The former American Fork standout says he and Hernandez welcome the role of leaders this year as seniors.

"We're taking it upon ourselves to be the best receiving group in the conference," Richards said.

While Richards may be the fastest player on the team, Hernandez isn't far behind. In his two previous years at Utah, he wasn't able to show off his speed due to injuries to his ankle and quadricep.

"I feel as fast as I've ever been at Utah, by far," he said. "It's not even close. Last year I was not running well. I had the ankle issue. I wasn't full strength and I wasn't in shape."

Adds Roderick, "His injuries were even worse than were documented. I don't know how he played, I really don't."

Casteel plays the H back position, which allows him a lot of carries as a rusher — he was the team's second leading rusher last year — and to get a lot of short passes and make plays out of them.

"Brent is exciting with the ball," said Roderick. "We say 'throw short and run long."'

Wilson is similar to Casteel, able to make a lot of yardage after catching the ball and is "dynamic with the ball in his hands," according to Roderick. The one question with Wilson is whether he'll have to miss any time for his off-season DUI arrest.

Godfrey, who prepped at Layton High and played a year at Southern Utah, is known as a "possession receiver," although he hates to be called that.

"He's fearless and he likes the contact of the game," said Roderick. "He's got great range and catches the ball well."

Perhaps the least known of the dandy half-dozen is Brown, who joined the team in August 2005 after using up his redshirt year at Citrus JC. He caught four passes that year and 17 in 2006.

"He's probably the best all-around athlete," said Roderick. "He's fast, he's tall (6-3), he can jump, he can change direction. He's going to have a good year for us."

Adding to the mix is Brooks, a 5-9, 165-pounder from the Houston area. He has impressed the coaches enough that he is expected to see a fair amount of action this year as a true freshman.

"He arrived on campus with a high level of football intelligence," said Roderick. "He was very advanced for a young kid. He picked up on what we were doing right away."

So what do you say, coach, isn't this the best group of receivers in the MWC?

"They're an extremely solid group," Whittingham said. "We expect them to be productive every single week."

---

E-mail: sor@desnews.com