UMass has eight wide receivers on the current roster:
AlfredAdarkwah #84WR6-4195 RSJR DNP in 2016 BrennonDingle#10WR5-9174 RSFR Redshirted in 2016 AndyIsabella#23WR5-9186 JR 10-12 GP-GS 62-801 7 TD's 55 LONG 5.2 REC/G ConnorLemieux#25WR6-0199 RSSR 0-9 GP-GS played special teams PatrickO'Reilly,#89WR6-3200 RSFR Redshirted in 2016 SadiqPalmer#6WR6-1175 SO 0-9 GP-GS 9-100 1 TD 23 LONG ElijahRobinson#86WR6-1164 RSFR Redshirted in 2016 PatrickVolcy#80WR6-3190 FR In for Spring semester
The Minutemen did not get a lot of production from the WR's last year beyond Andy Isabella. He could get close to a 1,000 yards receiving in 2017. His 62 receptions in 2016 places him #8 on the UMass single season receptions list. That tied Tim Berra (1973). He moved Tajae Sharpe (2013) and Anthony Nelson (2010) to #10 . His 5.2 receptions/ game currently is #2 in career receptions/game behind Tajae Sharpe 5.89/career games
Sadiq Palmer is the only other returning player with some stats. He looks to be in a battle with Brennon Dingle for the "Y" receiver. Whipple could move Isabella to the slot and have Palmer and Dingle to the outside positions. Dingle had an outstanding Spring game.
UMass also brought in a pretty strong 2017 recruiting class. JUCO transfer Jacoby Herring is 6-5 and looks to get a lot of playing time right away.
Patrick Volcy was in for Spring ball and would seem to have an advantage over the other true freshmen.
Back in December of last year, the wide receiver unit was, I felt, maybe the top unit in terms of depth and talent going into 2019. If we're going to have an offense in 2019, it's probably going to mostly fall on the WR's. Football Study Hall has a nice article on the deference between the pro set and the spread.
Matty Vautour has a post on the UMass receiving corps. As I stated on Monday, one of the most impressive sights at Saturday's scrimmage was the receivers. They were catching everything. Almost no drops the whole evening.
UMass gets Bernard Davis back from a redshirt. Jalen Williams has been limited with an injury. Shakur Nesmith has been inconsistent. When Whipple showed some film from previous practices, one of the clips was a DB intercepting a ball in the end zone. That was against Nesmith. The DB went up for the ball and Nesmith didn't.
Whipple has praised Andy Isabella as improving his pass catching skills. Isabella played last year and had a number of drops.
Freshman Sadiq Palmer and Elijah Robinson are in the mix and I think one or both won't redshirt. Brennon Dingle is an academic redshirt and will not play in 2016. It's not his grades as I think Whipple said Dingle was missing one class for academic qualification.
NFL Draft Diamonds interviews UMass WR Sadiq Palmer. Palmer was UMass' second leading receiver in 2018. He went 12-7 GP-GS 28-419 15.0 AVE 2 TD's 38 LONG.
With Isabella graduated and the switch to a spread offense, Palmer could have a break out year in 2019.
NCAA.com has the ten oldest college football stadiums. Two of them are in Massachusetts.
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I would think Palmer would start at the "X" position. Dingle and Brett would likely start also. Turner has three years to play two for the Minutemen. That should give him some flexibility to get his degree and game time.
Speaking of McGuirk, UMass 2017 schedule posters are supposed to be available at the Spring Game. This is not official, so we'll have to see when we get there.
The American Sports Network has merged with two other media companies. This should be good news for the Group-of-Five sports programs who get mostly ignored by ESPN and other big broadcasters.
Wide receivers seem to be the deepest and most talented skill unit on the 2018 Minutemen. I would speculate Isabella would be the "X" receiver, Britt as the "Y" and Palmer or Dingle as the slot receiver. All of them would be the four-wide.
The UMass single season team receiving record was in 1998 306-4050. In 2017 the Minutemen went 272-3570, so the all-time record could within reach in 2018.
Dan also has a report on why national outlets have UMass at the bottom of the FBS heap. No mystery for UMass fans. National writers don't do much but reviews the stats. The Minutemen lost most of their offensive numbers when Frohnapfel and Sharpe graduated. With the toughest schedule in the Group-of-five, and little in the way of returning firepower, the Minutemen would be ranked low. Let's just prove everyone wrong.
The Manganaro Family donates $500k for McGuirk improvements. The funds will be applied to a new high-definition video board. I watched Paul Manganaro play back in the day. He lettered in 1982, 83, 85 and was captain in 1986. Manganaro was All-Yankee Conference in 1985. With the new bubble practice facility coming, things are lookin' up at McGuirk.
Nine Minutemen made Steele's All-Independent team for 2018. Andrew Ford, Marquis Young, Jake Largay, Bryton Barr and Isiah Rogers made the first team. Sadiq Palmer, Ray Thomas-Ishman, Joe Previte and Lee Moses made the 2nd team. Marquis Young made the second team as kick returner.
