Niles Paul Emerging at Wide Receiver

by Husker Mike on Aug 19, 2009 10:17 PM CDT in Nebraska Husker Football

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson singled out junior Niles Paul as the leader of the wide receiver corps. After practice today, he told the media that "Paul is the guy."

"Respect is earned. You earn it by performance. I think everybody here, everybody on this team — offense, defense, coaches, managers, everybody who sees practice — goes, ‘Wow, he’s done a nice job.’"

"He’s letting us coach him. I’ll tell you what, he has a sense of purpose because really inside of him … he doesn’t want to be good, he wants to be great. He’s really stepped up his game."

After being suspended during spring practice for driving under the influence, Paul has had to own up to his faults and essentially grow up. Paul even admits as such that he arrived at Nebraska expecting stardom; not needing to learn or work hard. In that light, perhaps Paul's suspension might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Nobody was hurt thankfully, and Paul is emerging a better man for it.

Menelik Holt also seems to be making a push going into his senior season after a so-so spring practice, by his own admission. Holt spent extra time working late last season with Zac Lee, as each needed a partner to work on some extra drills. That extra practice could prove valuable as Holt already has established a rapport with the Huskers anticipated starting quarterback.

So with Paul and Holt emerging out of the pack at wide receiver, who becomes that third receiver in 2009?

In today's fullback-free era of college football, most teams will play three wide receivers or two receivers and two tight ends. Certainly, Nebraska is loaded at tight end with emerging star Mike McNeill. Dreu Young gives Nebraska good depth, and redshirt freshmen Kyler Reed and Ben Cotton looked intriguing in the spring game. But what about the young receivers? We've heard good things about Brandon Kinnie and Antonio Bell. Marcus Mendoza could be a great deep threat as well.

So what do fans expect at wide receiver in 2009? Who do YOU think will be the starting unit at tight end and receiver this season? My vote is Paul, Holt, McNeill, and Cotton and Mendoza splitting time, depending on formation and situation. What's yours?

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who will play at WR and TE?

I expect Niles Paul to be on the field most of the time. I’m not convinced that Holt will be the #2 guy all year. Kinnie and Bell seem to be making some noise and I won’t be surprised to see Brooks make his presence felt. Mendoza probably needs a year to learn to be a WR, but his speed will get him some “special” chances, I’m thinking WR screens and the occasional deep shot.
At TE, McNeill will be hard to get off the field, especially if his blocking continues to improve. I look for Young and Hill to be blocking TEs mostly. Watch for Cotton to get more and more time as the season progresses, but the real wild card for me is Reed. Everything I’ve read about him makes him sound like a super athlete, and we may see him in all sorts of positions/situations from TE to H-back to split wide to maybe even lined up as the FB.

All in all, I think we are loaded with good athletes at both positions, all of whom have a lot of potential. If this coaching staff is as good as we all think, that potential should be mostly realized this year. I can’t wait to see it.

Run the ball. Stop the run. Win the game.

by RunTheBall on Aug 20, 2009 5:14 PM CDT reply actions

I was

really glad to see this article. Paul looked really good at times last season, and hopefully another year will bring more consistency.

Like you, I’m not convinced that Holt will stay at #2 unless he comes more physical. I guess we’ll find out if all this talk about Kinnie and Bell is for real or just smoke. When I interviewed Kinnie’s JUCO coach, he made it pretty clear that it would take some time for him to adjust to Nebraska, and not to expect too much too soon.

To be honest, I keep forgetting Mendoza. I hope that’s not the case as the season goes on.

Still seems miles away, doesn’t it?

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by Jon Johnston on Aug 20, 2009 10:09 PM CDT reply actions