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Penguins wide open at wideout (and that’s not good)
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
On the final play of Friday’s practice, YSU quarterback Kurt Hess capped a successful two-minute drill with a beautiful 30-yard spiral that landed in the arms of senior wideout Andre Barboza in the end zone.
“That was a nice throw and catch right there,” Penguins coach Eric Wolford said. “It’s good to see us throw it and complete it.
“As you guys saw, we didn’t complete many before that. We were dropping it left and right. You’ve got to catch the ball when it’s cold.”
With Dominique Barnes graduating, YSU’s biggest question mark entering spring practice was, “Who was the team’s No. 1 receiver?”
Six practices in, it’s still the biggest question. Seniors Ely Ducatel and Juilian Harrell and sophomore Kevin Watts — who all saw significant time last year — are penciled in for the first team but no one has distinguished himself so far.
“We’ve been pretty hard on those guys early in camp,” Wolford said of his receivers. “We expect more out of those guys.
“We feel like that’s a position we haven’t really come close to playing like we’re capable of. We need some guys to make some plays and it starts with knowing what you’re doing, having confidence and catching the ball.”
YSU changed receiver coaches in the offseason, with Phil Longo departing and last year’s tight ends coach, Andre Coleman, shifting over.
The Penguins have eight receivers on the roster — although sophomore Jelani Berassa is still coming back from an ACL tear he suffered last summer — which would be plenty in the 1970s but with the Penguins running a spread offense that features three- and four-receiver sets, that doesn’t give them a lot of depth.
Wolford added five receivers on signing day but all of them were freshmen who won’t arrive until this summer. And since it usually takes a year to develop a receiver, he knows he can’t count on rookies to solidify that position.
“Receiver is one of the positions we really wanted to emphasize this spring,” Wolford said. “We don’t have time to wait for the fall.
“We want to see guys that can make plays, guys that can get open, guys that can do something with the ball after we catch it and that’s something we haven’t consistently done after Dom Barnes last year.”
Barnes caught 67 passes for 911 yards last year. The rest of the receiving corps combined for 56 catches and 704 yards. Ducatel (27 catches, 336 yards, two TDs) was — by far — the second-most productive receiver but probably works better as the No. 2 receiver.
Senior Pat White (Warren Harding) does have the skill set to be a No. 1 — he’s 6-foot-6 with long arms and terrific leaping ability — but was basically a basketball player until playing a year of junior college football two years ago.
“Pat’s got to be more consistent,” Wolford said.
Wolford was hoping someone would emerge this spring, but Friday’s practice was marred by the same inconsistency that plagued the unit last fall. Good plays were followed by dropped passes. Routes and reads weren’t sharp enough. No one emerged as game-changer, the way Barnes or Donald Jones (now with the Bills) did the past few years.
“We’re seeing some improvement as far as route running and now we’ve got to start making plays when the ball is near,” said Wolford. “When the ball’s in the air, your attitude has to be that it’s your ball.”