Rutgers Season Review: Wide Receivers

Heading into this prior season one of my worries offensively was replacing Leonte Carroo’s production. That fear turned into panic after the loss of Janarion Grant to a season ending injury during the loss to Iowa, only our fourth game of the season. Both Carroo and Grant were dynamic players who could score at any moment which helped the run game by not allowing opposing defenses to stack the box on nearly every down.

During the draft, Urban Meyer echoed a similar sentiment of Leonte Carroo:

As for Janarion Grant, well Dave Revsine from the Big Ten Network sums it up best:

What can’t Janarion Grant do?

Stats Gathered from CFBStats.com

In 2015 the wide receiver corps hauled in 13 touchdowns and amassed 1,954 yards averaging 162.83 receiving yards per game. Leonte Carroo accounted for 10 of the 13 touchdowns (76.92%) and over 40% of receiving yards despite missing 4 games. Both Andre Patton and Janarion Grant saw action in all 12 games of the 2015 season totaling 432 (36.0 YPG) and 352 (29.3 YPG) receiving yards respectively.

As we feared, Leonte Carroo was irreplaceable in 2016 and the receiving corps registered 1,329 receiving yards, a reduction of 625 yards, while hauling in 9 touchdowns. If we remove Carroo’s receiving yards from last season’s totals the average receiving yards per game falls from 162.83 to 95.42.

Janarion Grant: Before Grant’s season ending injury he was on his way to his best year statistically, averaging 52.50 receiving yards per game, compared to 29.30 receiving yards per game the year prior. I am hopeful for his return next season.

Jawaun Harris: Freshman Jawaun Harris had an excellent year leading the Scarlet Knights in receiving yards (481), while also hauling in 3 touchdowns. On the season Harris averaged 40.10 receiving yards per game. His performance earned him a spot on the BTN’s 2016 All-Freshman Team.

Andre Patton: Senior Andre Patton had a solid year similar to last year, amassing 460 receiving yards on 33 receptions (38.3 YPG), and 5 touchdowns. The season prior Patton had 432 receiving yards on 34 receptions (36.0 YPG), but only 1 touchdown.

John Tsimis: John Tsimis saw action in all 12 games this past season but only registered 94 yards on 11 receptions (7.8 YPG). The year prior Tsimis has 2 catches for 10 yards.

Carlton Agudosi: Senior wideout Carlton Agudosi had a disappointing year registering only 8 receptions for for 89 yards (7.4 YPG), compared to last year in which he registered 17 catches for 313 yards (34.8 YPG).

Overall it was a tough season for the Scarlet Knights wide receivers and the offense as a whole. Having Jawuan Harris return next year as only a sophomore is a definite positive, and hopefully Janarion Grant will be able to receive a medical redshirt and return for his final season on the banks. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights have much needed depth at the wide receiver position committed for next year.

Below is an in-depth situational breakdown of the 2016 wide receiver corps. The YPG’s below are higher then the season totals above due to the fact that the receiving yards below are divided by the number of games the receiver recorded a reception versus the number of games the receiver played.

Stats Gathered from CFBStats.com