Ranking the ACC Wide Receiver Units for the 2019 Season
Evan Norris
Posted On August 16
14. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
(Malachi Carter/ Jalen Camp/ Nathan Cottrell)
I have little room to work with in terms of film on the Yellow Jackets receiving unit. The offense for Georgia Tech is shifting out of a Triple Option this year after Geoff Collins took over the team. These are receivers that have had a strong summer camp at the receiver spot, but will lack the years of experience running a spread type, or even a passing type, of offense and I cannot rank them higher than units who have. This is, however, a very talented group that can make some waves in the Coastal.
13. Duke Blue Devils
(Dennis Smith/ Damon Philyaw-Johnson/ Aaron Young)
Duke lost a lot in terms of offensive production from last year and may experience a heavy drop off in production ratings. Like every year, Duke will seemingly start off slow and decline, until their units learn to get a working system in place. With these young receivers, the Blue Devils should have a good basis to build around. However, the Duke offense will most likely rely on Deon Johnson to work a lot on offense to give Quentin Harris and these receivers some room to develop.
12. Louisville Cardinals
(Keion Wakefield/ Seth Dawkins/ Dez Fitzpatrick)
This offense, by no means, can do worst than they did last season. Everyone has gotten some experience after the many games they braved together. And I think the primary receiver for this team will have to be Dez Fitzpatrick, as he was second in receiving yards and first in receiving TDs for the Cardinals. They won’t be great, but this should be a solid offense by the root of this receiving unit.
11. Boston College Eagles
(Kobay White/ Ben Glines)
We saw Steve Adazzio use his wide receivers and tight ends effectively last season. Now, Boston College only has about two wide receivers on the field every play, so that’s a hit in itself in terms of units. However, Anthony Brown is still able to find his talented teammates. One of his favorite weapons being Kobay White, who amounted for 526 receiving yards and averaged 15.9 yards a catch. This should be a solid unit for the Eagles, who usually depend on the running game.
10. NC State Wolfpack
(Thayer Thomas/ Emeka Emezie/ C.J Riley)
The Wolfpack took a load of hits this offseason on the offensive side of the ball with the likes of Kelvin Harmon, Reggie Gallaspy, and Ryan Finley all leaving. However, if there is one piece of this offense that is looking promising now, it is their wide receivers. The only receiver that has much experience in the unit would be Emeka Emezie. Many are saying that Emezie will step up as an outspoken leader for the other younger receivers and plant seeds of greatness for the Wolfpack coaching staff to up-bring. This should be a productive bunch that just needs to develop more before their time comes.
9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
(Sage Surratt/ Steven Claude/ Jaquarii Roberson)
I think that many ACC fans are sleeping on what this squad will end up doing this season. The Demon Deacons did lose Greg Dortch, which is a HUGE hit, considering he was one of five receivers to hit over 1,000 receiving yards for the Demon Deacons ever. Fortunately for this team, they return Surratt, who should do a decent job mimicking the production of Dortch. And some of the younger pieces of the unit being Roberson and Claude, should have moved up nicely this summer to a higher workload. This Wake Forest team can do some damage in the Atlantic coming up this season.
8. Virginia Cavaliers
(Hasise Dubois/ Joe Reed/ Tavares Kelly)
This is a really talented unit from anyone looking at this lineup. However, the Cavaliers are losing production from Olamide Zaccheaus, who pinned over 1,000 yards for this team. Now the two leaders to be shown for this receiving unit will be Dubois and Reed. We saw Dubois be consistently helping last season, and then the rise of Joe Reed later on. This should be a very solid lineup for this offense in the ACC, with a team that will need to pass a bit more after losing some running power.
7. Pittsburgh Panthers
(Taysir Mack/ Tre Tipton/ Maurice French)
For not being much of a passing team and returning two of of your three main wide receivers, things are looking up for the Panthers. I actually think we will see Narduzzi start to trust Pickett more with this unit in terms of the passing game. The offense also took heavy hits with both Ollison and Hall leaving, so seeing a shift to passing would be expected. I think this will look like the 2016 squad that we saw, with the Panthers going for physical passing. And they have the talent to pull it off for the most part.
