbed to have a breakout year in 2019 and then, well, we all know what happened offensively this past season. So now it's the eleventh hour and as the elder statesman among West Virginia's young wide receiver group, what can we expect no. 1 to put forth in his denouement? 

Simmons has ever been the hype man, for starters. He's energy incarnate. At a certain point, that energy is due to manifest itself in a big, bad way. Moreover, there is no Sills/Jennings/Simms hydra to battle against for targets. It should, and very likely will be, the Simmons and James show out wide. Simmons will once again set the tone on the field as one of the team's offensive leaders. With the bar so staggeringly lowered last season, you can expect Simmons to channel the team's collective angst and anticipation to get back to it's winning ways in 2020. After several seasons watching T.J. Simmons, no one should expect the owner of the most famous/harshly penalized block in West Virginia sports history to go quietly into the night. It's going to get loud.  

Position Battle to Watch: (H) Winston Wright (SO) and Reese Smith (FR)

Wright, who suited up in 10 games last season, didn't earn the nickname "jet" by pulling a name out of a hat. The Pooler, GA standout showed off his breakaway speed in a narrow loss to Baylor last season by ripping off a 95 yard kick return. He'll feature much bigger in the Mountaineers' passing game this season, but don't expect him to just get handed the starting job at the H position.

Reese Smith, who was all-everything by way of Danville, KY, has some serious tools in his belt. Like Wright, he was a three-time All-State performer and posted career numbers of 4,378 receiving yards, 214 rushing yards and 65 total TD's for Boyle county. Add to that 4.4 speed and a ferocious edge to his game and you have the makings of an instant-impact player for the Mountaineers. Since Smith is already enrolled and putting in work with the rest of the team, he'll get plenty of reps between now and kickoff weekend in September to earn his take in the two-deep. Wright has an obvious edge in terms of experience and knowledge of running the offense, but don't be surprised if Smith makes a strong push as it gets closer to the regular season and definitely don't be surprised to see his number get called more than once in 2020. If nothing else, this could be a surprisingly productive spot in the receiver line up for West Virginia this season. 

Projected Depth Chart: 

(X) - Sean Ryan, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Ali Jennings

(H) - Winston Wright, Reese Smith 

(Slot) - T.J. Simmons, Isaiah Esdale, Keion Wakefield 

(Z) - Sam James, Randy Fields, Devell Washington

Overall Outlook:

This is going to be a much better group in 2020 and one of the deepest and most talent-rich position groups on the entire roster. There was such a tremendous drop off last year after Sills, Jennings and Simms all departed and there simply wasn't enough combined talent, experience and synergy to supplement those holes. However, the key members of this group (sans George Campbell) that were so battled-scarred in 2019 are all accounted for and should be much better-equipped to put up yards and points this fall. 

Sam James is poised for a huge season in 2020 and T.J. Simmons is finally due for that 1,000 yard/10 TD-type season that has eluded him up to this point in his career. Beyond those two, Sean Ryan looked good last season despite battling injuries and, if healthy, is a big, reliable target that could be a difference-maker in the red zone. The same goes for both Ford-Wheaton and Esdale, each of whom made their own share of big plays later in the season that should carry over in 2020 and only help to build their confidence. If you watched Penn State at all last year, you know that Parker is good at getting his guys into space and setting up big plays and it shouldn't be any different for him in Morgantown. His plan for the passing game combined with Neal Brown's adaptive play-calling nature could make this a fun offense to watch and very Big-12 appropriate.  

Not only are West Virginia's front-line guys set up for a big year, but the depth behind them is promising with Jennings coming into his second year and greenhorns like Washington and Smith lying in wait for what could be surprising freshman campaigns. In all, there's a lot to like with this wide receiver group. The cherry on top of all of this, of course, is that West Virginia returns both its starting quarterbacks from last year in Austin Kendall and Jarrett Doege. Offensive success knows no better foundation than continuity and West Virginia will have just that. Assuming Doege is at the wheel, the timing, rhythm and confidence should all be in place giving this wide receiver group every chance to be one of the most productive in the Big 12 in 2020.