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BYU football: Cougars working receivers

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Go WR's! | 12:10 a.m. April 1, 2009
I wish they also would've mentioned Spencer Hafoka but they're just quarantining him because of disease. Man, the sick bug has been plauging the team lately. He will be an impact player. With the exception of Luke Ashworth, the projected 2 man rotation all run 4.4's. Ashworth is a 4.6 guy but so was Michael Reed, so the speed is certainly there. They simply need the reps and the practice and the WR spot will be outstanding.
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BYU Blue | 7:51 a.m. April 1, 2009
It will be payback time. Beat up on little Brother up north. That is the team from SLC
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Down at WR | 8:14 a.m. April 1, 2009
Wow. Looks like the team is really lacking experienced wide receivers. Hall will be having to pass to his tight ends and backs more than usual.

To "Go WR's!", how can you assert that "simply" reps and practice will make the WR spot outstanding? Jacobson is the only one that has proven anything at all. Most missionaries take a year to be back to speed. Collie was obviously an exception. I'll take a wait and see approach.
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I wish Collie would have stayed | 8:18 a.m. April 1, 2009
As a Ute fan, it might not be good that Collie left. I think that was part of Halls problem. The last thing the rest of the conference needs is for Hall to actually read the defense and go through his progressions instead of trying to force passes in to Collie. Hopefully he'll just pick Pitta as his new security blanket and close his eyes and fire like he did last season.
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BYU,the Oral Roberts of the West | 8:24 a.m. April 1, 2009
BYU would have had an undefeated season if it wasn't for the refs!!
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Agreed | 9:42 a.m. April 1, 2009
Collie was a crutch for Hall
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4.4? | 9:42 a.m. April 1, 2009
None of these guys runs a 4.4 except maybe Jacobson. But high-end speed is the most overrated charactistic of a wideout (Tyler Anderson, Rod Wilkerson). These guys should be quite good.
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Put red on them | 10:03 a.m. April 1, 2009
Perhaps, if you put RED jersey's on the receivers Max would be able to see them better. I worked last year!
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Huge fan | 10:08 a.m. April 1, 2009
I just wish these receivers were good. It looks like they will be pretty slow. maybe they have good hands.
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Re: 4.4 | 10:14 a.m. April 1, 2009
Yes they do, all of them run 4.4's but Ashworth. What evidence do you have that they don't run 4.4's? No one listens when they say BYU is recruiting better. It's true. There is just as much speed on the skill positions on offense at BYU than anywhere else. I'm not saying we recruit a roster full of 4.5's and 4.4's but they are becoming more common now than you think. Chambers and Hafoka are both 4.4 guys, I'm positive. Anyway, it's like the earlier guy said, high end speed is overrated at WR but it's so overly emphasized. Talk to dumb people and they say EVERYTHING is about speed, well, it's not. Also, John Beck's senior year in 2006, the recievers were pretty young as well. Reed was a sophomore, Jacobsen was a freshman, Matt Allen was a junior. There was also Nate Meikle and Zac Collie, but I don't know that they contributed any more than the other guys did. So there's no reason to think that this year could be very similar to 2006.
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Speed | 10:47 a.m. April 1, 2009
Chambers does NOT run a 4.4. If he did he wouldn't be at BYU. However, he offers a lot of other things. That will be helpful.
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Zac | 10:48 a.m. April 1, 2009
There's no way any of the receivers, except maybe Jacobsen, run 4.4. How do I know? Because they were all slower than Collie was and he runs a 4.6 on a good day. That's not to say that they still can't be good. I expect them to be like most receivers are at BYU: get open by running good routes and have good hands. The receiving corps is the least of our worries this year. It's the O line and D.
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To 4.4 | 10:54 a.m. April 1, 2009
Look, I'm as big a BYU fan as anyone but, other than Jacobson, we do not have 4.4 receivers. And Jacobson may not be anywhere near 4.4 until he gets in top shape again. Good routes and good hands can be sufficient when playing against the middle of the pack MWC teams. But BYU's lack of speed was majorily exposed against Utah and Arizona and particularly against TCU. Even New Mexico gave us fits with faster defenders. Let's see how real 4.4 speed looks when we play Oklahoma and Florida State and then we'll talk. And at the next level, speed really makes a difference. BYU's best receiver EVER is a 4th round pick at best simply because he does not have the speed and athleticism required in the NFL. You can still be a BYU fan and not pretend our LDS all-star team also has top notch speed. Outside of 1 or 2 examples we simply don't and likely never will.
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Re: to 4.4 | 11:47 a.m. April 1, 2009
Speed wasn't MAJORILY exposed in the Utah and AZ games! Give me a break, we hung around with Utah for 3 and a half quarters, it was Max Hall being a dufus that got exposed. Also with Arizona, we lost by 10 points, I wouldn't call that majorily exposed by speed. That was a very winnable game. We missed 3 field goals, and turned the ball over three times, and all three turnovers were Max Hall's fault. I recall one play where one of the AZ receivers got behind BYU and almost made a touchdown, but Brandon Bradley chased him down before he could get there. The ESPN commentator even said "looks like he didn't have the SPEED to get there."

