Do we really think a freshman, even with size and speed, can make significant contributions at wide receiver? Even if he has freak capabilities, it's such a complicated position to play today.
FTA: "Sure, the wide receiver positions can be and often are dumbed down for true freshmen, but ultimately theres still a lot you need to know. And Byrd, like most true freshmen, occasionally looked like he didnt know what he was doing."
In today's offenses, it's tough to dumb down one position without dumbing down or compromising the entire play. Certainly you can't have a freshman as your any-down starter. Within 2 games every DC will have figured out what those freshmen aren't being trusted to do/know, and he will build that into his defensive gameplan.
FTA: "A full offseason and a new position coach (Kevin Beard) have seemed to help Byrd a lot, though, and he said a couple of times this spring that he was able to play faster as a result."
That .3 seconds worth of extra speed is totally lost when the receiver isn't 100% committed to where he's running because he isn't sure what he's seeing from the defense, what the play change signals from the sideline mean for him, even as he's trying to see who on the D might be blitzing and trying to remember which route change he would go to, as he suddenly glimpses that the playclock has now run down to 2 seconds! :blink:
I hope no one's thinking you can send a freshman in for a play with the simple instructions, "Run a slant." Often those QB audibles are changing specific routes based on the defense he sees. And if the QB isn't confident every receiver will be where he's supposed to be, you can knock a full second off the QB's processing speed and add it to extra time in the pocket. He's also lost the opportunity to "look off" any defenders to create a little more space for his intended target.
Playing freshmen at receiver is usually a situational luxury, where the OC is either confident he can get single-coverage (though usually against a more experienced defender) or the freshman knows his reads and assignments facing Defense A or B, and the OC is 90% sure they won't switch to Defense C, D, or E on that play.
Freshmen receivers carry greater potential each play to cause a domino collapse, or a wasted time-out. It's no surprise that our top receiver started his career as a QB. To borrow from the great Yogi, playing receiver is more than 90% half mental.
