The wide outs will have to step it up this season

The Wide Outs

I have talked about my Tar Heels when it comes to the quarterback spot, with my theory on it being that for T.J. Yates the begins now. But what about the the wide receivers and the tight ends? You know, the players that in the end could make Yates’ last season at Chapel Hill awesome, enjoyable or unbearable, who are they and what can they do for both their quarterback and the team as a whole. Once I looked at them all I could think about is: “Agent Gate” and injury bug, and that are not the right thoughts if you are planning to have a good/great season. But let’s look at the top players returning from last season and then we will see if my thoughts are spot on or way off.

The top five returning players from 2009 had a total of 165 catches with 12 touchdowns and 1822 yards. Of that Greg Little (Bilitnikoff Award Candidate), who is still in the middle of this NCAA investigation, and Zach Pinalto (Mackey Award Candidate), who has been hurt two seasons in a row, have 95 of the catches (57.5%), 6 of the TDs (50%) and 1058 YDs (58%). Looking at those percentages the road ahead for this core of players seems pretty scary. Sure, nothing says that tight end Zach Pianalto will get hurt, and he could have the best year of his college career, which would be great. Nothing says that wide out Greg Little will miss the season, or a game, and he too could be looking at his best season as a Heel. On the other hand, if you have been following this story you have to get the feeling that in the end the NCAA does not put all this time without giving at least a couple of games to the players. This means that head coach Butch Davis has to have his youngsters step up.

This means that sophomore Erik Highsmith, who I personally like as a receiver, sophomore Jheranie Boyd, second to Greg Little at the position, and junior Dwight Jones, back up to Highsmith, need to make the plays when needed. Highsmith was second with 37 catches last year, but Boyd only had 12 in all in 2009. If Little wasn’t to be on the field in 2010 these two young men have to get much higher numbers in order for the Tar Heels to be able to get to double digit wins. Heck, they have to get higher numbers in order for Carolina to have a .500 season. Let’s remember the fourth best in 2009 in the reception department was a running back, and if you are missing your best wide out in 2010 this is also going to weigh on the youngsters that have to step up. On the other hand if Little and Pianalto are there the second year players could definitely be a great part of the offense with the opposing teams focusing their best talent on the senior receiver and tight end.

In the end, what might be the biggest problem is that if Greg Little does miss games it will be in the most crucial part of the season, the beginning, where Carolina will go against LSU in Atlanta, followed by Georgia Tech (home), Rutgers (on the road) and East Carolina (home). This means that the rest of the core of wide outs have to step it up from the get go, without having a game or two to get their feet wet, and that is just something that seems so hard to do. Time will tell, but for the wide receivers on this squad time might be something they just don’t have.

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