BYU Football: Five big questions as fall camp kicks off
By Shaun Gordon
No. 2: How will Collie and Romney Fit?
There’s no denying that the passing game was atrocious in 2017. Part of that was the revolving door of quarterback play due to injury. The other part was the general ineffectiveness of the wide receivers.
No wideout finished 2017 with more than 450 yards. That top spot went to Aleva Hifo (Jr.), who finished with 437 yards on 37 catches.
Hifo looked good this spring, too. In fact, most of the wideouts looked like they’ve improved from 2017. There’s plenty of returning options, such as:
- Micah Simon (Jr.)
- Talon Shumway (Jr.)
- Akile Davis (Jr.)
- Neil Pau’u (So.)
Simon looked most impressive in spring ball, and he’ll look to carry that over into the fall. However, two new players that could prove to be key weapons at wideout will finally debut this week.
Dylan Collie is back at BYU as a graduate transfer. The senior started his career here before heading to Hawaii. As a Rainbow Warrior last year, Collie led the team with 56 catches for 636 yards and four touchdowns. He’ll provide proven veteran production at a position that’s still relatively young.
Then there’s the youngster. 4-Star recruit Gunner Romney has worked with the team over the summer after graduating, but this will be his first camp with the Cougars. Romney dominated in high school, catching 80 passes from fellow Cougar commit Jacob Conover for 1,554 yards and 18 touchdowns.
He has the tools to step in and contribute immediately. It will be interesting to see how both he and Collie establish themselves in the offense.