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The higher star receivers want to go to a place where they know that they can flourish. While it's easy to see with certain teams, such as the Georgia Tech teams coached by Paul Johnson, it was painfully evident with us last year.

Looking at last year, the WR corps didn't exactly light up the statistics. Part of this was because we were run-heavy, and the other part was that we were showcasing a QB who wasn't exactly the best of passers.

Yes, I know that Leonard had a very good season last year (269 of 403, 2861 yards, 21 TD, 8 INT), but that was over 16 games (Sam Hartman had those kinds of numbers over 12 games), and there were quite a few where his throwing skills didn't exactly inspire us. On more than one occasion, he would be off the mark when it came to timing, or wouldn't see open receivers streaking away from their cover guys.

While he made up for that deficiency by scrambling for decent yards, a lot of times, he'd basically settle for an 8 yard gain, when he could have had a 25 yard downfield pass. I would actually liken his playing style to what we saw out of Steve Young with the 49'ers, back when he had just replaced Joe Montana. It wasn't until his third year that he finally learned to stay in the pocket more, and not so coincidentally, happened to win a Super Bowl.

That being said, Leonard got better as the season progressed, but when it comes to recruiting, a lot of those prime receiver recruits aren't going to wait until the end of a season.


If we want to reverse this trend, then it's up to the guys we have to produce big time. The talent is there, especially among the trio of sophomores (Williams, Gilbert, Saldate), along with the veterans (including the portal guys).

By all rights, we should have a more prolific passing attack, given that all of the QB's on the roster (4 deep) are better pure passers. With a healthy offensive line in place, I actually feel optimistic about the passing game.