Before Neil Pau'u played a snap in 2017 I was a huge believer. I thought he could be the homeless man's Cody Hoffman or the poor man's Mitch Mathews. His brother had just come off a tremendous 2016 campaign and I was all in on the family. Then I saw him run and he looked like the slowest receiver I'd ever seen. Then I saw him drop a touchdown pass against Utah in 2017. Since then I have not been much of a believer.
All of which is a long way of saying I was very disappointed when I found out Pau'u had won the starting spot over hyped newcomers Chris Jackson and Kody Epps. How does a guy who has 24 career catches and 355 career yards, who also sat out all of last year, snag a starting spot over a guy who caught 1,700 yards last year? Or a guy who caught 600 yards two years ago? Granted those receptions came in junior college and high school, but my point is they came. Neil Pau'u has never produced as a receiver at any level -- he averages 15 yards receiving a game; our time-share running back Lopini Katoa averages 18 yards receiving per game -- and I haven't seen anything to make me think that will change.
The coaches clearly think otherwise. Pau'u led all receivers in snaps, with 40. No receiver was on the field more than him. Romney and Milne were close behind with 35 snaps a piece. Keanu Hill got the most snaps of the hyped newcomers with 14, while Chris Jackson had 12, and Epps never entered the game. I hope this doesn't mean Epps is a bust.
When I mentioned last week on Cougarboard being bummed to see Pau'u get the starting nod over Epps, I was assured by the Cougarboard illuminati that the receiver position is one of the toughest to acclimate to as a freshman, and that's the reason why Epps couldn't beat out Pau'u. I don't believe that for a second. In fact I think wide receiver is probably the easiest position to start at as a freshman.
Wide receiver strikes me as the position that requires the least physical development, as you're going up one-on-one against corners and safeties in a battle of speed and hand fights, as opposed to brawling in the middle of the field with heavy duty linemen and linebackers. It also seems to be a less demanding position to learn than say a running back who needs to pick up blitzes, or a linebacker who has to know all the keys on defense, or an offensive linemen who needs to know his role and the role of the other four guys around him. By the way, Milne played tons as a freshman. Hifo played tons as a freshman. Romney played as a freshman. Even Pau'u saw action as a freshman. So if we don't see Epps this year, against this middling schedule, I think we have reason to be very worried.
The coaches clearly think otherwise. Pau'u led all receivers in snaps, with 40. No receiver was on the field more than him. Romney and Milne were close behind with 35 snaps a piece. Keanu Hill got the most snaps of the hyped newcomers with 14, while Chris Jackson had 12, and Epps never entered the game. I hope this doesn't mean Epps is a bust.
When I mentioned last week on Cougarboard being bummed to see Pau'u get the starting nod over Epps, I was assured by the Cougarboard illuminati that the receiver position is one of the toughest to acclimate to as a freshman, and that's the reason why Epps couldn't beat out Pau'u. I don't believe that for a second. In fact I think wide receiver is probably the easiest position to start at as a freshman.
Wide receiver strikes me as the position that requires the least physical development, as you're going up one-on-one against corners and safeties in a battle of speed and hand fights, as opposed to brawling in the middle of the field with heavy duty linemen and linebackers. It also seems to be a less demanding position to learn than say a running back who needs to pick up blitzes, or a linebacker who has to know all the keys on defense, or an offensive linemen who needs to know his role and the role of the other four guys around him. By the way, Milne played tons as a freshman. Hifo played tons as a freshman. Romney played as a freshman. Even Pau'u saw action as a freshman. So if we don't see Epps this year, against this middling schedule, I think we have reason to be very worried.
Who Got Dem Snaps? (RB/TE edition)
From the running back perspective, Katoa and Allgeier were relatively close in snap count (Katoa 31 snaps, Allgeier 24) but Katoa was clearly the "3 down back" as he was on the field for 16 passing downs versus Allgeier's 7 ( overall touches were even: 14 to Allgeier, 13 to Katoa). The value of a running back who can both catch and run is enormous. You can leave that guy on the field on any down and never tip your hand to the defense as to your intention. The same goes for a the tight end that can both pass and block, which speaking of ...