6. Miami Hurricanes
(Jeff Thomas/ Dee Wiggins/ K.J Osborn)
Surely Miami is a Top 5 receiving team in the ACC, right? In skill, you would be very correct. However, we see the Hurricanes lose Brevin Jordan and Lawrence Cager, who were the spots for second and third on receiving yards last season. Also, there is some uncertainty on the quarterback spot going into the fall. Jarren Williams will be taking the snaps, but can he deliver? I guess we will find out, but there is no reason he shouldn’t with such a talented wide receiver unit with the likes of Jeff Thomas, who has rocket fuel, and Dee Wiggins, who has proved himself constantly.
5. North Carolina Tarheels
(Dyami Brown/ Dazz Newsome/ Beau Corrales)
We saw UNC shift through many quarterbacks last season and if I am being honest, I didn’t know who was starting most of the time. But now it is looking like true freshman, Sam Howell, will be the man for the Tarheels going into the 2019 season. He has a set of weapons at his use, specifically Dazz Newsome, who had 506 receiving yards. Along with Newsome, we see the Tarheels load up with Dyami Brown and Beau Corrales who combined for 393 receiving yards off of the second rotation. This should be an explosive and dangerous unit out of Chapel Hill only a season after the disaster under Larry Fedora (which I am still mad how they dealt with him).
4. Florida State Seminoles
(Tamorrion Terry/ Keith Gavin/ D.J Matthews)
I am really liking what this Florida State team is going to have to prove to the college football nation come this year. And I think they will deliver. It was an ugly first season under Willie Taggart, but I feel that his offensive mind will bleed into his team this coming season. The Florida State wide receivers for this season will be out of the four that led the team last year in receiving yards. Over all though, Tamorrion Terry’s name will be thrown around a lot, as last year he averaged 21.6 yards a catch and you could see his physical skill rank high among others in the ACC. Florida State will be a team to be reckoned with this season and many aren’t buying the hype.
3. Syracuse Orange
(Taj Harris/ Sean Riley/ Cameron Jordan)
“Electric” would be a great word to describe these wide receivers when they step onto the field. It just seems that Syracuse had a knack for big plays down the field last season. Now, the Orange return Taj Harris and Sean Riley, and allowing Cameron Jordan to show off what he can do. Both Harris and Riley combined for 1,321 receiving yards and 6 receiving TDs. It should be interesting to see how they respond to Tommy Devito in the formation instead of Eric Dungey. Regardless, this will be a squad who torches defenses when they make the smallest mistake on coverage.
2. Virginia Tech Hokies
(Tre Turner/ Damon Hazelton/ Hezekiah Grimsley)
Each of these players seemed to have the ability to score almost every player for the Hokies last season. This is a group that should be together fully for three years, and learn to play as a wholesome unit along the way. All together, these three receivers combined for 1,719 receiving yards, 13 TDs, and averaged 16.2 yards a catch between the three of them. This is a very talented unit that specializes on one-on-one situations. And with either Ryan Willis or Hendon Hooker throwing to them this season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least two of them over 600 yards.
1. Clemson Tigers
(Tee Higgins/ Cornell Powell/ Justyn Ross)
There should absolutely be no question to as why the Clemson’s wide receiver unit topples the others in the ACC. The top two receivers leading the charge, Higgins and Ross, nearly combined for over 2,000 receiving yards. That in itself should be the reason for this placement. But in all seriousness, these players all have the potential to win all the jump balls, out run opposing defenders, and score every play. This ranks among nationally as the best group of receivers and it will show again as the Tigers try to lead on to make another CFP appearance.
In case you missed any of the other lists:
Cover Image Credits: https://news.virginia.edu/content/qa-uva-football-player-joe-reed-talks-trains-frog-giggin-and-beating-tech
