Predicting BYU’s 2015 Depth Chart: Wide Receivers

Continuing with our position-by-position breakdown of what we here at Lawless Republic, expect BYU’s 2015 football depth chart to look like when BYU kicks off the season in Lincoln versus Nebraska on September 5th.

We’ve already taken a look at the quarterbacks (stay healthy Taysom) and the running backs. Now we take a look at another skill position: the wide receivers.

BYU will have to find someone to replace the production left by Jordan Leslie. In one season in Provo, Leslie endeared himself to Cougar fans not only with his play on the field, but his upbeat attitude about being a BYU Cougar. He was a fan favorite, and one of Taysom Hill’s top pass catchers from last season.   Who replaces him? Coaches feel confident enough in the current players returning that there wasn’t a need to go after any transfers during this past recruiting season.

Who are those guys returning that will be filling out the wide receiver depth? Let’s break it down.

Taysom’s #1 Target: Mitch Mathews

Mathews for a very brief period of time after the Miami Beach Bowl loss to Memphis was mulling an early departure to the NFL. It was very brief. Mathews received feedback from the NFL to gauge where his stock would be, and shortly after that feedback came back Mathews then decided he would be coming back to BYU for his senior season. For Mathews and BYU, that was great news.

With Quarterback Taysom Hill back for his senior season coming off a second season-ending injury, the talented dual-threat QB will look to air the ball out more than what we’ve seen in the past from Taysom. The biggest beneficiary to the increased aerial attack will be Mathews. At 6’6” 215-pounds, Mathews is a big target that NFL teams covet and at times in 2014, Mathews was nearly unstoppable for teams to defend.

I’d expect a big year for Mathews in his senior season. The biggest knock on Mathews right now is that he isn’t strong enough when going up and getting the football. If he gets more physical, the NFL will come calling next year at this time.

Starters: Nick Kurtz & Mitchell Juergens

After Mitch Mathews, there is going to be a lot of position battles in spring and fall camps to earn starting spots. My best guess is that pesky Mitchell Juergens finds himself back in the H-Back spot (slot) where he was last season and heralded junior college transfer from last year, Nick Kurtz emerges as the other week-in, week-out starter.

Kurtz would give Taysom another pass catcher standing at 6’6”, which is going to keep many opposing defensive coordinators up at night trying to plan on how to scheme for these big targets.

Kurtz was an early enrollee last season and participated in spring football. Struggled during the spring but got up to speed with the go fast, go hard attack during fall camp and was poised to live up to his lofty offers he received out of Grossmont College from the likes of USC and LSU. Then a foot injury in fall camp sidelined him for five weeks and he was done for the season, earning him a medical redshirt season.

There’s too much potential from Kurtz to not put him in a spot to get significant playing time this season. With how front loaded the 2015 schedule is, BYU will need Kurtz to have an instant impact.

Inside Receivers: Terenn Houk –OR- Moroni Laulu-Pututau

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Jordan Leslie was considered a tight end last season, or more commonly known in BYU’s offense as an “inside receiver.”

There are some interesting options at IR in 2015 and the two that stand out the most are senior Terrenn Houk and returning missionary Moroni Laulu-Pututau.

Houk received an opportunity to finally get some playing time and made the most of his opportunity pulling down 21 catches for 241 yards and two touchdown grabs. Naturally, you’d think Houk would have the inside track (pun intended) to be a lock as the top IR in Robert Anae’s third installment of go fast, go hard; but that isn’t the case.   A returning missionary from Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum, Utah is going to make a strong push for playing right away when he gets back from his mission to Chile in the summer. Moroni has been labeled in the mold of Mitch Mathews and Cody Hoffman.

At BYU walk-on’s need to be household names amongst fans. A walk-on to keep an eye on at the IR spot that will likely compete for playing time is Illinois product, Jake Ziolkowski.

Back-ups but will see significant reps: Colby Pearson & Devon Blackmon

Devon Blackmon came in as a JUCO transfer with some lofty expectations at BYU. Needless to say, those expectations never came close to being realized in 2014. Although, towards the tail end of the season we saw glimpses that make you think all will not be lost for the former Oregon Duck. Blackmon had a great game against Cal in the regular season finale last season recording 60 yards on six catches. It was a needed confidence boost for a player that had many ups and downs on the field in his first season as a Cougar.

With a full year in the offense, I’d expect improvement from Blackmon in 2015 both at wide receiver and in returning punts on special teams.

Colby Pearson was a name that was turning heads during fall camp last season and he made folks say, who’s that guy? The walk-on from Blackfoot, Idaho had a nice sophomore campaign until it was cut short with a season-ending collarbone injury versus UNLV. Pearson will be back in fall camp, and I’d expect him to be a mover and shaker on the depth chart in the fall.

Others:

• Akile Davis: He has golden hands, but it’ll take time for the Texas native to get up to speed with this up-tempo BYU offense. He won’t redshirt as Bronco is continuing to phase out the redshirt altogether within the program, but I wouldn’t expect an impact right away.

• Josh Weeks: Already enrolled in school and participating in winter conditioning. Weeks will be an interesting storyline during spring football. One of the top recruits in the state of Arizona in 2012 class, Weeks could be the wild card in this wide receiver class that changes up the depth chart pecking order. Problem for Weeks is that history suggests true freshman WR’s haven’t had much success in recent years, especially coming off a mission.

• Kurt Henderson: Feel like I haven’t seen him since that heroic catch at Utah State in 2013. Henderson enters his senior season.

• Talon Shumway: Talented multi-sport athlete. Down the road we will be talking about Shumway as a key contributor in future BYU offenses, but not in 2015.

• Micah Simon: True freshman from the state of Texas that led his high school squad to a championship at the quarterback spot. He’s switching to wide receiver at BYU, and when you watch his high school film, you can instantly see why the staff made the move. Simon has long strides and is quick. He’s likely going to end up a scout team QB or WR in year one, but the possibility of a trick play is always an option with this guy.