Going vertical: wide receiver has become land of the giants. Everywhere you look, big, fast and skilled wideouts are creating matchup nightmares—and redefining the position

Sporting News, The, Sept 22, 2003 by Kyle Veltrop

Look into Roy Williams' eyes, if you dare. The ball has been snapped, and you are backpedaling, trying to decide when and where he's going to break. But you notice that Williams keeps staring at you. Some receivers look down at the hash marks, gauging their route. Some peek to see what their quarterback is doing. Others stare blankly ahead as they run their pattern.

But not Williams. He's looking into your eyes. And he wants you to peer into his. He wants you to see his confidence while he looks for your fear. As he's looking down on you, a 5-10 cornerback, you are looking up, up, up at a 6-4 receiver ...

"It's just a little thing I like to do," says Williams, a Texas senior. "I like to pick up the corners' eyes, get in their heads a little."

If you could get into their heads, you would come across this: "What is going on with these receivers?" All that speed, all that skill, all that size. Forget "Smurfs" and "Fun Bunches" and waterbugs in the slot. The receiver position has become land of the giants. Purdue has a 6-9 freshman, Kyle Ingraham, who is playing receiver for Joe Tiller--and not power forward for Gene Keady.

Wide receiver had been the place where the little guy still could thrive. Of the nine winners of the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation's top college receiver since 1994, five are 5-11 or shorter. The top five receivers selected in each of the last 10 NFL drafts have an average height of a tick over 6-0. And of those 50 drafted receivers, only three--Plaxico Burress in 2000, Randy Moss in 1998 and J.J. Stokes in 1995--are 6-4 or taller.

Now the prototype in college is Roy Williams or USC's Mike Williams, who is 6-5, 230 pounds and still a baby in his development. They are growing big receivers in the North (Michigan's Braylon Edwards) and South (LSU's Michael Clayton), in the East (Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald) and West (Washington's Reggie Williams). Just look up; you'll see one going over a diminutive cornerback to snatch another ball at a stadium near you.

The top 10 receivers in the nation arguably are the three Williamses, Edwards, Clayton, Fitzgerald, Georgia's Fred Gibson, Marshall's Darius Watts, Ohio State's Michael Jenkins and Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods. All are at least 6-2; six are 6-4 or taller.

"College football usually follows what the NFL is doing," says USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow. "By seeing guys like (Randy) Moss and (Terrell) Owens do good things, you try and find others who can do it, too. There are receivers now who if you would have looked at them a few years ago, you would have said, 'Put 'em at tight end.' Now, you leave them on the outside."

Many of the NFL's best hands, though, belong on bodies that don't exceed 6-0--those of Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Hines Ward, Isaac Bruce, Peerless Price and Laveranues Coles--making the college game seem ahead of the NFL on this curve. It's as if college football has a height marker, with a 6-2 cutoff, that states: "To achieve stardom, you must be at least this tall to be admired."

There are reasons for this trend other than the copycat syndrome. The spread offense became the rage in college in the late 1990s. Teams liberally used four- and even five-receiver sets, often utilizing small, quick wideouts who thrive in space. That led to a flurry of small, quick defensive backs. Coaching is all about finding mismatches--and exploiting them.

"Cornerbacks now are 5-9 to 5-11, usually, and it's hard to pass up those mismatches," says Pitt offensive coordinator I.D. Brookhart. Plus, look at the 6-7 linemen out there. You want to have someone that you can see downfield."

Chow and Brookhart say they recruit good players for the position first and foremost, regardless of size. But when they come across a physical freak, they pounce hard and fast.

"We're finding those 6-5 athletes who want to be a receiver" says Brookhart. "I guess they figure that unless you are 6-8, you can't be a point guard anymore."

The hardwood is where Chow fell in love with Mike Williams. "When I saw him play basketball in high school," Chow says, "I saw his skills and footwork and I said, 'I gotta get this guy.'"

Despite these receivers' height, they are used in a rainbow of ways. Some move the chains, others stretch secondaries. Some work the middle, others the sidelines. Some burn, others flex. Brookhart loves calling fades for Fitzgerald. Texas eschews that play in favor of safer passes. It's more important that you have a big receiver than how you use him.

This is a very special crop of receivers--the Williamses and Fitzgerald should be top five NFL picks. So forget quarterback and running back, the typical Heisman-winning positions. The marquee players in college football in 2003 are receivers. Make that, big receivers.

The top 10 in the nation (listed biggest to smallest, of course) have skills you're used to seeing on Sundays.

Mike Williams, Southern California, 6-5/230. Someone his size shouldn't have that burst, which is why he is like Terrell Owens.