Cut-and-paste from McGovern's article. Links are to my coverage in the blog.
Cycoby Burch (ATH), Oak Ridge (FL) - Committed Isaiah Rodgers (CB), Blake (FL) - Committed Tyshaun Ingram (RB), Winter Park (FL) - Committed Antoine Brooks (ATH), Duval (MD) Jesse Britt (ATH/WR/RB), Auburndale (FL) Tyrek Tisdale (RB), Oak Ridge (FL) Chris Tooley (CB), Oak Ridge (FL) Shakur Cooper (OLB/DE), Coral Gables (FL) Bakhari Goodson (CB), Wekiva (FL) Sadiq Palmer (WR), Red Bank (NJ) Taylor Riggins (RB/OLB), Aquinas Institute (NY) Charly Timite (DE), Simon Gratz (PA) Antoine Webster (ATH/S), American (FL) Jordan Young (QB), Coatesville (PA)
Partial quote from a Scout.com article dated this Tuesday:
Britt has three final schools and is going to take a close look at each before deciding. “Right now, I’m looking at Arizona, University of Massachusetts and Western Kentucky," he said. "I like all three of those places and I’ve got a decision to make. "The coaches are a big part of everything for me because all the staffs are great and they think I can play a lot of different positions because of my athleticism.”
Dan Malone has a very early look at projected starters. In 2016 the Minutemen signed their best ever recruiting class. There is just too much talent for some of them to be redshirted.
At RB, UMass only had two scholarship RB's on the roster. I expect one or both of Peytton Pickett and Bilal Ally to play this year.
TE was and is a talent hole in the Minutemen roster. Hopefully Penn State transfer Adam Breneman has some gas left in his tank, but true freshman Cody Banks and Avien Peah, both three star recruits have too much talent to sit.
Meanwhile UMass has added six JUCO's the defensive roster. In the first four years, the defense was kinda the step child of recruiting. The recruiting mix usually ran about 60-40 in favor of offensive players. The UMass defense needed more bodies. This year UMass has added:
Well mistakes and abysmal kicking doomed a tenacious UMass effort at Temple. The Minutemen missed three field goals at the Owls 22, 6 and 14 yard lines. We left 9 points on field in an 8 point loss. Ford fumbled deep in UMass territory to give Temple a short field at the end of the first half. We also dropped two possible TD passes (Isabella and Herring).
On the positive side, the Minutemen defense continued their upward momentum. The UMass defense repeatedly stuffed the Temple offense. The Minutemen defenders had 11 TFL (!) and two sacks. Temple RB Ryquell Armstead had a 56 yard run on the third play of the game. The other 33 Temple rushes gained 63 yards (1.9 yards/carry). For the second consecutive game the UMass defense played well enough to win.
The UMass offense gained 458 yards and Ford managed to spread the UMass receiving around. Sadiq Palmer (7-117 and Jesse Britt (3-57) gave the Minutemen other options than just Breneman and Isabella. Even the UMass offensive line started playing better in the second half using a moving pocket.
As far as the kicking goes---someday my head is going to explode.
There were heroes everywhere. Mike Curtis led the Minutemen to the most points and yards of the year. He executed a nifty ball fake that allowed him to walk into the endzone. He ran judiciously and fit the ball into tight sideline passes. He moved the team. The science is settled.
The OL, consisting of all 2's, led the way to the most yards of the season. There were no problems with the snap or QB exchange. Mike Sullivan, Dalton Tomlinson and Helber Fagundes stepped in an did an excellent job.
You run to win and Bilal Ally and the OL did that in the fourth quarter.
The Zips are a dreadful running team, but the defense insured they did not do better against UMass. The DL developed some pressure and Isaiah Rogers set an all-time UMass record with his third pick-six.
A really satisfying win against adversity. Bite me trolls.
When I attended practice the best catch I saw was from Zak Simon. He had a nice toe-tap inside the back of the endzone for a nifty catch.
Zac Simon
The wide receiver position is important in the spread offense. Going into Spring ball UMass has some good players, but like every position this Spring there is not a lot of depth.
Wow what a game! Heroes galore. Andy Isabella set a program record of 303 yards and 2 TD's. The first TD was a thing of wonder. Comis overthrew Isabella by a good ten yards. Isabella saw the ball was over and just went to warp speed to catch up with it. He should have created a sonic boom when he hit the afterburner. Comis supplied 540 passing yards. Samuel Emilus had two overtime TD catches. Sadiq Palmer had two drive-continuing clutch catches. Marquis Young had a fumble that caused a Liberty score and then ran with fury for the rest of the fourth quarter. The offense had a program record 777 yards.
Jarell put on his super hero outfit and was everywhere on the field during the comeback. His INT in the third overtime won the game.
Cooper Garcia was iced twice before the game winning kick. First the officials gave Liberty a time out I thought they didn't have and then stopped play again to review the decision. Garcia, who was perfect on the day, calmly drilled the winning field goal.
It was a happy two hour ride back to New Hampshire.
