Late in the Terrapin football team’s scrimmage Saturday, fifth-string quarterback Jamarr Robinson threw backup wide receiver Emani Lee-Odai a perfect deep ball that was sure to be a touchdown. But Lee-Odai flat out dropped it in stride, drawing groans from the sparse crowd and reactions of disbelief from the Terps on the sideline.
It’s been that kind of spring for the wide receivers.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding last season’s 9-4 team was the young receiving corps. And so far during the spring season, the wide receivers have noticeably struggled to catch the ball.
“We have been dropping a lot more passes than usual right now,” junior wide receiver Danny Oquendo said. “I really don’t know what I can point that towards. A lot of the young receivers we have haven’t really gotten reps like they are getting right now, so they’re just starting to get used to having to catch all the time. And even me and Darrius [Heyward-Bey] are gonna drop a couple every now and then. So, I mean, we’re just trying to get back into the ease of things.”
Coach Ralph Friedgen said he put more of an emphasis on passing the ball during Saturday’s scrimmage to see how the receivers would perform.
“I think at some times we made some progress,” Friedgen said. “Just some of the young guys lined up wrong today, but they made some plays too. We gotta still get better in that area.”
The Terps enter next season with a young group of receivers, including one of the ACC’s top wide receivers in Heyward-Bey, who had 45 catches for 694 yards and five touchdowns last year. Oquendo and junior Isaiah Williams, who is currently recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, round out the Terps’ other two top receivers.
Backups Adrian Cannon, Stephen Smalls and Lee-Odai may see some playing time in the fall, as there’s no true fourth receiver right now, but the focus will clearly be on the top three. Next season, Oquendo and Williams will be juniors, and Heyward-Bey will be a redshirt sophomore.
Heyward-Bey and Oquendo have had to adjust to two new quarterbacks, another possible reason for the spring struggles. During practice drills, quarterbacks Jordan Steffy and Josh Portis have been the recipients of bad luck quite often, as the top receivers have had many drops.
Still, Steffy wasn’t all that concerned with the receivers.
“We got some playmakers at receiver. I have faith in those guys. I really do,” Steffy said. “Darrius has had a couple drops, sure, but he’s gonna make plays for me. There’s no question about that. Obviously we have a lot of work to do, but at the same time I feel good.”
Last year, the Terp receivers were pretty good about hanging onto the ball, except for the Boston College game, in which it seemed everything thrown was dropped. At the beginning of the spring, Friedgen moved Nolan Carroll, who dropped multiple passes in that game, from wide receiver to defensive back.
One thing that was different about last season was the return of the deep pass. Heyward-Bey, Oquendo and Williams showed prowess in catching the long ball, an almost non-existent option during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. One of the lasting images from last season is Heyward-Bey’s two long touchdown catches against Miami – 65 and 96 yard receptions.
And despite the rough spring, Heyward-Bey said he isn’t worried about the dropped passes.
“We’re young and our timing with the quarterbacks are a little off because we hadn’t had a chance to come out in the offseason and get work in,” he said. “That’ll all come together. As long as we know our assignments, everything will be fine.”
Contact reporter Andrew Zuckerman at zuckermandbk@gmail.com.