The ONE game, and I do emphasize ONE, the ONE game where we were outmatched by speed was TCU. It's because their defensive front had speed, and the O-line was outmatched by it, NOT because the skill players weren't fast enough. The difference was in the trenches.

Why do you deny that BYU has speed in certain spots, because they do. Collie was anything but slow, and they other receivers are faster.
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speed demon | 12:11 p.m. April 1, 2009
During the glory years BYU didn't have many speedsters. They did have guys that could catch the ball. The best teams seem to have both speed and guys with great hands in the 21st century. The cougars will be ok, but lack of speed will hurt BYU against the stiffest competition. (Oklahoma,FSU,TCU and even the grasshopper gobbling Utes)
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"Majorly Exposed?" | 12:11 p.m. April 1, 2009
Even with Max's errors in the first part of the Utah game BYU was still right in the game until turning it over in the fourth quarter.

Speedy receivers are important but precise routes, great hands, and ability are vital. When you are talking 4.4 to 4.6 you're also talking about a 40 yard dash. Few receivers will be running 40 yards before the ball is thrown. What matters is their moves and initial speed off the ball.

Not all great NFL receivers had blazing speed. So much of a great receiver is defined by much more than just running fast. BYU's deficiency is not the receiver speed.
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Anonymous | 12:16 p.m. April 1, 2009
Hall will need to spread it around. Too much Collie especially again'st Utah. We have the talent lets just put it together. Hall needs to be smart and run when he needs to. The day of the drop back passers are dead. You need a running QB as well to get yards when nothing is open. I don't know if Hall can do that. I want to see what REILLY can do. He is very athletic. Had an excellent frosh year at USU.
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Michael T | 12:20 p.m. April 1, 2009
BJ Peterson is the one to watch. He's big and he's got speed. Watch out for him.
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Facts | 12:20 p.m. April 1, 2009
In college it can be tough to really know what a kid's forty time is. But go to ESPN and check out the times at the combine. Collie - the best at a speed dominated position we have ever had - did not clock a good 40 time in comparison to the other receivers. He is pretty quick and he has good hands and toughness but the dude is not fast. Granted Jacobson, when in shape, is fast by any standard. Pendleton will bring good speed to our linebackers. Bradley has good speed and athleticism at db. Chambers is probably a step faster than Collie was. But across the board BYU is not fast or athletic. I'd like to believe they are but they aren't.
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Majorly exposed | 12:25 p.m. April 1, 2009
is correct.
A horrible, zero-win Washington team was faster than byu.
The tallest grass in the NCAA is at LES, they keep it long to equalize the speed of their opponents.
None of them have 4.4 speed.
That said, 4.4 speed is probably the most over-rated stat there is.
Collie was 4.6 but always got open and burned supposedly faster players all the time.
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