Last year when Bushman was on the field BYU was 10% more likely to pass than to run. In related news, Bushman was graded the 202nd worst blocker out of 240 tight ends in the country. In further related news, Bushman lined up in a wide receiver position (as opposed to lining up alongside an offensive tackle) a ton of times. How many times? 308. He was on the field for 762 snaps, which means 40% of the time he was not lined up alongside a tackle.
This week tight ends Isaac Rex and Masen Wake lined up in the slot exactly ... zero times. They were on the line of scrimmage on every down except for a play when Wake lined up in the backfield. What does this mean? Nothing yet, but it's a promising one game sample size. What I mean is, what's better for a team? A tight end who's an A+ in receiving and a C- in blocking? Or a tight end who is a B in receiving and a B in blocking?
Both are valuable, but when the B/B tight end is on the field the defense can't anticipate what's coming and that's a big deal. The point being, if BYU is comfortable lining up Rex on the line of scrimmage and deploying him in the passing game, suddenly our offense is more unpredictable and harder to defend.
Of course, Rex wasn't targeted once on his 15 passing down snaps so maybe we've all overvalued his receiving prowess during hype season, aka fall camp. I miss Manbush.
Numbers of Notes
Katoa caught three passes for 32 yards in the Navy game. I know that doesn't seem like a ton but it's exactly what we need out of our running back position. If Katoa were to match those numbers every game in a normal season, he'd finish with 39 catches for 416 yards. For comparison, last year Hifo had 42 receptions and 483 yards. As I mentioned above, a running back who can catch balls is worth his weight in poll votes.
Zach Wilson and company completed passes to seven different receivers. It's a great sign of a quarterback spreading the ball with aplomb, but it's also something you expect in a blowout where bench guys are on the field more than usual. Romney was targeted 8 times which is right in line with what I hope to see from him every game. In total, 17 targets (77%) went to receivers, 4 to running backs (18%), and 1 to tight ends (5%). In future games where we don't cruise to victory behind an onslaught of rushing attempts, I'm sure we'll see an uptick in the TE/RB percentage.
Finally, was Pepe Tanuvasa our secret weapon? The guy who used to play for Navy before transferring to BYU led the team in tackles this week. Of all the things that went our way defensively on Monday -- Navy not practicing (lol), BYU yes practicing, excellent prep work from our scout team -- maybe having a spy on the inside (not named Hercules Mulligan) was the most valuable.
Of course, Rex wasn't targeted once on his 15 passing down snaps so maybe we've all overvalued his receiving prowess during hype season, aka fall camp. I miss Manbush.
Numbers of Notes
Katoa caught three passes for 32 yards in the Navy game. I know that doesn't seem like a ton but it's exactly what we need out of our running back position. If Katoa were to match those numbers every game in a normal season, he'd finish with 39 catches for 416 yards. For comparison, last year Hifo had 42 receptions and 483 yards. As I mentioned above, a running back who can catch balls is worth his weight in poll votes.
Zach Wilson and company completed passes to seven different receivers. It's a great sign of a quarterback spreading the ball with aplomb, but it's also something you expect in a blowout where bench guys are on the field more than usual. Romney was targeted 8 times which is right in line with what I hope to see from him every game. In total, 17 targets (77%) went to receivers, 4 to running backs (18%), and 1 to tight ends (5%). In future games where we don't cruise to victory behind an onslaught of rushing attempts, I'm sure we'll see an uptick in the TE/RB percentage.
Finally, was Pepe Tanuvasa our secret weapon? The guy who used to play for Navy before transferring to BYU led the team in tackles this week. Of all the things that went our way defensively on Monday -- Navy not practicing (lol), BYU yes practicing, excellent prep work from our scout team -- maybe having a spy on the inside (not named Hercules Mulligan) was the most valuable.
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