As he described Jalen Camp this week, Georgia Tech wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon might as well have been laying out a job description for Camp’s successor.
“He has an unbelievable knack for the ball,” Dixon said. “It doesn’t matter where you throw it around him – if he’s within two yards, he’s probably going to come up with it. So his ball skills were unbelievable. His speed was very deceptive, and he could create a lot of separation, and Jeff (Sims) just felt really comfortable (throwing to him) because he knew every time he threw the ball to that guy, he was going to come down with it.”
As a senior wide receiver last season, Camp became Sims’ trustworthy go-to guy, making 29 catches for 439 yards and four touchdowns, all team highs. Camp’s play – as well as his gaudy physical gifts – prompted the Jacksonville Jaguars to draft him in the sixth round. With his departure, Tech and Sims need to find the next go-to receiver. It has been a competition through the Yellow Jackets’ preseason camp, which concludes Saturday.
Said Dixon, “All the guys have been busting their butts to be that guy.”
Speaking Tuesday, Dixon went on to name six candidates – Malachi Carter, Kyric McGowan, Nate McCollum, PeJé Harris, Adonicas Sanders and Kalani Norris. Most likely, through consistency and playmaking ability, Carter and McGowan stand the best chance to be the receiver that Sims looks for the most.
“Malachi Carter has come a really long way since getting to camp, even,” Dixon said. “Just his consistency in route running. He’s making so many contested catches right now.”
Among receivers, Carter ranked second on the team in catches and receiving yards after Camp last season, with 20 receptions for 290 yards. With height (6-foot-3) and reach, he has a similar ability as Camp to bring in balls thrown high or behind him. Dixon said that Carter has become more effective at maneuvering away from cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage and using his size and strength downfield.
“And that’s helping him make a lot of plays on the outside,” Dixon said.
Like many Jackets players, Carter made considerable strength gains over the offseason. At the start of the preseason, he said that he had never squatted 425 pounds before this offseason, but cranked out three reps at that weight in testing.
“I surprised myself a lot this offseason, for sure,” he said.
McGowan, a grad transfer from Northwestern, was a standout in spring practice and has shown his playmaking ability again in the preseason. At 5-foot-11 and 198 pounds, McGowan is fast and quick and has often been a handful for Tech’s defensive backs to track. In the team’s “Thursday races” drill held this week, when players line up for kickoff coverage and sprint down the field, his top speed – 22.08 mph – was eclipsed only by cornerback Zamari Walton at 22.2 mph.
Beyond his agility, McGowan uses his hands well to escape press coverage, defensive back Wesley Walker said.
“He knows how to get to his spots,” Walker said. “He’s got good speed, and when he gets the ball in his hands, he turns into more of a running back. He’s not really trying to go down. He’s trying to make a play.”
McGowan has lined up at the slot and outside receiver spots, which could be an advantage in creating mismatches. A year ago at Northwestern, he caught 34 passes for 366 yards, both of which ranked second on the team. McGowan professed not to be consumed with being the No. 1 receiver.
“I think all of us in the receiver (meeting) room kind of put that on ourselves,” he said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily one guy he’s going to look for, but we all know that Jeff’s got to have the trust in us that we’re going to be in the right place at the right time, especially on third down.”
After Carter and McGowan, McCollum has ascended in the spring and preseason after making two receptions last season as a freshman.
“I can’t say enough about him,” Dixon said. “He’s been making so many tremendous plays on the ball on the outside, whether it be running by people or just understanding how to work the middle of the field in zone coverage.”
Harris and Sanders are veterans who had spurts of productivity last season. Sanders became the first Tech player to record a 100-yard receiving game in coach Geoff Collins’ tenure with a seven-catch, 105-yard game against N.C. State last season.
“My goal this season is to have multiple 100-yard games and contribute to the team as much as possible,” Sanders said.
Kalani Norris also impressed Dixon in camp, and freshman Malik Rutherford was hard to miss, too.
“Unbelievable talent,” Dixon said of Rutherford. “Making a lot of plays on the ball. Just extremely initially quick.”
That Sanders was the first to hit the 100-yard threshold, ahead of Camp or 2019 leading receiver Ahmarean Brown (now at South Carolina), does speak to Sims’ ability to move the ball around. Five players led the Jackets in receiving yards in their 10 games last season. Tight ends Dylan Deveney and Dylan Leonard figure to be more involved as targets this season, and the offense will be best served by getting a lot of touches for running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who was second on the team in catches (24) and receiving yards (303) last year.
Perhaps the less defined the No. 1 role is, the better it is for Tech.
“Everybody’s working for the No. 1 job,” Sanders said. “It’s going to make this team a lot better and the receiver group a lot better.”
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