Cast of Characters

WR – James Cleveland (senior-2010)
WR – Tyron Carrier (junior)
WR – Patrick Edwards (junior)
WR – Kierrie Johnson (senior)
WR - Ronnie Williams (sophomore)
WR - Demetrius Woods (sophomore)
WR - E.J. Smith (junior)
WR - Chance Blackmon (sophomore)
WR/TE – Tyler Chambers (sophomore)

What’s the Scoop?

The Houston Cougars have possessed the top passing attack in the country for the past two years, and all of the key skill position players return in 2010.  Quarterback Case Keenum is the consensus No. 1 fantasy player in the land after throwing for 5,671 yards and 44 touchdowns a year ago.  Who will be catching the balls from Keenum this fall?  Where should these receivers be drafted?

Here are last year’s receiving stats:

Who’s Gone?

Promising freshman A.J. Dugat was booted off the team in February.  He was one of the Coogs’ top recruits in 2009 who also had scholarship offers from Nebraska and Oklahoma State.

L.J. Castile is another wide receiver full of potential who is not expected to return to the team.  He only caught 22 balls last fall, but 7 went for touchdowns.

Chaz Rodriguez (42-524-3) graduates.

Who’s Back?

James Cleveland (6’1 205-pounds) burst onto the scene last fall and led the team in every receiving statistical category (104 catches, 1,214 yards, 14 TDs).  His stats are all the more impressive when you consider that he missed two games due to injury, and also wasn’t involved in the offense too much in the first couple games of the season.  The Iowa-transfer had shoulder surgery this off-season and missed spring ball.  He played with that bum shoulder for most of the 2010 season. He is expected to be 100 percent this fall.

Tyron Carrier (5’8 165-pounds) has been the model of consistency over the past two seasons, catching 80 and 91 balls, for 1,026 and 1,029 yards, rushing for 140 and 125 yards, and totaling 9 and 8 touchdowns, respectively.  Expect more of the same from the 4.4 speedster this fall.

Patrick Edwards (5’9 175-pounds) returned last fall from a terrible broken leg suffered in the 2008 season and put up solid numbers (85-1021-6).  He is back for another go-round.

In Cleveland’s absence, senior-to-be Kierrie Johnson (5’10 175-pounds) was the star of spring ball.  He capped things off by catching 10 balls for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns in the spring game.
 

A New Trend?

For years, the UH wideouts were primarily comprised of small speedsters such as Carrier and Edwards.  Then last year, a bigger wideout (James Cleveland) rose up and became the team’s leading pass catcher.  Sumlin’s latest recruiting haul includes bigger receivers as well.  A possible reason for this is the emergence of the wide receiver drag route in the UH playbook.  This short 5-yard pass across the middle is utilized often by Keenum, who uses this route as an outlet.  The bigger receivers like Cleveland are more capable of taking the pounding that comes with executing this pattern. 

What does this mean for 2010?  Well, a quick look at the depth chart shows that Cleveland is the only big wide receiver in the starting group.  Therefore, we expect him to continue to catch a ton of balls this fall.

If Your Fantasy Draft Was Today...

James Cleveland will no doubt be the first UH wideout off the board.  He figures to be a Top 5-10 fantasy wide receiver in all formats and will be selected in the first three or four rounds of most drafts. 

Tyron Carrier is well worth selecting as a WR2.  Look for him to go in the early-to-middle rounds as the 15th-20th WR off the board. 

The underappreciated Patrick Edwards is likely to be a decent value pick in the middle rounds. 

Kierrie Johnson is worth a flyer as a late round pick in deep, deep leagues.  He will be a monster waiver wire pick up should any of the “Big 3” sustain an injury this season.